thought i'd say hi

[astinadave]

I realise that the aussieaussieaussieoioioi thread is there for introductions, but it seems to have degenerated somewhat.. so i thought i'd be brave and post my first post (and intro) out here..

long time lurker first time poster (yadda yadda)..

names Dave, live in brisbane, and drive a 2003 black astina.. unfortunately not an SP20.. and... it's stock *ducks ready for projectiles to be thrown* had been saving up for an SP20 for a while, but an unfortunate twist of fate last september involving my (now) deceased '91 corolla, an uninsured driver and needing a car for work, forced my hand (and wallet) into the $10k cheaper vanilla astina..

but i still love her all the same.. recently got the 'itch' to get more performance out of the girl, which lead me to these forums. Have been reading up on suggestions feverishly ever since.

Anyhoo, better run..
nice to meet everyone.

D.

 

[twilightprotege]

well welcome dave! glad you started your own thread because yeah the aussie.... thread is more of a general chat thread now.

but i'm sure you'd be very glad to know - the 1.8L engine you have is pretty much the same as the sp20's engine. all except the stroke is the same (appart from a few other minor things)...but anyway, there's heaps you can do. there are so many options we have because of the yanks getting the same car as well (unlike the previous astina).

so yeah, ask the questions, learn, laugh and most of all, enjoy your stay

 

[twilightprotege]

ps - good there are a few more brisbanites around here now too

 

[astinadave]

thanks twilight,

yeah in the end i justified it as the SP20 having less than 10kw extra (from memory) but the added interior / exterior extras, which i thought i could do without..

the only thing stopping me is my wallet and my fear of voiding my warranty..
it's stupid i know.. but first new car, so i'm protective

will do all i can without upsetting mazda servicing..

 

[tidy protege]

i was very conscious of warrantee when i first got my car i havent done anything to wild, try to find a way of getting it lowered and put some 16s on it if you dont have them try to look at getting some fog lights for the front they cost a little but make the front of the car look sportier

 

[astinadave]

yeah i thought about some foglights.. they'd be sweet. guestimated pricings?

also thought about some mags, but i really like the mazda 5 spoke ones that came with it.. so i'm settling on them.

what about things like HN drop-in air filters? i've read a bit about them but haven't really got the full idea yet - i am quite the car noob

 

[tidy protege]

the mazda 5 spoke shades wheels are pretty nice my little brothers 323 is a shades so it came with the same wheels the only reason why he changed them is because dad wanted to have our cars identicle as a novalty so now he is driving around in a silver version of my car

 

[tidy protege]

so what have go planned performance wise for your car

 

[astinadave]

nothing thus far.. like i said, still a little timid to do too much, don't really have the cash to continually pump into the car.. still dreading the first time it breaks and needs a major service

prolly start small.. foglights, airfilters, stereo etc etc.. best cheap improvments i can find or you can recommend

:edit: ooh ooh and maybe muffler / exhaust .. just thought of that

 

[tidy protege]

fog light generally go for about 320 installed
If you are concerned about warrantee air filter wise just get a air element or air pannel i use a kn air pannel its less restrictive but it wont damage your warrantee it costed me about 80-90 bucks
stero wise it is important that you get really good speakers in the front i.e splits or 3 ways head unit wise look at jvc alpine pioneer they are all putting out some nice stuff
if base is what your looking for go a single 10 or 12 inch sub i put 2 12s in and it was over kill recently i have switched back to a single 10 and i am more than satisfied with that alone

 

[tidy protege]

exhaust wise i would go a 2 and quarter system or 2 inch cat back system i personally would go 2 and a quarter is i went 2 and looking back in hine sight i would have went 2 and a quarter

 

[astinadave]

the air filter idea sounds good and cheap..

i'm keen on some decent speakers up front and maybe a sub.. i spend about 1.5hours in my car to and from work and music gets me through.. some new speakers has been on the cards for a while.

 

[tidy protege]

if you dont mind me asking what is your budget stereo wise

 

[astinadave]

again haven't given much thought.. don't really know what an average price would be..

for say two decent front speakers (forget the rear) and a decent sub.. 10inch, oh and i guess i'd need some housing.. can't have it rolling around the boot. $250-$300 i could prolly swing.. but cheaper the better.. without having to resort to $3 speakers

also "2 and quarter system or 2 inch cat back system" makes little to no sense to my puny non car related mind.. sorry, more info?

i realise i could prolly google it though, just lazy and tired.

 

[twilightprotege]

no worries astinadave.

just remember that any mod you do to the car, doesnt automatically ruin the rest of the car's warranty. ie if you get lowering springs, that doesnt void the warranty on your engine.

also, if you are happy to get the car serviced elsewhere (perfectly ok with warranty too - check with your mazda dealer), a good mate of mine and a friend of his have opened a workshop. they both used to work as mechanics at grand priz mazda at aspley, so they know mazda's inside out.

in terms of mods you can do yourself, a k&n air filter wont do anything performance wise - just give a tiny bit more sound. think of getting the injen cold air intake (cai for short). all you need to do if you're worried is put the stock air setup back on when you get it serviced. the cai has been proved to give 5-6whp on the aussie cars

with the exhaust, it really all depends on where you want power. if you're wanting every day power, a 2" pipe work setup will be perfect. if you're wanting more top end power...2.25", if you're nuts like me....2.5" (overkill unless you have the mods to support it). but i strongly advise to get extractors at the same time. that's where the power is gained on the protege exhaust systems.

 

[astinadave]

The only appealing thing with my warranty is that it's a 3yr/100,000km warranty and after that the dealer will give me an extra 3yr/100,000km warranty if i stick with their servicing.. only appealing thing is being able to get engine fixed under warranty for six years but again.. after 5 years they're gonna blame things on 'general wear and tear' over something they need to swap for free.. where is your mates workshop? i live on northside but work on southside - so i get around.

CAI eh? extractors eh? rather than ask i will do some research on these, i wouldn't object to installing an CAI and swapping it for servicing..

where does everyone in Brisbane buy their gear from?


now sadly here comes a lame question, HP and kW? how are they comparable? I've done a bit of research and seem to find that aussies talk kW and yanks/brits talk HP.
5-6hp = ??kW = ?? in 'get up and go'?

:edit: found this on some highschool physics page 1 hp = 0.746 kW
i really should've studied physics does this equation stay true for cars? my understanding is they measure slightly different things

thanks for all your help.

 

[twilightprotege]

my mate's workshop is at brendale (i live at chermside myself)

cai - cold air induction - pipe work to replace the stock plastic pipe sh!t so the engine gets more air...and most importantly, colder air

extractors - the part at the front of the engine that allows the exhaust gases out of the engine and out the rear. very heavy cast iron stuff

gear - i get all my stuff from america because even with shipping, it's cheaper...and usually better quality too. have a look in the for sale section and the auth vendor section for stuff for sale.

1hp = about 0.74kw.

oh, you found it....but yeah, i'm used to talking in HP because of this board, but can manage both

 

[astinadave]

just looking at your sig.. so, 149.3HP is about 111kW??
that's cool.. oh and that's without exhaust work..

what sort of power are you on now?

 

[twilightprotege]

yeah about 111kw at the engine - up from 98, so that's not bad...and yeah that was before exhaust. i guestimate i'm at atleast 130whp now - that's around 130kw at the engine

 

[astinadave]

(bow) hmmn i definately like the sounds of that..

very keen to do something with minenow... i'll do it in stages though.. first break 95kW.. then 100kW then who knows..