[funkyfreshmonke]

Alrite everyone, poll time!

The question is, would you save up for a turbo or supercharger now? Or, would you buy a CAI, catback, headers etc,(once they come out with a little variety of course). Feel free to add your comments, as to what would u want to do or planning on doing in addition to answering the questions and taking the poll.

 

[raitchison]

Fundamentals first.

You will want to wait till the F/I systems are out there, matured and proven.

 

[Kirk]

You will want to wait till the F/I systems are out there, matured and proven.

Hmmm... Someone's gotta buy em first in order for them to get mature and proven, no? You can't test results of a part by simply waiting for the part to get better...

The main thing to look for in a kit is how complete it is. There will always be a learning curve, and there will always be improvements. Hopefully, the kit you choose will be upgradeable in the future as improvements are found, much like mine is in my Miata. I pay $30 for a new chip in my auxillary ECU, pull the old chip out, and swap the new one in when new software comes out. That's the kind of thing you'll want to look for.

As for the other options in the poll: there's a good chance that headers and a catback will work just fine with a supercharger anyway, so that's a moot point. Headers will obviously not work with a turbo, and you'll want to go with a turbo catback (3" or more ID) to get the best performance. Turbos act as mufflers, so you can put bigger exhausts on and still keep sounds bearable. Superchargers act as amplifiers; throwing a turbo catback on a SC car makes it LOUD.

My suggestion would be to wait to throw parts on the car, be they FI or NA. If you wait a bit, you'll see the aftermarket parts increase, and you'll have a better idea of which way you want to go with the car, given availability and prices.

 

[grooverider]

I'll go with the basics first until I get power hungry.

 

[funkyfreshmonke]

thanks for the insight kirk ...keep'em coming guys.

 

[SolarMZ3]

Saving up for the supercharger, cai and catback are easy expenses ready to be expensed when they come out!!!

 

[raitchison]

Hmmm... Someone's gotta buy em first in order for them to get mature and proven, no? You can't test results of a part by simply waiting for the part to get better...

That's most certianly true but I would not want to be an "Early Adopter" when it comes to a Turbo or Supercharger. I'll let the kinks get worked out on other peoples cars before I think about putting it on mine.

 

[newblu3]

If I have the car long enough (which I plan on) I will probably save up and get a turbocharger if they make one. Even then I am thinking of waiting 3-4 years which will be when my powertrain warranty is up. In the mean time I will hopefully have the funds to do the CAI & catback. I will definitely have to think about a header though. If I do turbocharge I want to do it right, full exhaust, probably bigger injectors, boost controller, gauges, ecu, and possibly an intercooler if the boost is high enough on the setup. It will not be a cheap ticket to do all of this, but if you are going to do it, do it right. It will be interesting to see what kind of performance we will be able to get out of this car with FI.

 

[dinu01]

Keeping it absolutely stock

Except for tint, winter tires, and a mazda3forums sticker

 

[AzMs3]

I'm going to do all bolt ons then do turbo, yeah it will be expensive but will be so fun. By then there will be a reliable turbo system with good tuning and not the band-aids some of the kits have. And seeing this car and the focus share some of the same things, tuning will not be as simple.
Hopefully people like SCT can crack the ECU.

---Herb---

 

[Vasculio]

well I want to drive my stocked car for at least a year then I will play around with it heheh ... so lets hope I can get everyone at once lol ><

but I think I will go with the basic first then turbo hehehe

 

[Cleeve]

Or, would you buy a CAI, catback, headers etc

Help out an old-school racer. I've only modded domestic V8's, and that was about 10 years ago.

What's a CAI?

What's a Catback?

I've just bought a Mazda3 2.0l, looking to put about 30 extra horses in it. That'd be just about right for this car, I reckon.

 

[raitchison]

CAI = Cold Air Intake, generally high flow air intake that feeds from cool air outside the engine bay.

Catback = Exhaust system that goes from the Catalytic Converter BACK to the tailpipe. These are popular since you can't move/change the cat and stay street legal due to smog rules.

30Hp in the 2.0, that could be a challenge with bolt-ons only. Since your a V8 guy you might want to stroke it since the 2.3 is just a 2.0 with a longer stroke anyways.

Welcome to the boards BTW.

 

[Cleeve]

30Hp in the 2.0, that could be a challenge with bolt-ons only.

Really? Ouch. Headers & a CAI would yield me somewhere in the 20 horse range then? I guess I could live with that if I had to. Yeah, 170 horses would do it, this car's a daily driver, I don't need to win any races. I just want more oomph when passing on the highway. (Well, maybe to smackdown punks in stock Neons and Civics).

Crikey, for the pain-in-the-ass factor, I should just stick a teensy 50-shot of nitrous in there for the horses I'm looking for...

I'll say one thing about this car. The handling is TIGHT for a stock car in this segment. I drove it through the Canadian Shield last weekend, this thing surprised me like crazy. It eats curvy, hilly roads like it was built for them (then again the sports cars I'm used to are 90's mustangs, etc.).

The only thing missing was extra oomph for getting up hills. Lots of 5th-4th downshifting happening, which was fun, but not something I'd want to do so much on a long drive.

 

[speedmaster]

30Hp in the 2.0, that could be a challenge with bolt-ons only.

..................................................................

I'll say one thing about this car. The handling is TIGHT for a stock car in this segment. I drove it through the Canadian Shield last weekend, this thing surprised me like crazy. It eats curvy, hilly roads like it was built for them (then again the sports cars I'm used to are 90's mustangs, etc.).

...........

Yeah!!! I'm with you on that...too bad that in Florida the only place where I can have some fun are the small country roads and hiway accesses (oh boy I would love to live in Colorado... hills, hills and more hills).

By the way, what is a CAI? Sorry I'm not an American and missing to understand what it means? Is there any sport headers available already?

 

[funkyfreshmonke]

speedmaster, lol scroll up and you'll find out what CAI is =)...about 2 posts up =)

 

[darkside3]

is there a turbo out?.. i plan on getting mine turbo'ed as soon as they make one with a a good FMI.. by that time i will have completed all the fundementals like CAI and exhuast and crap...

 

[kppet]

I would to get some of that untapped potential from the 2.3L. Personally i would want some thing to compete with RSX motor. 2L=200HP, 2.3L=230HP

 

[ccall48]

I would to get some of that untapped potential from the 2.3L. Personally i would want some thing to compete with RSX motor. 2L=200HP, 2.3L=230HP

I feel that

 

[Kirk]

<-- 1.8L = 233hp @ wheels.