What have you done to your MS3 today?

[mixylplik3]

And for what it's worth, I've run in a number of import circles with cars slammed to the ground and intakes 3" off the pavement and I think I've only known 1 person to hydrolock their engine- and he was an idiot as he blindly gunned it through a very large, very deep puddle.

I think if you're not stupid about driving around in wet weather (and doing some due diligence like keeping the splash guards and fender liners intact and not aiming for pools of standing water on the road) you'll be fine in all but the most extreme circumstances.

 

[destrux]

The CAI intakes most of it's air from the incoming air in the front center grill opening, not from the louvers in the wheel well. There's actually a duct on the driver side of the grill opening just for that purpose. It seems like they designed the car for a CAI right from the factory. The duct does help guide some air toward the stock airbox inlet, but it seems specifically suited to directing air to the location of the filter on the CAI system. The louvers in the wheel well are only there to let excess air out so at high speed the fender liner doesn't bulge back and hit the tire from the air pressure building up too much because of the air intake scoop. With a CAI in there the exit louvers are not needed as much because the engine is drawing in some of that air. I blocked off a few of them that were allowing water being splashed forward by the tire to hit the air filter directly. I have a MS CAI with the metal shield, so I only needed to block off a few louvers, not all of them. I also drilled a few 3/8" holes in the plastic right below the CAI filter to allow water to drain out quickly if it does get splashed in there.

Still... don't drive in water deep enough to submerge the filter, even with a water resistant filter cover... or it will hydrolock.

My wife seems to not understand how serious this is, she keeps temping fate by driving through large 4" deep puddles when the roads and parking lots flood around here, so I might be switching to a short ram intake soon. Before she does hydrolock it.

I wanted to design my own SR intake with cold air box for this car anyway... so...

 

[bigdaddy]

The CAI intakes most of it's air from the incoming air in the front center grill opening, not from the louvers in the wheel well. There's actually a duct on the driver side of the grill opening just for that purpose. It seems like they designed the car for a CAI right from the factory. The duct does help guide some air toward the stock airbox inlet, but it seems specifically suited to directing air to the location of the filter on the CAI system. The louvers in the wheel well are only there to let excess air out so at high speed the fender liner doesn't bulge back and hit the tire from the air pressure building up too much because of the air intake scoop. With a CAI in there the exit louvers are not needed as much because the engine is drawing in some of that air. I blocked off a few of them that were allowing water being splashed forward by the tire to hit the air filter directly. I have a MS CAI with the metal shield, so I only needed to block off a few louvers, not all of them. I also drilled a few 3/8" holes in the plastic right below the CAI filter to allow water to drain out quickly if it does get splashed in there.

Still... don't drive in water deep enough to submerge the filter, even with a water resistant filter cover... or it will hydrolock.

My wife seems to not understand how serious this is, she keeps temping fate by driving through large 4" deep puddles when the roads and parking lots flood around here, so I might be switching to a short ram intake soon. Before she does hydrolock it.

I wanted to design my own SR intake with cold air box for this car anyway... so...

Get a Mazdaspeed one, they come with a metal hydro shield around them. Actually, come to think of it, the MS one might be discontinued...I have the MS CAI with the metal shield and an Injen Hydro Shield, so Im double protected

 

[CBMrocket]

The CAI intakes most of it's air from the incoming air in the front center grill opening, not from the louvers in the wheel well. There's actually a duct on the driver side of the grill opening just for that purpose. It seems like they designed the car for a CAI right from the factory. The duct does help guide some air toward the stock airbox inlet, but it seems specifically suited to directing air to the location of the filter on the CAI system. The louvers in the wheel well are only there to let excess air out so at high speed the fender liner doesn't bulge back and hit the tire from the air pressure building up too much because of the air intake scoop. With a CAI in there the exit louvers are not needed as much because the engine is drawing in some of that air. I blocked off a few of them that were allowing water being splashed forward by the tire to hit the air filter directly. I have a MS CAI with the metal shield, so I only needed to block off a few louvers, not all of them. I also drilled a few 3/8" holes in the plastic right below the CAI filter to allow water to drain out quickly if it does get splashed in there.

Still... don't drive in water deep enough to submerge the filter, even with a water resistant filter cover... or it will hydrolock.

My wife seems to not understand how serious this is, she keeps temping fate by driving through large 4" deep puddles when the roads and parking lots flood around here, so I might be switching to a short ram intake soon. Before she does hydrolock it.

I wanted to design my own SR intake with cold air box for this car anyway... so...

good info!

so far i've only driven it a couple times in light rain or while it was still wet out. drove it this morning and when i got out and looked, noticed i could see the bottom of the intake pipe through the vents and that there was some water splashed on it from the tire. upon further inspection, it looked like there might have been a very light amount on the bottom of the filter as well, but so far the car is still running smooth as ever. i still want to take whatever precautions i need to block any water from getting to it since this is a daily driven car and i'd rather not end up at the dealer hat in hand with a blown motor.

 

[bigdaddy]

bought me some black McGard lug nuts from Hank3

 

[///M Compact]

Get a Mazdaspeed one, they come with a metal hydro shield around them. Actually, come to think of it, the MS one might be discontinued...I have the MS CAI with the metal shield and an Injen Hydro Shield, so Im double protected

Do you have the part number for the Injen piece?

 

[not yellow]

not trying to start a CAI vs. SRI debate... but if people are that worried about hydrolock why not just get an SRI and have peace of mind and no hassles trying to shield your intake?

 

[bigdaddy]

not trying to start a CAI vs. SRI debate... but if people are that worried about hydrolock why not just get an SRI and have peace of mind and no hassles trying to shield your intake?

agreed. Where we live, im not concerned. If I lived in the midwest, i'd go SRI. And honestly, If my car hadn't come with the MS CAI, I would have gone with a Cobb SRI, just for ease of filter maintenance.

 

[coyfish]

The CAI intakes most of it's air from the incoming air in the front center grill opening, not from the louvers in the wheel well. There's actually a duct on the driver side of the grill opening just for that purpose. It seems like they designed the car for a CAI right from the factory. The duct does help guide some air toward the stock airbox inlet, but it seems specifically suited to directing air to the location of the filter on the CAI system. The louvers in the wheel well are only there to let excess air out so at high speed the fender liner doesn't bulge back and hit the tire from the air pressure building up too much because of the air intake scoop. With a CAI in there the exit louvers are not needed as much because the engine is drawing in some of that air. I blocked off a few of them that were allowing water being splashed forward by the tire to hit the air filter directly. I have a MS CAI with the metal shield, so I only needed to block off a few louvers, not all of them. I also drilled a few 3/8" holes in the plastic right below the CAI filter to allow water to drain out quickly if it does get splashed in there.

Still... don't drive in water deep enough to submerge the filter, even with a water resistant filter cover... or it will hydrolock.

My wife seems to not understand how serious this is, she keeps temping fate by driving through large 4" deep puddles when the roads and parking lots flood around here, so I might be switching to a short ram intake soon. Before she does hydrolock it.

I wanted to design my own SR intake with cold air box for this car anyway... so...

I don't know about that. Some of the air sure but not all. Cool air goes in there when the car is moving but then again once the car is moving it doesn't matter if you have an SRI or CAI. Either one would be taking in cool air. The vents on the wheel well are right next to the cai so when the car is sitting still thats an important spot for heat convection. Thats the point in a CAI imo. To get cool air even when not moving.

Once its moving it doesn't matter. Anyways its all semantics. If supras / evo's have SRI's then that settles the debate for me .

 

[JamesCH]

I've hit some massive puddles unintentionally with my MS-CAI and haven't had a problem. I let off the gas and put the clutch in so that the engine is drawing in as little air as possible. I also have the water deflector which certainly can't hurt things.

Also, one could get a CAI for an Evo or Supra...

 

[CBMrocket]

Does anyone have pics of the MS CAI installed? kinda curious to see the shield on it when it's installed.

 

[SFCSpectre]

I have the MS CAI installed but I opted not to put the watershield on. I do have a makeshift water block between the filter and the plastic wheel well so that water doesnt come through the slits from the tire onto my filter. Not having the shield on hasnt caused a problem in the two years I have had the CAI. The only issue I have ever had is after a severe hosing of the engine bay the filter was soaked. I just took it off, dried it out and used a backup until it dried. Rain doesnt get down in that area of the bumper if you close off the holes from the wheel well.


Also, over the weekend I went to Mean Streets Carshow in Austin, TX. Took second place in the open Mazda Category. There were 4 other Mazdas showing. I didnt recognize any of the cars there. Two of the guys were Project M guys. They didnt seem to want to talk to me when they were looking at my car. Oh well.

 

[bigdaddy]

Does anyone have pics of the MS CAI installed? kinda curious to see the shield on it when it's installed.

Yeah, I can try to get a pic up for you a bit later.

 

[leadf00t]

bought me some black McGard lug nuts from Hank3

I bought myself a couple of items from Hank yesterday as well. Got the redline shift boot to go with my e-brake, and armrest, and picked up the hatch mat.

 

[Sport6]

I bought myself a couple of items from Hank yesterday as well. Got the redline shift boot to go with my e-brake, and armrest, and picked up the hatch mat.

Damn you I wanted that hatch mat.

 

[MM BOOST]

Cool pic of my car after some new mods:

-partplaza cf hood lifts & eye lids
-hd front lip
-blacked out upper and lower grills
-wheels

 

[gonerogue]

I've hit some massive puddles unintentionally with my MS-CAI and haven't had a problem. I let off the gas and put the clutch in so that the engine is drawing in as little air as possible. I also have the water deflector which certainly can't hurt things.

Also, one could get a CAI for an Evo or Supra...

If you disengage the clutch like that aren't you actually using more fuel (and thus sucking in air) than if you didn't disengage the clutch and relied on engine braking? If the engine is at an idle speed without assistance from the wheels, it requires fuel. If he car is engine braking, it doesn't require fuel to keep the engine turning over. Of course, engine braking through a deep puddle may not be a great idea because you could get stuck and the best course of action may just be to shut the engine off and put it in neutral.

I have read opinions on how coasting in neutral down a hill (stupid safety-wise) actually uses more gas than just engine braking for the reasons above. I just haven't had the proper tools to measure nor the level of expertise to decide on my own. Any input?

 

[mndsm]

Car is operating entirely in vaccuum when you push the clutch in, as unless you're still on the gas, it's at idle. If you're engine braking, car is still revving, and while it's not in boost, it's still under load, and consuming more fuel.

 

[JamesCH]

If you disengage the clutch like that aren't you actually using more fuel (and thus sucking in air) than if you didn't disengage the clutch and relied on engine braking? If the engine is at an idle speed without assistance from the wheels, it requires fuel. If he car is engine braking, it doesn't require fuel to keep the engine turning over. Of course, engine braking through a deep puddle may not be a great idea because you could get stuck and the best course of action may just be to shut the engine off and put it in neutral.

I have read opinions on how coasting in neutral down a hill (stupid safety-wise) actually uses more gas than just engine braking for the reasons above. I just haven't had the proper tools to measure nor the level of expertise to decide on my own. Any input?

Bear in mind that fuel consumption doesn't matter in this case, only air and water consumption. I am also assuming that the throttle is closed completely when the throttle pedal is not pressed (I'm not 100% sure on a fly-by-wire car, though I think it's a safe bet).

In neutral the engine is spinning at it's lowest possible speed (~800rpm-ish) so it's consuming the smallest possible amount of air, which means that it will ingest the smallest possible amount of water because the flow rate through the intake is minimized.

If one is using compression braking the engine is spinning at some speed above idle, say 3000rpm, even with the throttle closed it will consume more air than if it was spinning at only 800rpm, and my intuition says that the engine will ingest more water as it consumes more air.

The fuel efficiency argument really depends on the car, I have noticed in my MS3 that the AFRs spike high during engine braking (over 30:1 afr, maybe there's a fuel cut?) so it probably consumes less fuel than if it was in neutral (~14.5 afr).

(2cents)

Edit: I have noticed MAP pressures of around 19-22kPa (absolute) during both engine braking and idling, so the intake is under vacuum in both situations.

 

[Mi-TMS3]

installed JSpeed Inc. short shift plate