More Power!

[roadrunner]

Just got a mazda 3i and it drives great only thing thats disappointing is the 148hp stock. Thinking of adding a turbocharger with all the trimmings :chuckle

Any advice in boosting horses without going bankrupt???

[Kevin@nextmod]

yes....finance a speed 3. Cuase if you use your own you'll eventually pay for the maintainance afterwards.

[roadrunner]

Right, but I just got the 3 like less than 4 days ago. Financing another car wasn't really what I had in mind, but thanks.

[Kevin@nextmod]

well didn't you test drive the car before you bought it? i'm not trying to cause put you down but if you put a turbo in there yourself, your warranty is gone, tranny will be in great risk, all the money you havet o spend to buy and install.

[MattC]

Not to mention the speed 3 comes like a beast right out of the box.

[chinsterr]

Not to mention the speed 3 comes like a beast right out of the box.

with warranty !

[CoolColombian]

Your best bet is the www.hiboost.com kit, it'll cost you around $4500 CAD, 8 to 12 psi daily driver, 250 to 280 whp. Search on mazda3forums.com in the force induction section. Good luck and happy boosting.

[justin]

One thing that hasn't been touched on is the sheer amount of money you will have to spend (over above the money you will spend on a turbo and having it installed) on maintaining the vehicle.

You will need to run a higher octane fuel (92 at least), and with gas prices as high as they are, I hope you have a well paying job or a sizable amount of money saved up. You'll also need to run a higher grade of oil as your engine will run alot hotter.

Ultimately, if you want to spend tons of money on fuel, have no warranty or a transmisson, the decision is yours. But I would recommend that you think twice about what you are planning on doing.

[stas]

everything justin said.
its a big risk running a turbo on our cars, not enough research has been done. if you want it to be reliable you pretty much have to rebuild the engine and get the speed tranny as ours will mostlikely not hold for a long time. heard some people having problems with it. and he meant 91 octane not 92.

in long run i sense it will cost you more then getting rid of your brand new 3 and getting a speed3 instead. unfortunately the stock 3 is not tuner friendly as hondas.


One thing that hasn't been touched on is the sheer amount of money you will have to spend (over above the money you will spend on a turbo and having it installed) on maintaining the vehicle.

You will need to run a higher octane fuel (92 at least), and with gas prices as high as they are, I hope you have a well paying job or a sizable amount of money saved up. You'll also need to run a higher grade of oil as your engine will run alot hotter.

Ultimately, if you want to spend tons of money on fuel, have no warranty or a transmisson, the decision is yours. But I would recommend that you think twice about what you are planning on doing.

[Nextmod]

If you are interested in a Fujita Cold air intake please let me know thanks =)

Dyno shows a 10HP increase =)

[Skarbro]

I've known many cars with aftermarket turbos. Most of them require special care and maintenance like others have posted. Not something I would want to do on a brand new car.

[Wild Weasel]

Gotta agree with the above.

I fully support adding boost. If you've got an older car or a much less expensive car and want to get lots of power out of it, then boost is the way to go. It just doesn't make much sense to buy a lower model of a brand new car that's available with factory boost, and then want to boost it yourself.

You're going to spend more in the end than you'd have spent just buying the MS3 now.

Once you've dropped the 5 grand on the turbo kit, you're now right near the price of the MS3, except you still don't have stability control, bigger brakes, high performance tires, the TMIC hood, the extra bracing, etc.

If you'd bought a used Mz3 for $8k and now wanted to spend another $8k making it stupid fast, then I'd say go for it! But with your new car... I think you're better off getting an intake and exhaust and just enjoying the hassle-free ownership with a warranty that you paid for.

[WhiteSpeed3]

its prob worth it for u to sell ur take the loss and then spend more on the speed

[Wild Weasel]

its prob worth it for u to sell ur take the loss and then spend more on the speed

I don't know about that.

That's a huge loss to take for pretty much nothing.

[Sean80]

I'm not sure if the hiboost system comes with a new exhaust, but you will also have to factor that in if it doesn't. You will need to open that stock exhaust for sure if you add boost. Much easier to get ms3 with warranty.

[MattC]

MoT has a speed 3 with 12000 km's on it in their show room for 29k.

if you have a 3gt thats only a few grand more.

[argos]

If you are interested in a Fujita Cold air intake please let me know thanks =)

Dyno shows a 10HP increase =)

that's good enough. it's like an upgrade to the 2.3L model :chuckle

[roge]

I'm not sure if the hiboost system comes with a new exhaust, but you will also have to factor that in if it doesn't. You will need to open that stock exhaust for sure if you add boost. Much easier to get ms3 with warranty.

no exhaust with the kit. Just the downpipe.

[Wild Weasel]

MoT has a speed 3 with 12000 km's on it in their show room for 29k.

if you have a 3gt thats only a few grand more.

He said he's got 148 hp though. That's not even the GT, is it?

[Sean80]

nope 2.0

[MattC]

well still, if i could drive stick I would try to get out of my lease and grab that car.

[garboui]

that's good enough. it's like an upgrade to the 2.3L model :chuckle

yes, on the top end. this is because the 2.3 will still have more torque through a larger rpm range. the 2l and 2.3 are the same engine for the most part with the same bore but the 2.3 gets its extra displacment from its longer stroke. this longer stroke is what gives more torque.

now, this doesnt mean the 2.0 is lacking hp is just a product of the engines torque and rpm then adjusted by a constant. what this means is that the 2.0 will have to spin more to make this peak hp because of decreased torque. now because its spinning more the torque(esentially what accelerates you f=ma) can be made beck through gearing multiplying the available torque. this is an important reason you hear racers most always concern themselves with hp numbers. revving the engine faster also lessens the friction/power rastio as well which is one of the other side benifits of having a hig revving engine.

what does this mean to you. just expect to drop that cog and have the engine spinning more to get that extra zip out of the engine instead of mashing the pedal and expecting the car to move signiuficantly below and around 3500rpm.


ps. its just plain fun to hear the engine up at 6-7k sounds sooo nice!!!

[KenYork]

garboui.. next mods you should add a SU engine mount $135 and a rear sway under $200. then save for suspension.

[garboui]

yeah i know. im allredy keeping an eye out for a good deal on a progress bar. the h-tech gb is looking tempting too. just wish i was still able to work my old job while still in school. engine mount prolly a good idea too to get rid of some of the "slap". gotta wait till the bills come in at the end of this month to see if i got the money for at least one or two of the things.

[CanadaGTO]

Engine mounts in stock by the way :)

[dentinger]

id go with some small mods first, like an intake and catback.
then once that gets boring, i dunno, a new computer?
and definetely lower the car too.
when u lower a car, you get better traction during acceleration because the front end doesnt lift up as much under hard acceleration.
just a set of springs will run ya $300, plus the car will look way better too!!

oh, and have you thought about making your car lighter??
or even lightweight rims??
removing 1lb of rotating weight is equal to 10lb of total car mass.

oh, and btw, a highboost kit, along with forged internal will net HUGE gains...
i've heard of 500whp, but thats with extreme tuning.

and with the speed 3, you could always get a better exhaust for that, a CAI, and slightly larger turbo and be absolutely fine.
like, probably 350whp.
subies, evo's, and skylines all make under 300.

just my 2 cents

[active3s]

Hmm, I have read that you can get more gain from the EFI 2.3 on the regular 3 with a Hi-Boost or HAAS Kit. The speed3 DISI set up can only be adjusted a bit other wise it would go to overspeed. Let me see if I can find that article again..

[KenYork]

id go with some small mods first, like an intake and catback.
then once that gets boring, i dunno, a new computer?
and definetely lower the car too.
when u lower a car, you get better traction during acceleration because the front end doesnt lift up as much under hard acceleration.
just a set of springs will run ya $300, plus the car will look way better too!!

oh, and have you thought about making your car lighter??
or even lightweight rims??
removing 1lb of rotating weight is equal to 10lb of total car mass.

oh, and btw, a highboost kit, along with forged internal will net HUGE gains...
i've heard of 500whp, but thats with extreme tuning.

and with the speed 3, you could always get a better exhaust for that, a CAI, and slightly larger turbo and be absolutely fine.
like, probably 350whp.
subies, evo's, and skylines all make under 300.

just my 2 cents

have you read garboui's signature:

"04' M3S GS Titanium Grey. Ghetto cold air, aux-mod w/custom ipod hookup, infinity 10" w/ MTX-2301, Alpine Type-S coaxials, want lots more, being brokeass student doesnt help."

[CanadaGTO]

Hmm, I have read that you can get more gain from the EFI 2.3 on the regular 3 with a Hi-Boost or HAAS Kit. The speed3 DISI set up can only be adjusted a bit other wise it would go to overspeed. Let me see if I can find that article again..

Highly doubtful :) Direct Injection is not new, nor is it only on Mazda's. DI Injector upgrades are available, though not for the Speed3/6 yet.

We shall see though. Sooner rather than later I think.

[roadrunner]

I think my best bet is to stick with just a cold air intake & catback. For now! ;)

Thanks for all your help & great advice guys!!!

[roadrunner]

One last thing. What would the better purchase, a front mount intercooler w/ bov or Fujita Cold air intake?

[Wild Weasel]

One last thing. What would the better purchase, a front mount intercooler w/ bov or Fujita Cold air intake?

Without a turbo, you have no use for an intercooler or BOV. You need a cold air intake of some sort.

[MattC]

If you start spending over 3000$ on preformance upgrades, it almost makes it worth while to get the speed ;)

[Caz]

Sounds more like $6k to me.

[roadrunner]

So what could I do to increase the performance on the 3 without spending 3grand?

[justin]

So what could I do to increase the performance on the 3 without spending 3grand?

Mazdaspeed Intake/Vibrant Headers/Mazdaspeed Exhaust. Not sure on the exact pricing, but I'd say bout 1500 installed. Someone like Flippy, Supershyguy or CTA Patrique could give you prices on those items.

[justin]

everything justin said.
its a big risk running a turbo on our cars, not enough research has been done. if you want it to be reliable you pretty much have to rebuild the engine and get the speed tranny as ours will mostlikely not hold for a long time. heard some people having problems with it. and he meant 91 octane not 92.

in long run i sense it will cost you more then getting rid of your brand new 3 and getting a speed3 instead. unfortunately the stock 3 is not tuner friendly as hondas.

Er yes... I meant 91. LOL... good looking out Stas! :chuckle


unfortunately the stock 3 is not tuner friendly as hondas.

Hmmm, not sure if I have to agree on that... sure there aren't as many parts out there for the 3 as there is for the Hondaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, but... you also have to remember the Honda has been around for FAR longer, so more R&D has been done on the B and D engine than any other engine out there.

The number of parts for the 3 is growing. Give it a few more years and the modding landscape will look different.

[roge]

get a new motormount. No point adding more hp if you can't use it.