Well, I did a lot of looking around today. I went up to Rich Mazda and test drove a 3. (my mom was thinking of getting one). It is probably faster, but in my opinion the P5 is still way better. I think the 3 was less responsive and it really felt like it was too bulky. It almost felt like I was driving a mini-van. The visibility was pretty bad, and it felt like any other car and not really like a sports car. I know that it is faster, but I still like my P5 better.
Anyway, I bought my car at Rich Mazda last year. Since then, I've really only gone to Rich Mazda. I went to their service dept. after my test drive. I wanted to ask them about my first planned performance mod, which is gonna be a cat-back. They were pretty blunt in saying that ANYTHING I do to my car WILL void the warranty "because the chip isn't designed for it". They even told me that sparks and wires would void the warranty. I was pretty disappointed, but they did mention that Authorized Mazda Parts would not void the warranty. So I went to the parts counter a few feet away and they told me that it was the MazdaSpeed parts, and that they did not have them. But He told me to go check out University Mazda, with them becoming an authorized MazdaSpeed dealer soon.
So, I went to University and asked them about it. It is true, they will be having a MAzdaSpeed line of parts coming out for our cars. Anything from pistons to cams to intakes and exhaust. But then the guys there told me that if you do intake and exhaust, there is no way at all that they could void your warranty. The only way to void it is to mess with the chip and/or the interior components of the engine. But things like intake and exhaust are OK to do under warranty. I found all of this very enlightening because I was under the impression that I wouldn;t be able to touch my engine until the warranty expired. SO that is obviously not true. Just thought I'd let you all know what I found out. Now all I gotta do is save up the money and start modding!
Anyway, I bought my car at Rich Mazda last year. Since then, I've really only gone to Rich Mazda. I went to their service dept. after my test drive. I wanted to ask them about my first planned performance mod, which is gonna be a cat-back. They were pretty blunt in saying that ANYTHING I do to my car WILL void the warranty "because the chip isn't designed for it". They even told me that sparks and wires would void the warranty. I was pretty disappointed, but they did mention that Authorized Mazda Parts would not void the warranty. So I went to the parts counter a few feet away and they told me that it was the MazdaSpeed parts, and that they did not have them. But He told me to go check out University Mazda, with them becoming an authorized MazdaSpeed dealer soon.
So, I went to University and asked them about it. It is true, they will be having a MAzdaSpeed line of parts coming out for our cars. Anything from pistons to cams to intakes and exhaust. But then the guys there told me that if you do intake and exhaust, there is no way at all that they could void your warranty. The only way to void it is to mess with the chip and/or the interior components of the engine. But things like intake and exhaust are OK to do under warranty. I found all of this very enlightening because I was under the impression that I wouldn;t be able to touch my engine until the warranty expired. SO that is obviously not true. Just thought I'd let you all know what I found out. Now all I gotta do is save up the money and start modding!
