I want to take plunge... but

[hednik4am]

Ok So I've been ready a lot these past few weeks about doing a few mods on my car. So the 2.3 has 156 bhp and imo quite peppy for what it is but I'd like a bit more. Thinking about the mazdaspeed CAI over at protegegarage and doing the ground mod and maybe trying the buddy club condensor. I dont want to drop a ton but want to see what really get me the bang for the buck and wont sacrifice engine durability. I'd love an exhaust but I just dont think I could drop the cash for a good one it and sadly I'm worried the sound would be too noticeable.

Here are my questions, in a perfect world how well would these help me ? Am I leaving out anything that would be cost effective to help not just power but things like throttle response, smoother shifting etc.

Thanks !

 

[joshritger]

Certain Cool Air Intakes are prone to picking up water since the cone sits down in the fender well area. A Short Ram Intake is a bit safer alternative which produces similar results. Also for an exhaust look for a used mazda speed 3 exhaust, they seem to be a nice cheap upgrade to our exhausts. The speed 3 exhaust will be cut into pieces since you can't take it out without cutting it in 2-3 places. If you watch the for sale forum you can pick one up fairly cheap and take it to a muffler shop to get installed.

 

[tschatzinger]

guess i got my question answered about who you were asking about the BCC Josh, haha. Advance your timing...it's a free mod, and you will notice a difference in pickup and off the get-go.

honestly, from what i've read, getting a CP-e Standback 2 unit is one of the best performance mods you can get for our car. Yeah, it's expensive, but by simply adjusting air/fuel ratio, i've heard you can get an increase of up to 15 hp alone. With an exhaust, header, or intake, i've read people getting 20+ more hp by adding a standback.

I'm also running MZ3 GT hednik, and after I added a BCC, AEM CAI, MS3 CBE, an advanced my timing, it's a whole lot different than stock, and is way more fun to drive! I plan on getting a header, the standback unit i was talking about, and a sprint booster, and can't imagine how much better it will perform after those installs

 

[hednik4am]

guess i got my question answered about who you were asking about the BCC Josh, haha. Advance your timing...it's a free mod, and you will notice a difference in pickup and off the get-go.

honestly, from what i've read, getting a CP-e Standback 2 unit is one of the best performance mods you can get for our car. Yeah, it's expensive, but by simply adjusting air/fuel ratio, i've heard you can get an increase of up to 15 hp alone. With an exhaust, header, or intake, i've read people getting 20+ more hp by adding a standback.

I'm also running MZ3 GT hednik, and after I added a BCC, AEM CAI, MS3 CBE, an advanced my timing, it's a whole lot different than stock, and is way more fun to drive! I plan on getting a header, the standback unit i was talking about, and a sprint booster, and can't imagine how much better it will perform after those installs

Ok, so here's a few more newb questions... where do I read about advancing the timing ? I've read the ones from the sticky that reference back to the montza timing mod....but nothing about how to do it. I can fix most anything on a car given the time, just not adept at modding persay.

The Stankback unit has me very tempted as well... now with things like this I know you can be conservative and get a 6-7 HP boost or 15+ if your a bit more risky. The real question is how does this affect the engine life if I was say middle of the road ?

I think first course of action is get the condensor and the cai and see how I like it...adding bit by bit to see how it treats me. In this economy have to be conservative haha. How does the MS3 cat back sound ? I kinda of sit in that area where I really dont want it to be noticeable I modded anything except for me...things like that. Thanks !

 

[tschatzinger]

About advancing the timing...instructions on how to do it are actually on another website, but the link doesn't work because the people here don't like us posting other websites. I'll send you a pm with the link though.

Hmm, not sure how it would effect the engine life in the long run, but I can't imagine it doing harm to it. Unless you tune it to do something ridiculous.

Yeah, just go slow when you mod so you can see how each thing effects your car and whether you like it or not. I love the sound of the MS3 CBE. I actually had the 2nd cat replaced with a straight pipe because I wanted an even more aggressive sound, and now it's just about perfect for me. However, say you're at a stoplight and want to pass a person to get in the other lane...it is VERY loud. But idling and cruising you can hardly tell it's there. I'd try and find some local members who have an exhaust and cai setup and see how they sound in person. There are videos on the internet, but that doesn't do any justice towards how the car truly sounds.