Suggestions for beginners

[wraunch]

Hey Fellas I have had my 04 2.3 Mazda 3 for a yr and 1/2 now and I am in the position to start doing some upgrading. What do you guys recommend to do first? Exhaust? CAI? Sway bars? Short Shifter? All I have done so far is some audio upgrades. looking for some performance tips.

 

[peepsalot]

Turbo

 

[txmazdaspeed]

I haven't been able to do anything yet to mine but a buddy of mine has done some stuff. He has an '04 Mazda 3 5-door with the manual trans and he has put on an Injen CAI and Magnaflow cat back and picked up 22 extra horses. Those will be the first performance mods that I do.

 

[bacon]

the first and only mod ive done so far is a cai you should start with that its one of the cheapest parts you can buy

 

[ZoomVT]

turbo = $4200. if you have the money, the way to go.
if you dont but you want to in the long run then:
-exhaust=~500
-Header=~400
-CAI=~200 (if you are going turbo then no since you wont need it then)
-Springs=~200
-Wheels+Tires=~1500+++
-If you have the money then coilovers=~1200 i think i read somewhere
-Clutch + Flywheel= not sure about priing but i think together is about 500
-maybe a short shifter? about 150

 

[Gambino]

IHe has an '04 Mazda 3 5-door with the manual trans and he has put on an Injen CAI and Magnaflow cat back and picked up 22 extra horses.

dyno proven or just a guess??? Cuz i would guess he may have gained 2-5 hp with those.

 

[peepsalot]

Yeah I don't know how the Mazda3 responds since all cars are different, but for the most part a CAI is only going to get you a couple horses, if any. It's one of the cheapest, but also least effective mods.

 

[txmazdaspeed]

He put it on the dyno and got those numbers. I've seen other people gain that much with just intake and cat back.

 

[Mace Windu]

When Intense Performace did our dyno day, we had a gy run his AT MZ3 hatch, then installed an AEM CAI and ran it again. Each time, it was run 3 times. The first run after the upgrade there was a 4hp gain, the 2nd time a 1hp gain showed and 3rd time no gain showed. So take that for what it's worth.

 

[Gambino]

there is no way my car gained that and i have intake/exhaust. interesting

 

[Mace Windu]

A lot of Dynos are different with the numbers they report. It's a tricky thing to judge. I would tend to trust the math that it would logically increase HP, by how much fluctuates by car a bit.

 

[wraunch]

thats neat

and all.....but I was wondering what parts to get? What is the best exhaust and CAI? I believe that is where I will start. Also is TWM the best for the short shift?

 

[payne]

The dynos for the corksport cat back showed a gain of 10hp I believe, but dont quote me on that. As for parts its really up to you to research and see what you want. I havent done any mods to my car yet but im looking at a F2 CAI www.f2cars.com Also check out www.corksport.com www.hiboost.com (thumb) www.mazda3online.com those are some of the main sites I have been looking at for parts, they have some pretty good s*** it looks like.

 

[Protephile]

He put it on the dyno and got those numbers. I've seen other people gain that much with just intake and cat back.

I would love to see that dyno sheet.

 

[wraunch]

soooooo??

Is the Magnaflow catback the best exhaust to use? Or is a Borla system better? I havent heard either. I want to get a deeper sound I dont like that ricey weedeater sound like the civics have. What do you think?

 

[Gambino]

this topic has been discussed dozens of times in here. A simple search will yield threads started about pretty much every exhaust (borla, magnaflow, corksport, vibrant, custom, etc)

 

[peepsalot]

There is never a "best" part for anything. There are always trade offs, it all boils down to personal opinion. Money, sound, power gains, build quality, customer service, etc. Do some research about your different options and make the decision yourself. Even if you are going for purely for most power gains, it's hard to say, you can't really compare dyno to dyno(if a dyno even exists for that product), and many of them are exagerated anyways.
There is an exhaust sound thread for the MSP that contains audio/video clips of many people's exhausts so you can get an idea of the sound that each product will give you. Maybe someone could start that for the Mazda 3's.

 

[wraunch]

That would be a great idea. Mod can you make a sticky for vid/audio of different Mazda 3 exhaust setups? Any websites you guys recommend to purchase the parts from. I have found some through basic searches but nothing great.

 

[paintbaler1587]

Leave it stock.