Road and Track's Modified Mazdaspeed3

[Fobio]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=7122

[x_o_k_x]

For some reason I expected alot more from "modified" speed3. Not a big difference, but slight improvemnt with the CAI and exhaust. Cool

[Fobio]

$399 for an intake?
$800 for a cat-back exhaust?
$550/wheel?
$1800 for coilovers?

just goes to show the power of the aftermarket...then again, if you race your Mazda, you can get all these parts at lower than dealer cost...as much as I love Mazdaspeed, MS = M$...

[cereal83]

They probably got the good stuff, not the garbage stuff alot of people love buying. For all that money, doesn't seem like a huge improvement in the stats of stock vs modified. If I spend $4000 on my car, it better be much quicker then what it was

[Fobio]

They probably got the good stuff, not the garbage stuff alot of people love buying. For all that money, doesn't seem like a huge improvement in the stats of stock vs modified. If I spend $4000 on my car, it better be much quicker then what it was

Just a note, I'd love to love and buy Mazdaspeed Performance Parts, but the MS-CAI is a rebranded AEM part that got discontinued by Mazda for causing lean conditions. AEM then re-released the same part with an air-straightener to correct the lean condition.

These MS coil-overs are great tho, because they are KW-variants...but a set of BC coil-overs with more adjustability costs only $1000.

And yeah...if I spent $4000 on my car (I do dig the wheels and approve of the tire choice...) I'd expect a lot more performance, and I might as well have saved it for a down-payment on a BMW 135i...

[condor888000]

But they didn't go full out, if they had they would have looked to CPE or Cobb, not Mazdaspeed.

[Fobio]

But they didn't go full out, if they had they would have looked to CPE or Cobb, not Mazdaspeed.

I'd tend to agree.

PS: If there's a "Thank" feature", I would've "Thanked" condor888000's post rather than quoting it to write a 4-word reply.

[x_o_k_x]

I think the whole purpose of this project is to make "true" Mazdaspeed with Speed parts. Otherwise like you said they could have went full out. And also to possibly prove how common items like these could improve you car by this much. Because everyone gets these parts.

[FLIPDADY]

I love those Volk wheels. Same ones on the G35 coupe.

[SP33D 3]

that thing is sloww... only 260whp after all that?

[kid_icarus]

da heck is the exhaust for if they say it's not for hp gains?

[ptfire]

I don't know if I am missing something here but the only HP gain was due to the CAI. So 260whp is a good gain for just a CAI. The rest of the money spent on the car was not help the car accelerate in a straight line (maybe the lighter wheels helped a little) but to help it corner faster and hence run a faster lap time on a track. The test results I see are only for a straight line.

[Fobio]

I don't know if I am missing something here but the only HP gain was due to the CAI. So 260whp is a good gain for just a CAI. The rest of the money spent on the car was not help the car accelerate in a straight line (maybe the lighter wheels helped a little) but to help it corner faster and hence run a faster lap time on a track. The test results I see are only for a straight line.

Yeah...R&T has been a little disappointing for me for the past couple of yrs...it's not really R&T when all they do is run the car in a straight line...

Some dude on the other forum mentioned that the writer for the article was his friend in Cali, and that they had no choice but to use MS-parts for the article.

[mazdas3sporte]

all that money spend translated into little unnoticable diffrence, 0.2 seconds faster lol, not really a wow factor

[kaval]

all that money spend translated into little unnoticable diffrence, 0.2 seconds faster lol, not really a wow factor

True, but in straight line races, 0.2 seconds is quite a gap.

[Marsh]

True, but in straight line races, 0.2 seconds is quite a gap.

In most kinds of racing 0.2 sec (per lap) is quite a gap.

[Marsh]

In most kinds of racing 0.2 sec (per lap) is quite a gap.

But I kind of agree with Fobio that the improvements don't seem to justify the cost. That said it's a matter of focus as much as money. The cost of a coilover kit doesn't necessarily have anything to do with how stiff it is.

And all the bolt-ons in the world won't beat a set of serious R-compounds which cost no more than most high end street tires in the same size. If you track your car then these magazine tests of modified cars are not what you should be looking at. A lap time is the only real way of quantifying handling improvement. A skid pad won't tell you if the car has better ballance. And a stiffer rear end, that helps you put the power down out of corners, might actually hurt skid pad numbers if the car was already pretty good, but would almost always help a high powered front driver.