Next best performance upgrades?

[bestbiker]

I do alot of stop light to stop light drags with some people where i live, and i was trying to do some upgrades that might increase my 0-40 times, and other upgrades that would benefit the way the car feels overall.

Im a college student, so that tells you my budget already! Im not looking to be "The best" But i want to have a bit more umph then what ive got.

2004 Mazda6 WAGON! (see why i want more umph... perfect sleeper!)
3.0 Engine with the sport shift transmission (auto/cheating standard)

I have already installed a CAI, Bosch +2 spark plugs, new plug wires, performed the full seafoam treatment about a month ago, and thats about it for performance so far.

Where i live, a turbo would be pointless because i would never get to use it really. Not to mention crazy expensive.


Any ideas/suggestions would be great. I dont know a whole lot about car terminology, but ive replaced a head gasket before cause if i take something apart i know how to put it back together

 

[jonscapri]

I would say different mufflers, and headers. see if you can get rid of the rear most cat on the car. that should help a little

 

[kickniteasy]

yeah...if you've gone CAI then I'd say a full exhaust would be a good complement. I don't mean to be offensive, but what kind of money are you looking at spending? From the sound of it you just want something cheap so you can beat the autozoned civic next to you at a stop light and don't have "real" performance in mind which is cool, but "what are the best performance upgrades under $200 that I can use ebay products for so I can street race between city blocks" is a much different question than "best performance upgrades". I'm assuming you're in a big city area since you said you'd never get to use your turbo.

On another note....people look dumb street racing regardless, but it's almost comical seeing an almost bone stock mazda wagon racing a riced out civic between 2 city blocks...please stop.

 

[bestbiker]

yeah...if you've gone CAI then I'd say a full exhaust would be a good complement. I don't mean to be offensive, but what kind of money are you looking at spending? From the sound of it you just want something cheap so you can beat the autozoned civic next to you at a stop light and don't have "real" performance in mind which is cool, but "what are the best performance upgrades under $200 that I can use ebay products for so I can street race between city blocks" is a much different question than "best performance upgrades". I'm assuming you're in a big city area since you said you'd never get to use your turbo.

On another note....people look dumb street racing regardless, but it's almost comical seeing an almost bone stock mazda wagon racing a riced out civic between 2 city blocks...please stop.

Whats more comical is seeing that same wagon take off from a stop light and lose 4 cases of beer in the street.
THAT is my next upgrade/fix. Apparently the cable on the rear latch got frozen and i didnt know it until a bit further down the road someone decided to mess with me and nodded at me at the stoplight.. Soon as everything slid to the back, it bumped the hatch open, and out it came. Big mess... 60$ gone.. Very bad night.

 

[bestbiker]

No offense taken by anyone. I once had an 86 toyota supra that i had to sell cause i lost my job and i loved eating civics with that thing. Untill i get out of college the wagon is going to have to do it.

I can spend probably up to 500 on an upgrade if i can justify it somehow. But obviously the less expensive the upgrades, the more i can do...

The town i live in has most everything centralized on 1 street over about 2.3 miles. In that stretch there are about 14 stoplights and its all 25-35 the entire way. It sucks. I wouldnt consider it big city either, more like hickville.

I decided I was going to move the air filter from the 'short ram' setup, to the 'typhoon setup' so the air filter grabs air from the front and from the tire. I think its pretty neat how the stock inner fender has slotted-angled air vents so the tire sort of throws air into the bumper. Not to mention the front bumper bottom has an opening directly in front of where the air filter sits now. That should help some.

I put a spintech muffler on it (borla copycat) and It sounds good on the outside, but has horrible interior noise. I hate the coffee can sound, and the borla knockoff actually makes the car sound like its tuned which is sweet cause the muffler didnt cost me anything

Those 2 upgrades pushed me up to a 6.5~ 0-60 time from what i can measure unofficially.

 

[kickniteasy]

Whats more comical is seeing that same wagon take off from a stop light and lose 4 cases of beer in the street.
THAT is my next upgrade/fix. Apparently the cable on the rear latch got frozen and i didnt know it until a bit further down the road someone decided to mess with me and nodded at me at the stoplight.. Soon as everything slid to the back, it bumped the hatch open, and out it came. Big mess... 60$ gone.. Very bad night.

Oh man....that's for sure a bad night. A guy in his beater truck lost his sofa the same way about a week ago in rush hour. I helped him get it out of the road just for the sake of not blocking traffic but it wasn't pretty.

What's the diameter of the muffler? Is it just a muffler or does the piping go back? How far (cat...all the way to the headers..etc.)? Have you looked into tuning? I'm not sure what kinds of power can be unlocked with the 6 wagon but a tune might be a good option as well. Again, unfamiliar with the 6 specifically but I know with the wrx adding an intake causes the car to run lean so a tune is necessary....the tune would take care of that and add some power along the way.

 

[bestbiker]

Oh man....that's for sure a bad night. A guy in his beater truck lost his sofa the same way about a week ago in rush hour. I helped him get it out of the road just for the sake of not blocking traffic but it wasn't pretty.

What's the diameter of the muffler? Is it just a muffler or does the piping go back? How far (cat...all the way to the headers..etc.)? Have you looked into tuning? I'm not sure what kinds of power can be unlocked with the 6 wagon but a tune might be a good option as well. Again, unfamiliar with the 6 specifically but I know with the wrx adding an intake causes the car to run lean so a tune is necessary....the tune would take care of that and add some power along the way.

What exactly does "tuning" entail? The engine is a basic 3.0 with variable timing. Same engine they put in the Taurus only mazda did the final specs.
I just did the muffler, its 3" but splits into 2x 2-1/4 pipes to tips right after. Everything else for now is stock piping and is 2-1/8 after the cat's. I know that the diameter of the pipe after the cat is the least cause of restriction in the exhaust system so im not worried about that at all.

Going to try removing the rear-most cat (if there arnt any sensors) and see what that does.

Im pretty sure i have a bad ground somewhere, because my mpg goes down the tubes when i have anything electrical running. Oh, and when i rev the engine at idle my lights dim. Thats how i have come to this conclusion.

 

[bigdaddy]

As for N/A motors, making power is a bit more difficult. For you, this is one of your better options...

http://www.protegegarage.com/product_info.php?cPath=24_33_80&products_id=1177

this will def. make some power.

 

[kickniteasy]

What exactly does "tuning" entail? The engine is a basic 3.0 with variable timing. Same engine they put in the Taurus only mazda did the final specs.
I just did the muffler, its 3" but splits into 2x 2-1/4 pipes to tips right after. Everything else for now is stock piping and is 2-1/8 after the cat's. I know that the diameter of the pipe after the cat is the least cause of restriction in the exhaust system so im not worried about that at all.

Going to try removing the rear-most cat (if there arnt any sensors) and see what that does.

Im pretty sure i have a bad ground somewhere, because my mpg goes down the tubes when i have anything electrical running. Oh, and when i rev the engine at idle my lights dim. Thats how i have come to this conclusion.

"Tuning" is going into the cars computer and, in a nut shell, removing the factory specs and replacing the program with one that will help the engine make more power. There's all sorts of "maps" out there and if you go to a shop and get dyno tuned then they can make you a map based on what you want. There's "maps" that can increase torque/horsepower, get better gas mileage, etc. You won't be able to use this specific product, but you can see what tuning can get you:

http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=4223