New 3 owner from Kansas

[LLADNAR]

Well i just bought my 05 Mazda 3 5 door. I love this little car. It was my post deployment gift to myself. I sold my 98 SVT Contour to get it. It is a great little car but really makes me miss the power my SVT had. Never thought it was that fast until i drove this car. But it didnt get 30mpg. I do plan on modding it but i know that unless i turbo it, it wont have that much power. I do enjoy the site and seeing what others are doing to their cars

 

[bbrich57]

Welcome aboard, LLADNAR!! Congrats on the new-to-you ride as well.

You're right. It's a shame that Mazda has not found a way to get a little more power from the 2.3L. And bolt-ons will get you virtually no where. I'm sure there's more there to be had, but the electronics will fight you at every virtual turn.
If you want the power a turbo is the only way to go. But you CAN improve handling and braking w/o too much trouble, so that once you get to speed, you won't have to slow down as much for the twisties!!
I have discovered just how much a set of good quality tires can do for this chassis. Lighter wheels also help.
You can add bigger sway bars that will help a lot. If you don;t mind a bumpier ride, lowering springs and sport shocks would be the next step, followed by coilovers.
For brakes, a good set of rotors (crossdrilled and slotted not necessary) either a set of EBC or Hawk pads will help slow you down a bit faster. I like the EBC's I installed in my car.

 

[LLADNAR]

Im looking more to make the car tougher. I drive about 12 miles of dirt a day and it was pretty much destroying my SVT. This car seems to have a good aftermarket so i am going to buy some get tough parts as well as go fast. Gonna start with the Corksport under pan. and plan on building some of my own for other parts under the car. I think strut braces would be a good idea too.