woah. first Mazda.. and I'm lovin' it

[rotaidem]

ok my story quick.

My Wrangler and I went in knowing it was over. yup, gas hit $3.25 and I freaked out. My lil' Rubi was crying because she knew I was no longer having the same fun with her as I was at $1.75. I succumbed to the gas gods. I went in thinking I would come home with a boring, little car. I looked at Vibes.. and teased myself with Charger HEMI's but then I came acrossed my lil' 3. Here was a sweet lil' girl in a hot red dress and pumps who did things only her owner would know about (boom01)

Then I drove her. WOW. She was a nice little package.. 6 cd's, moon roof, ABS and air bags...nice.. then I saw 17" wheels, metalflakes and a manumatic tranny. that was it. This little girl was mine. I gave my Rubi one last hug & kiss and headed off in my lil' 3.

I have never had a non-American car much less ever driven one. What an awesome package. Now as gas has started to come back down, I don't have any regrets.

So, the next things to do would be to add a bit of zip to her air intake.. maybe a bit of tint to her windows and some snazzy stickers to start. Where are good places to look for add-ons ?

Hi from Dave in Wis

 

[NeverSober]

stickers?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOO

 

[RHAGEL]

Well I can't say that I've ever encountered someone who thinks of thier car as a human as much as you do, but hey glad your here. If you are looking for some performance parts I would start with the sponsors on this forum. Because the sponsors help support this site, I will always buy from them first. Another good place to go is to www.mazda3online.com., they also have another good forum.

 

[tsunami]

yeah i woul check www.protegegarage.com as well as www.draxas.com between the two of them they have pretty much everything you would need for your 3, also magnaflow, aem, injen, eibach, h&r, borla, tein, all make products for the 3 as well as mazdaspeeds offerings...

 

[k-lea]

"stickers" = bad

 

[MidnightSpeeder]

Good read. I will recommend to all.

 

[rotaidem]

"stickers" = bad

well ok Kristen.. no stickers. I wasn't thinking of adding the kids Garbage Pail kid or Pokemon stickers. My friend has a Maxima and he has some pretty cool looking racing sponser decals, some well done stripes and maybe a windsheild decal acrossed the top. Defininitely nothing hideous of course. (wow)


I'll have to take some pics of my 3 and post em in a message. Just been a bit busy

 

[rotaidem]

Good read. I will recommend to all.

awesome shots MS. I loved this color too. I don't know if I see any factory tinting on mine.

What benefits can I see adding an exhaust on a 2.3 ? I did realize what a more open exhaust did for my 302 cobra. Will I see 10-15% more horsepower or just more of an open, throaty sound ? I guess I could ask the same of a cold air intake. I had one installed with a K&N on the cobra. Can this really help a 2.3 ?

I definitely have a lot to learn

 

[rotaidem]

Well I can't say that I've ever encountered someone who thinks of thier car as a human as much as you do, but hey glad your here. If you are looking for some performance parts I would start with the sponsors on this forum. Because the sponsors help support this site, I will always buy from them first. Another good place to go is to www.mazda3online.com., they also have another good forum.

oh man, more toys. Thanks Rhagel & Tsunami great links. More toys !

 

[RHAGEL]

awesome shots MS. I loved this color too. I don't know if I see any factory tinting on mine.

What benefits can I see adding an exhaust on a 2.3 ? I did realize what a more open exhaust did for my 302 cobra. Will I see 10-15% more horsepower or just more of an open, throaty sound ? I guess I could ask the same of a cold air intake. I had one installed with a K&N on the cobra. Can this really help a 2.3 ?

I definitely have a lot to learn

I am pretty sure with exhaust and intake combined you will see about a 15 hp (peak) increase. This car does respond fairly well to mods though you wont see any increases like your Mustang.

 

[tsunami]

I am pretty sure with exhaust and intake combined you will see about a 15 hp (peak) increase. This car does respond fairly well to mods though you wont see any increases like your Mustang.

that sounds about right... 12-15hp i would think with just an intake and exhaust with high flow cat... add some headers (off road use only b/c of the cat delete) and light weight fly wheel you will see closer to 20 i would think. wich would put you around the 160hp, 150ftlb +/- a couple hp and ftlbs... the factory claims at the crank...

 

[Captain KRM P5]

welcome to the forums, and thanks to everyone in this thread who referenced my website. i appreciate the support more than you all know.

 

[RHAGEL]

I bought from protegegarage.com two years ago and I give them (thumb) (thumb) (two thumbs up)