[budgy]

I am guessing there are no such parts available yet, but I was wondering if any company makes performance upgrades for the Mazda 3 2.3 litre yet?

I dont want to pour a lot of money into this car but I would like to have a throatier engine noise, so if a CAI is out I want one badly. I also noticed that the header on this car is wrapped in some kind of plastic compound that stays very cool and this could not be good for performance, I am willing to bet that a decent I/H/E combo could net close to 20 horsepower.

 

[BudgetM3]

I am guessing there are no such parts available yet, but I was wondering if any company makes performance upgrades for the Mazda 3 2.3 litre yet?

I dont want to pour a lot of money into this car but I would like to have a throatier engine noise, so if a CAI is out I want one badly. I also noticed that the header on this car is wrapped in some kind of plastic compound that stays very cool and this could not be good for performance, I am willing to bet that a decent I/H/E combo could net close to 20 horsepower.

That plastic thing is called a heat shield... Also, it's not plastic and will result in no extra power if removed. It actually helps the engine by keeping the underhood temps lower, which keeps your intake manifold cooler adn therefore your intake air as well. What most people think is a cold air intake, a metal pipe and open cone filter in the engine bay, is totally wrong. Unless using a real cold air in take which is protected from hot engine bay air your gaining almost nothing powerwise, just a loud intake which sounds fast. That seems to be what most people here care about anyway...

 

[n1smo]

That plastic thing is called a heat shield... Also, it's not plastic and will result in no extra power if removed. It actually helps the engine by keeping the underhood temps lower, which keeps your intake manifold cooler adn therefore your intake air as well. What most people think is a cold air intake, a metal pipe and open cone filter in the engine bay, is totally wrong. Unless using a real cold air in take which is protected from hot engine bay air your gaining almost nothing powerwise, just a loud intake which sounds fast. That seems to be what most people here care about anyway...

The stock intake design seems pretty decent, when I get the chance I'm going to yank everything out and see what kind of restriction there may be. But a CAI design like the Injen could increase the HP significantly if the stock design is crap (10hp). Either way, a cone filter even with a WAI setup could be beneficial when you are in the higher RPMs but you'll lose the low end.

 

[budgy]

Yes but heatsheilds designed properly keep your header or headers hot which expels the exhaust gases faster giving you more power

 

[MARKPMM]

Yes but heatsheilds designed properly keep your header or headers hot which expels the exhaust gases faster giving you more power

Why then do you wrap your header?

 

[BudgetM3]

To keep the header hot and your engine bay cool!

 

[budgy]

I guess you learn something new everyday, I was just wondering, because most companys that make performance headers dont wrap them, they just have exposed metal...but what you guys said makes sense.

 

[dinu01]

Q: What's BPU/a BPU?

Thanks!

 

[budgy]

Basic Performance Upgrade

ex: intake, chips, bolt on parts etc

 

[dinu01]

Got it! Thanks!