Found the truth in a TR MS3!

[fastdreams]

Hello,

I'm the lucky new owner of a '08 TR MS3. Been reading these forums during my decision making process (it was '08 WRX vs. 08 GTI vs. '08 Si sedan vs. '08 MS3) and want to thank you for having a great forum with good information. I was worried it was going to be more childish since the MS3 seems like a "youth" car.

This car is really quite good for the money. I couldn't resist it after reading about it and watching the 'ring video. A car I can enjoy without having to mod it! My only plans for now is to eventually install koni FSD's if they become available for this car. Hopefully that will get rid of some of the floatiness. Then maybe some light wheels with sticky rubber for autox. I'd like to do the shifter bushing mod and stiffen up the mount(s) but then I couldn't play in stock autox classes so I will live it as-is for now.

I enjoyed breaking it in on these backroads:

Here is a not so great picture of the new ride:

 

[clos561]

good job man, congrats on the purchase and enjoy...very nice roads btw

 

[AutoXRacer]

Congrats on the new car!!!!!

BTW, how did you go about breaking it in...?

 

[CHICO2003]

good choice... enjoy the ride!

 

[fastdreams]

Congrats on the new car!!!!!

BTW, how did you go about breaking it in...?

Thanks.

Well intentions for break-in were:
Varying RPMs, mostly light-to-moderate throttle, a few Wide-Open-Throttle jaunts and very few trips to or near redline. For the first 600 miles.

I stayed pretty close to that, though I think I tasted the power a little more than I should have. Hard to resist. Early on during the twisty drive I hit over 600 miles, so I kinda cut loose on her after that. Some say to break-in hard as you would drive it...two different schools of thought I guess. We'll see how she holds up. I had to keep up with the lotus elise, audi RS4, 2 modded evos, and v8 s4. While I don't doubt those cars could and would be faster than my MS3, I had no trouble keeping up at the pace they were driving, which was quick enough to scare most people!

 

[CHICO2003]

wow... I'm no 'breakin expert' but I've never heard that logic before. I've always been told to keep the rpms down (like below 4k) for the first 500-1000 miles. that seems to make the most sense to me.... granted, it's like torture to someone who just bought a new (fast) car. but hey... maybe things have changed.

 

[Savate]

Gratz! Got a red one too, but with 30/20 tint and 8200 miles since July 07.

 

[chacon101]

I have almost forgoten what a curvy road even looks like....

Cool little dip in your drive way. That must make drying the car that much easier since you don't have to crouch all the way down.

Congrats

 

[fastdreams]

wow... I'm no 'breakin expert' but I've never heard that logic before. I've always been told to keep the rpms down (like below 4k) for the first 500-1000 miles. that seems to make the most sense to me.... granted, it's like torture to someone who just bought a new (fast) car. but hey... maybe things have changed.

What I keep reading is to run it hard.

Here's some examples of what I've found:

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=590862

There's more out there but the above seems to be the theme from people who know.

I'm not anal or strong willed enough to pull off a perfect break-in procedure, but it seems to me that running it a little hard is the way to go. It also seems that buying a new car, the rings have likely already been properly seated by the mfg. <shrug>

 

[Jays07MS3]

Congrats on the new purchase! I'm sure you'll have as hard of time wiping that grin from your face while driving as the rest of us had And welcome to the community.

wow... I'm no 'breakin expert' but I've never heard that logic before. I've always been told to keep the rpms down (like below 4k) for the first 500-1000 miles. that seems to make the most sense to me.... granted, it's like torture to someone who just bought a new (fast) car. but hey... maybe things have changed.

This is from the MS3 owners manual:

Break-In Period
No special break-in is necessary, but a few
precautions in the first 1,000 km (600
miles) may add to the performance,
economy, and life of your Mazda.
- Don't race the engine.
- Don't maintain one constant speed,
either slow or fast, for a long period of
time.
- Don't drive constantly at full-throttle or
high engine rpm for extended periods
of time.
- Avoid unnecessary hard stops.
- Avoid full-throttle starts

 

[fastdreams]

I have almost forgoten what a curvy road even looks like....

Cool little dip in your drive way. That must make drying the car that much easier since you don't have to crouch all the way down.

Congrats

I'm really lucky to live so close to some really really good roads around here. I've only lived here for 7 months but I'm really glad I do!

That dip is a headache. My driveway has a very stupid slope to it. Ah well.

 

[redspeed]

Welcome, and congrats on picking the best looking color, TR FTW!!!

 

[fastdreams]

Thanks! Yes I think TR really fits the MS3 quite well. At first I was deadset on a black one, but the red one grew on me to the point of preferring it!

Instead of starting a new thread...I have a couple'o n00b questions that I haven't found satisfactory answers from searching yet.

1. Koni FSD's are not available yet, correct? Have there been good results using the FSD's for the 3 on the MS3? I noticed the koni application says "excl speed 3"
2. Is the MS CAI an easy install/removal? I want to run the CAI for normal and track use, but install the stock air system for autocross weekends.

 

[redspeed]

I know some people got suspension parts from the mz3 and use it on the ms3 with good results. I think you can find that info on the older threads. The cai is the easiest mod for the ms3 and one of the best. It really makes a good difference.

 

[Mocoso]

Congrats on the new ride... as for break-in... you will get 101 opinions on the internet as to the best way to do it... I stick to what the owners manual says... it may not end up giving you the "most" power but it will give you the "most" reliability... trust me I doubt the engineers that put the instructions in the first place are getting their data from google search

 

[AutoXRacer]

This is from the MS3 owners manual:
Quote:
Break-In Period
No special break-in is necessary, but a few
precautions in the first 1,000 km (600
miles) may add to the performance,
economy, and life of your Mazda.
- Don't race the engine.
- Don't maintain one constant speed,
either slow or fast, for a long period of
time.
- Don't drive constantly at full-throttle or
high engine rpm for extended periods
of time.
- Avoid unnecessary hard stops.
- Avoid full-throttle starts

Cool... Its exactly how I drove the car for the two days I got to drive it...
I haven't even been able to read the manual yet...

Short story: I bought the car almost 2 weeks ago, on the third day I had to leave on a business trip lasting 2 - 2.5 weeks... She is patiently waiting for me in the garage...

 

[daonly1around]

do some research and reading on here for the CAI's... from what i've read the MSCAI leans out the A/F to make more power, which is fine if you just want to stick to bolt on's but if you are looking to make some serious power look at teh cobb intake and others, i don't own a MS3 but that's just one of the things that i've read about in a couple of places.

 

[clos561]

Thanks.

Well intentions for break-in were:
Varying RPMs, mostly light-to-moderate throttle, a few Wide-Open-Throttle jaunts and very few trips to or near redline. For the first 600 miles.

I stayed pretty close to that, though I think I tasted the power a little more than I should have. Hard to resist. Early on during the twisty drive I hit over 600 miles, so I kinda cut loose on her after that. Some say to break-in hard as you would drive it...two different schools of thought I guess. We'll see how she holds up. I had to keep up with the lotus elise, audi RS4, 2 modded evos, and v8 s4. While I don't doubt those cars could and would be faster than my MS3, I had no trouble keeping up at the pace they were driving, which was quick enough to scare most people!

best way to break it in...thats what i did.

 

[chacon101]

Do you think it's a bad idea to break in a car with just about all highway miles for the first 1k miles? I had very little city driving since I had to drive 1k back to my house the day after the purchase.

I drove all around DC for about 2-3 hours the night before but then it was alllll highway. I of course varied the speeds and everything but I wonder if that's still not a good thing.

 

[Vindikacione]

I had to do the same thing from Bremershaven to Nurnberg on the Autobahn. Pure torture to go 100-110kph the entire way. I think your good. Owned mine since Apr07, still under 4k miles. Save her for autobahn weekends and away from rain, snow, and salt. BMW 324TDS is my DD. Turbo is the only way to go.

Does anyone know if they'll carry the MS3 line through 2009?