Ready for 1st mods; many questions

[Speed3 Geezer]

I'm ready to start improving my '09 ms3. It's got a little over 1,000 miles on it, so it's time.

The problem is I know so little about these cars. My last 4 have been front-engine RWD GM muscle cars, Firebirds and a GTO. I knew those inside out. Anyway, the questions.

First mods I'm used to doing include getting the engine to run cooler and improving intake flow and temp. I haven't seen mention of thermostat replacement. What is the stock setting and should it be lowered? The LSx V8's came with 180 deg. t-stats which were lowered to 160. Engine fan settings were adjusted accordingly in the ECU. Another common mod was a throttle body bypass to keep hot coolant out of the intake area.

I definitely need to get rid of at least some of my turbo lag. From what I'm reading, a CAI and a good aftermarket downpipe should go a long way toward accomplishing that. I'm thinking Mazdaspeed CAI and a Cobb downpipe while retaining the stock exhaust. It appears the stock 2.5" dia. system should flow pretty well. I'm all about most bang for the buck, and if a cat back isn't going to improve hp and torque very much, it can wait.

Finally, I need to find a tuning shop in the Chicago area to do programming for me. I'm not going to pretend to be knowledgable enough about the MRZ 2.3 engine to try to adjust it myself.

Any knowledgable input will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mistersix]

intake and downpipe will def help. i'd say start small though. grab an intake and see how you like it. there's other little things that can help make the car more fun to drive.
short shifter, stiffer motor mounts.

really all the basics are covered. just read threw the stickies in the engine and forced induction sections.

i dont think your thermostat mod and throttle body bypass will do much of anything like it does for big displacement motors. if you want things to run cooler look for an intercooler upgrade. some people play with meth too.

and yes a catback wont net youmuch either.

 

[coyfish]

I say start with the basics before you go too involved. Give yourself time to learn. There is a sticky in the speed 6 section entitled "first time mods" by tunersteve. Good place to get info.

 

[Saskatchewan17]

I'd have to say start out with an:

-Intake (PG has a great Short ram intake/ turbo inlet pipe combo)
-Rear motor mount (reduces a lot of wheelhop and lets the car plant its power to the ground)
-Shifter bushings/short shift plate/ short shifter (any of these to help improve the rubbery shift feel)
-Catless Test pipe (reduces restriction in the exhaust and toughens up the exhaust note a bit. Makes a good difference in our cars)

Also some other things I would reccomend (but not really esential mods) are:
-Dashhawk (or at the very least a boost gauge to see what's up)
-New Bypass-valve or Blow off valve ran in recirculation (will help hold boost better than the stock valve and gives a distinct sound when shifting or letting off the gas in boost)
-Rear sway bar (even further reduces body roll when taking corners)
-Trans mount (even further plants the engine so that means less missed shifts and more power to the road where it belongs)

Those are some pretty nice, basic first mods to get you started.

Those thermostat mods do not apply to our cars... to get boost temps colder a new intercooler does the trick. Either in Top mounted or front mounted flavors (there is a huge debate over that).

Also, you should be safe on the stock tune with these minor mods... but when stepping up to much of anything more, you should invest in a tuning solution. Cobb AP or CP-E Standback are the two major ones that are made for our cars. There are many shops in Chicago land that do dyno tuning (examples include P&L, GRD [these are two big ones that can tune our cars well]).

Also, you live probably within 10 miles of me... the guys around here are very, very helpful and knoledgeble. You could meet some of 'em by coming out to meets. If you want to chat further, pm me and I can give you my AIM or cell to text or whatever.

Happy modding.