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Painted Calipers & Rotors Decided to Paint the Calipers and Center Hub of my Rotors yesterday. Front Before Paint...... Front After Paint...... Rear Before Paint...... Rear After Paint...... Overall Look After Paint......

Decided to paint the calipers and center-hub of the rotors. I think it turned out pretty good. What do you think? Front Before Paint...... Front After Paint...... Rear Before Paint...... Rear After Paint...... Overall Look After Paint......

Yes, I did this job about 6 months ago. On the passenger side there is some kind of fuel sensor that blocks access to the upper bolt. I remember having to disconnect the lower shock mounting as the shock couldn't extend enough to allow access. So by removing the 6 bolts, you're lowering the...

Originally, the idea to do this was simply a sanity check to see if what I thought I was feeling was actually translating to a measurable performance gain and not just a placebo effect. But after compiling all of the numbers and having the data be consistent with what I felt, plus as you...

Alright, I have some field testing to back up my butt-dyno testing. Over the weekend I temporarily put the factory intake back on and ran some acceleration tests. Luckily I live in an area where farmland and their associated straight (nearly unused) sections of road are within a couple of miles...

I can't help with the jerking as it sounds like your car is an automatic and all of mine are manuals. However, engine temperature issues are nothing to fool around with as many things can get damaged if the engine is under-cooled. Personally, in your situation I would start with the basics: 1)...

Have you (or do you have access to) run a scanner and see if it's throwing up any more codes?

Yep, took a good hard look at it this weekend. The upper brace definitely has to stay. The lower brace (just at the base of the flying-M logo) could be removed, but will need some major repair work with body-filler and sanding where it mounts on the sides. As a result, JSAP has the right idea...

I have the AEM CAI and it definitely makes more sound, but only at more than 50% throttle. At WOT it is louder than the exhaust from 4k to redline RPM, but I wouldn't call it frightening and it doesn't vibrate any more than the factory intake. Are you experiencing a "rattle" or a shake coming...

I'm doing it! I'll pull the grille off tomorrow and see how difficult it would be to remove the upper and lower cross-members.

Nice look, JSAP123, I love that Mazda 3 blue color.

The one issue with the Mazda3 is negative camber, because it's not adjustable without buying additional hardware. The front will end up around -0.5 degree more negative and the rear up to -1.0 degree more negative than stock. What I would do is try to measure the camber, both front and rear...

JSAP123.... Great comments too, and I definitely like the MX-5 wheels. Since I live in Oregon and pretty much put the Miata away for the winter in October, I'm thinking I'll keep the Gunmetal factory wheels on the 3 this summer and swap back with the Miata this fall.

Thanks for the honest feedback. No, the color isn't a perfect match. The hood is a non-metallic high-gloss black with nearly a mirror finish, while the wheels are a dark gunmetal with a very high pearl content and 3 coats of clear to give it a wet look. I personally like the slight variation...

I updated the Gunmetal painted factory wheel pic since the sun finally came out today. So maybe take another look. Your comment on the weight is good. The MX-5 wheels are definitely a few pounds lighter.

No idea on what happened to the 2 cats. I have seen the internal element of a cat eventually burn out, break the mounts and rattle around inside the chamber, but never get blown out down the pipe. Even if it could, I would think it would end up trapped at the muffler. Did you get the car new...

Thanks for the feedback! It's interesting that it's about 50/50 here on the site, and about 50/50 on the opinions of my family and neighbors. I guess the good news is that they both look good. Maybe I'll run 6 months of the year with the MX-5 wheels in the winter and the dark graphite wheels...

I have 2 wheel options on my '06 3-Sport Sedan, but not sure which I prefer. Please chime in on which you like best! Option #1: 17x7, 10-spoke Miata Wheels w/ 225/45/17 rubber. Option #2: 17x6.5, 5-spoke Factory Wheels (dark gunmetal) w/ 205/50/17 rubber. Close-up of the Gunmetal Wheel to...

New Gunmetal Wheels Just repainted the factory 17" factory 5-spoke wheels in gunmetal-charcoal color. The color started off as the factory Mazda Black Pearl (code 16W) but was able to get the paint guy to lighten it one shade and double the amount of pearl. 3 coats of clear to give them that...

I consider myself pretty well informed on our Mazda engines, but I'm not a professional mechanic..... That said, my take is that the lack of cats has caused your O2 sensors to read that the fuel mixture is too rich (since the cats aren't there to burn off any incomplete combustion). As a...