Tracking my Mazda 3 and ? about eibach pro-kit

[Krunko]

I'm organizing a company track day, and I'm expecting about 10 people from work to attend. Between everyone there will be a couple corvettes, viper, 911 turbo, jetta vr6, Mz3 Speed, a Nissan GT-R (for reals), and then my car... a regular 2.3 naturally aspirated 04 Mazda 3.

I know I'm severely over...everything by every car on that list, but I'd like to at least to be able to keep up with the Jetta. What are some of your first suggestions, with the exception of tires, for getting better performance for the track day. I had an eibach pro-kit on my 98 240sx and was very happy with it. I'm curious to know, for those who have it, if you feel like it affected ride quality much on the street.

Also what other mods would you suggest that don't cost an arm and a leg. (for example a turbo kit is not a good recommendation)

Thanks guys.

 

[FrancoNemo]

I'm organizing a company track day, and I'm expecting about 10 people from work to attend. Between everyone there will be a couple corvettes, viper, 911 turbo, jetta vr6, Mz3 Speed, a Nissan GT-R (for reals), and then my car... a regular 2.3 naturally aspirated 04 Mazda 3.

I know I'm severely over...everything by every car on that list, but I'd like to at least to be able to keep up with the Jetta. What are some of your first suggestions, with the exception of tires, for getting better performance for the track day. I had an eibach pro-kit on my 98 240sx and was very happy with it. I'm curious to know, for those who have it, if you feel like it affected ride quality much on the street.

Also what other mods would you suggest that don't cost an arm and a leg. (for example a turbo kit is not a good recommendation)

Thanks guys.

from personal experience u will not keep up with the jetta! specially if its a VR6! Those keep up with speed3s until like 3rd gear! my best time so far has been 15.9 (there is a thread about 3's track times) cheap bolt ons would be CAI/SRI nice 7-10 hp gain. after that exhaust! headers, pulleys,....
good luck at the track.

 

[jbiird317]

so are we talking drag track day or auto-x track day? Im gonna hope for your sake that its auto-x, cuz dragging a stock mz3 against that competition will probly not be any fun. Assuming were talking auto-x, I would beef up the suspension - springs, stiffer struts, thicker sway bars, bracing, etc - really anything to keep your car more planted through the turns. Intake and exhaust will give you a slight power gain as well. So try that and then practice!! I've seen porsche's struggling to keep up with NA miatas before, based solely on the quality of the driver.

hope that helps! good luck...

 

[Krunko]

It's a street race...you know..gran turismo style, auto-x, but not auto-x because it's not in a parking lot. It's going to be willow springs most likely.

I think I'll focus on some suspension stuff first. A couple questions...

Is it important to replace my shocks/struts if I get the eibach pro-kit, and is there a very noticeable loss in ride quality/comfort?

 

[cmedrive]

I have the Mazdaspeed springs which are the same as the Eibach pro-kits. The ride is stiff around town but you're going to get that anytime you upgrade springs. Its not harsh, though. And, no, you do not need to replace your shocks/struts. I'm still on the stockers at 40K (although I didn't replace the springs until 30K, I bought it used). Get an alignment asap after installing the springs. Look for 0 toe rear, and slight toe out in the front (slight meaning MAYBE 1/16th out). Under power an FWD will pull the front wheels into 0 toe. The only extra suspension mod I would consider is a good set of tires (Potenza RE-01R, Azenis, Direzzas...etc). Otherwise a bigger rear sway will help introduce a little oversteer. If you're experienced, that's good, if you're not, you could get yourself into trouble.
I would try to concentrate on having fun, the MZ3 is a well balanced, surprisingly neutral handling, fun car. And a bad day racing is still better than a good day working, lol.

 

[tsunami]

i agree with cmedrive putting money into perf based mods is pretty much a wash as total hp gain from cai/exhaust/headers is probably 10-12whp so its not really worth it for the money and time it takes to do all those mods. suspension can be done for cheaper and will give you a noticable decrease in times. i have the prokit and have been using the stock struts for 45k now with no issues (though i think i am changing to bilstiens for the autox season ) a rear sway and tires will help if you have the money and time a front sway and endlinks wouldn't be bad either. a strut tower brace is probably a waste of time on these cars with the struts so close to the fire wall there is hardly any flex there and is a waste of money.