So now that I've owned my 2009 Mazdaspeed3 for about 4 month, it's got 6,000 miles on the clock, I've done 5 track days in preparation for NASA Time Trial Competition next year. The car has exceeded all my expectations on the track, it has no problem keeping up pace with higher class cars. In fact, it's main strength is the incredible amount of torque to pull out of slow corners.
Here are a list of simple modification that'll make the car much more track friendly
1. Brake Pads and Brake Fluid. The stock brake pads are like endurance pads, they don't have that much bite, but stays fairly consistent for normal track day usage. The stock fluid however will boil within a few laps if you are trying to maximize your braking, which is to be expected with OE fluid. The 1st thing you should do before going to track is flush out the brake fluid with high temperature brake fluids, I like ATE Superblue or Motul RBF600. Remember that the racing fluid will absorb moisture quicker, so flush them often. I flush them before every track day.
For brake pads, i'm a big fan of the Carbotech pads, they have very good bite and modulation, very consistent, and very little dust. I'm using XP8 Front/AX6 Rear pads, these are race pads and are very noisy on the street (imagine a big bus with bad brakes, that's what it sounds like on the street). I recommend their Bobcat pads for the street, I've used them in the past in my Subaru Autox car, and they were excellent street pads.
http://www.ctbrakes.com/
2. Brake pedal. The stock pedal are spaced too far apart for easy heel/toe. On track, it's all about making the driver's effort easier and more efficient. I recommend installing SOK07's custom replacement gas pedal. It's a very nicely machined piece that's curved to match the OEM pedal. In my opinion every MS3 track driver should have these, they make heel/toe 100 times easier !
If you want a set, email him at sok07@yahoo.com
3. Tires. The stock tires will hold you back big time on the track. Get some proper high grip tire if you want to run with the fast pack. Some of the popular streetable tires are "Dunlop Direzza Starspec", "Falken Azenis RT615", "Bridgestone RE01R", "Advan NEOVA", "Toyo R1R". Or if you can bring a separate set of wheels to the track, you can mount r-compound tires on those, "Toyo RA1, Toyo R888, Nitto NT01R" etc.
I'm using Toyo RA1s 235/40/17, mounted on 17x8 +48 Enkei RC-T4 Tarmac wheels. This setup will in effect make the gearing shorter, requiring you to shift more around the track, however the car will accelerate quicker, and around buttonwillow this places the car in a better power band IMO. I'm still testing this area of the car, some of the thing I plan to try are narrower width rear tire for better rotation, and 45 profile front tire.
4. Alignment. Due to the car's McPherson strut front suspension, it's dying for more negative camber. i was able to get -1.3 camber in the front by loosening the top strut bolts, and pushing it all the way. Max out the front neg. camber to whatever you can, this will make a world of difference on this car. I recommend 1/8th toe out front, and 0 toe rear, note due the soft front springs, the car dives quite a bit during braking, and having front toe out makes the front end wonder alittle under hard braking. This should not be a problem if you have stiffer front springs. If you prefer more stability under braking use 0 toe front instead. I plan to test out rear toe out in the future, for more rotation. The stock setting had quite bit of toe in all around, which makes the car safe (understeer), but not fast !
5. Turn off DSC/TC completely on dry track. I've tested all 3 modes, with DSC/TC on, the car doesnt' rotate well, not fun ! With just the DSC off (pressing DSC button when the car is on, DSC light illuminates in the cluster), the car felt much more neutral handling. With DSC/TC completely off (holding DSC button with the engine off, then start engine while holding it down, both DSC and squirely car light illuminates), the car felt even better !
On the wet track, it is faster with DSC/TC on.
And now for the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPag1rq2Vgw
Happy motoring !
Randy
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