Mazda 3 Engine swap

[mollymazda]

I am a newbie on this site but I have owned my 2008 mazda for 2 years now. this has been my favorite new car I have ever owned. I purchased the car for 25,368 dollars new. I really wanted the Speed 3 and by the price of the one I bought I could have afforded it, but I am married and was living in San Diego and my wife wife refused to drive a stick there. I know you guy are thinking p***y whiped but it is my only car and I deployed frequently. Now I have one year left on my warranty and was wondering what you guys think about an engine swap. I am very mechanically savi and have extensive knowledge in rebuild cars due to being in remanufactured vehicle buisness prior to enlisting. I know I will more than likely have to change my dash harness, and engine campartment harness not to mention the pedal assembly. From my expeirence alot of newer vehicle are manufactured to go both ways (manual or automatic). my biggest worry is getting the correct ecu that will take care of all the options I have. I would apprectiate any input I can get on the subject. On the plus side to this I hate the Speed 3 seats. Mazda refused to build me a speed three with regular 3 GT leather seats bastards. I know this isn't the best way to go about it but to get it done faster for the time being is there any way to maintain the auto transmission with the turbo engine? I am not sure if the transmission control module is sepertate from the ECU. The tiptronic is still very fun.

 

[mazda03protege]

wut branch of service are you in?

 

[mollymazda]

Coast Guard

 

[aps11090]

You can run auto with a turbo setup - the stage 1 F2 kit comes to mind - running around 5-6 psi you'd be safe as long as you drive it properly (don't beat on it mid gear shift etc) however wear and tear is eventually going to destroy the car (2-3 years) down the road...

You could swap everything out and do a full manual, but personally, even if you are mechanically inclined... it's NOT going to be worth it. Once you get a taste of 5-6 lbs you'll want more... The motor's max (assuming the price I'd expect its a 2.3) is only 8psi. Anything beyond that and you're asking to throw a rod.

So then you'll want to just build the whole motor... but you'd need to build the trans as well, and if you're goal is to change over to a stick... you'd have to fit a speed 3 setup in there (which is most cost effective) - you'll need the whole tranny, the axles, a few other things... of course at this point you're already up around 10k...

My advice. Sell what you've got, pick up a decent used MS3 and enjoy it!

 

[Mazda3Nate]

You can run auto with a turbo setup - the stage 1 F2 kit comes to mind - running around 5-6 psi you'd be safe as long as you drive it properly (don't beat on it mid gear shift etc) however wear and tear is eventually going to destroy the car (2-3 years) down the road...

You could swap everything out and do a full manual, but personally, even if you are mechanically inclined... it's NOT going to be worth it. Once you get a taste of 5-6 lbs you'll want more... The motor's max (assuming the price I'd expect its a 2.3) is only 8psi. Anything beyond that and you're asking to throw a rod.

So then you'll want to just build the whole motor... but you'd need to build the trans as well, and if you're goal is to change over to a stick... you'd have to fit a speed 3 setup in there (which is most cost effective) - you'll need the whole tranny, the axles, a few other things... of course at this point you're already up around 10k...

My advice. Sell what you've got, pick up a decent used MS3 and enjoy it!

I AGREE EXTREMELY!!!!(drive2)

 

[yengski]

Hi, I live in the Philippines and the worst thing is my mazda 3 hatchback comes in with only a 1.6 engine.

any ideas on what are the things/parts that i need to replace if I decided to proceed with an engine swap? I'm thinking of a 2.3l

also, what is the engine code of the 2.3l in the US? I think there are two kinds, L3-DE and L3-VE.

any info will help me a lot.