Essential mods for car?

comeatmebro

comeatmebro

Active member
so some of you might have seen my thread, but i recently purchased an 05 mazda 3s 5 spd car. i'm picking it up tomorrow, and am stoked as hell. anyways, i'm wondering what the "essential" mods for a car would be. just want to get some ideas on good parts and whatnot. oh and come january my warranty is up and i plan on turboing it...if that makes a difference
 
intake, exhaust system (NOT A CAN), a chip.

after that things will get real expensive.
 
intake

exahust full or cat back

ecu programmer

and

a short throw then i would go with some light weight wheels and sticky then if you have some serious cash invest in a turbo kit
 
Exhaust should always be fist IMO. Cheap, effective and cool. and is a good building block for anything to come. And by exhaust I don't mean a fart can, I mean the whole thing.

Will you be driving it in snow much? if so some premium tires, and or studded tires rock.
 
The best way to get power to a car is to get more air to the engine, since most engines are just really big air pumps anyways. So first thing you could do is cold air/ram air intake, and exhaust system. These will free up the most restrictive systems of your engine.

Next thing you can do is free up some weight. Literally go through the car and rip out anything that you don't need to drive. This maybe a bad idea if this is your daily, but if this is just a car built for speed, then take out : the back seat, carpit, AC, radio, plastic pieces, etc.

Now, its sort of hard to tell you what else to change since you want to install a turbo. A turbo will make a HUGE difference in power, but i don't know if you fully understand the implications of installing one in your car.
 
Well a turbo makes all the difference.

First I would list out everything I'm going to need for the turbo later on and probably start to assemble all those components but...

Other things you can do:

- Tint

- wheels

- suspension (coilovers, sway bars, strut bars, etc)

- brakes (rotors, callipers, pads, high temp fluid)

- interior (new seats, suede, etc.)

- exterior (HID lights, new grille, please NO neon)

- stereo

- intake

- exhaust, (but make sure it'll be big enough to get enough air out when you turbo it

- cams

- Short Through Shifter (since you have a stick)

- lightweight flywheels

- spec clutches

- grippy tires

- Forged internals

That should give you some idea. The list is almost endless, it just depends on what your goal with the car is and how deep your pockets are.

also I would suggest hitting up a Mazda forum and seeing what those guys are doing with their cars for some inspiration

 
okay a lot of replies, all in a short period of time haha.

my thoughts are this:

i need to get an exhaust obviously, and no not a fucking weedwacker but an exhaust haha.

also a CAI would be a good thing as well

like i said i'm going to start saving up now for a turbo kit, but mainly what i wanted to ask was this...what is worth putting on my car NOW that i won't have to replace when i get my turbo kit?
 
oh and also i'm mainly looking for ideas in performance parts. i want to get the window tint, grille, wheels and that's really it i think as far as looks go. oh and there will be no stripping down of the car, it's an everyday driver as well haha.
 
like this?

aston_miata_2.jpg


I know it's a miata but still
 
as interesting as these lotus and astin martin body kits are...they aren't exactly helping me!!

typical NS shit hahaha
 
Honestly, not much. You can't put an exhaust on since it will be swaped, or changed when you pop on the turbo, you can't do a chip, or injectors, or internals, or anything really to the engine.

Intake, and maybe some better ignition stuff.

Literally when you install a turbo ( even a kit turbo) you have to change everything out of the engine ( pistons, injectors, exhaust manifold, timing, vavles, studded heads, engine control modual, oil feeds, cam, etc) to take full advantage of the power of the turbo. Not to mention the hours of tuning, and dyno time to get it just right.

You could to some transmission work ( shift kit, gears, short throw shifter, new clutch), Limited slip differential, coil over suspention kit, new CV shafts, brake kit, etc.

Honestly doing anymore engine work then intake and electrical on a car that is going to get a turbo is useless.
 
well we basically answered your question.

When you get a Turbo if you have an upgraded ECU it can usually adapt to the new Turbo(at least with the Audi's I've worked with), an intake will need to be changed to something that can be put on the inlet side of the turbo, you will need a new intake manifold to accommodate the turbo housing, you will also need a new exhaust manifold to accommodate the turbo, i you want to run an I/C the that will also have to be planned for with proper piping, and more thought as to how the air is going to go from the compressor to the I/C. then to the intake manifold, then to the exhaust side of the equation. Also placement will have to be thought about as to keep water, debris and heat away from the turbo.

So the only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you get a Cat back exhaust you will probably not end up replacing that. Along with Suspension components which will net you huge gains if you stiffen the chassis (in the handling department), using larger roll bars and if you can afford the space a front and rear strut tower brace (the front one isn't the problem but a rear strut brace usually will cross the trunk.)

But be warned if you make it to stiff you can make handling worse, especially on FWD platforms which tend to understeer like it's there sole purpose in life.

What I would do if I was you would be to work on the exterior and leave the engine alone until you turbo it.

Also What kind of turbo do you want to slap on this thing?

 
yes, exhaust is money as a first mod. i know the sound quality isnt the best, but search youtube to find something throaty.

have you seriously considered all aspects of getting a turbo?> i.e. kits made for your car, who makes them, their cost, and how much they will kill the longevity of your engine (depending on how much boost you are running and how often you spool that fucker up)?

its best to buy a kit that has been developed and tested by a company in order to get something reliable, unless you know enough yourself to assemble your own kit

so consider the cost:

I drive an '01 IS300, the best and 2nd cheapest kit besides that retarded ebay shit is $5k

+ about another $2k for installation and dyno tuning unless you know

how to do that yourself and or have a friend and access to the right equipment?

plus, im not sure about your car, but depending on the hp you were shooting for you might have to upgrade your tranny as well, so thats another few g's

if you have already decided to go that route, thats dope, your car will be fast as hell. as for other stuff you can add, you'll be fine getting a quality intake. im assuming theres a forum for your car, in which case you will have no problem selling it used for not too much of a loss.

i wish i could afford to boost my car so badly, but its kinda out of the question seeing as i just finished paying it off. if you have the funds, go for it. personally i can only afford intake with air/fuel ecu, exhaust, and making it look G

 
yeah, a turbo kit is gonna run me about $4k. not too bad of a price really. then my dad's friend is a crazy good mechanic and he actually straight offered to help me install it free of charge. i'm obviously going to repay him SOMEHOW, maybe give my dad money to get him beer or something haha. he also has access to a dyno machine about 100 miles from here where his friend owns an aftermarket vehicle shop. and i'm not looking to get THAT much boost out of it. not enough to need to upgrade my tranny anyways. i'm shooting for something like 8-10 psi, which i think would be reasonable?

and anyways, it's looking like there isn't much i can do performance wise until i get the turbo kit? so maybe i should focus on buying wheels tint and all of that "appearance" nonsense until the warranty is up?
 
thats awesome that you have those connections. i would go for it. my car is slow as fuck, thats the biggest thing i wish i could change, you wont regret it
 
yeah i think i'll be able to get the money shortly after the warranty is up. plus i am planning on keeping the car for a good while seeing as it was a good bit of money. so i think it will be a good investment for a car anyways...
 
K&N cold air intake.
K&N air filter.
probly dual exhaust if it doesnt have it.
other than that, i dont know. im more knowledgeable in mods for 4x4 machines.
 
yeah that's how i am too man. i've grown up with my cousins and shit modding their trucks and blazers. i'm new to the car scene haha. shit my dad's truck is a beast, i'd buy it off him if it didn't get like 12 mpg...
 
sick that your going to go the turbo kit direction. but kinda wondering why your parents wouldnt let you get a wrx, it is turboed and awd, kinda weird they would let you put a kit on but not get one stock turboed. but i would onlygo with apearence for now, then wait once you get the kit on for the rest of it. and join a forum for mazdas, they will have lots of input on the best kits and other partts.
 
I dont wanna sound like a jerk, but your car is not meant for being modded. You could put a turbo kit on it, but chances are your tranny would get messed, or you would mess up your internals (unless you forged your pistons and shit). Those blocks on the Mazda 3s, which I believe has like 2.3 liter engine are weak, and a turbo kit would definitely give you problems, even if you got a good tune.

Sell it and get a tuner ready car like a WRX, you can get a used WRX for the same price and it will be much better to mod and it has awd.

Or you can save your money and then get a Mazdaspeed 3, those are dope.

I would just do some window tint, anything less than 15% is pussy. maybe some cool aftermarket wheels, like a nice gunmetal or something,17s, anything over 17's on that would look overdone. mayb do some aftermarket speakers, sub, head unit, ect.
 
Sorry if my first post sounded a little harsh, but I am just trying to put stuff into a realistic perspective for you. I have always loved the looks of the Mazda 3. But, you should really consider getting some type of other car like a wrx if you are looking for something that is quick and easy to modify.

I have seen friends pour thousands and thousands of dollars into their cars and some of the shit they do is simply stupid. For instance, this one kid I know has an 06 Mitsubishi Lancer ralliart, and he put NOS in it and a turbo kit and it is still slower than my WRX (has up-pipe and turbo back exhaust). Hes probably put like 5 or 6 grand into his car, maybe more, and its not that great.

 
i agree with wayne. you want performance you shoulda got a used WRX.... sti's and evos are dropping *ahhhh well fucking HOLDING* around-towards the price that would be right for me.... so once my shit is together and back on track i will be in the market and i think cool custom crazy unexpected cars are fun but if you want performance you should start a little higher on the starting blocks and im sure you would need mucho dyno time with a turbo kit. and you would have to pay some douche cocky asshole tuner to fuck with it, aand maybe fuck it up.... some pro tuners are very far from what i call pro.... im sure getting a turbo kit will completely change the ecu and ignition timing and knock or whatever the fuck all that tuning shit is.
 
aftermarket parts are dumb. if you want a fast car save up 40+ grand and buy one. not put 40+ grand into one.

but i did hear from vin that a stand alone fuel management system isn't a bad way to spend $10,000.
 
why would you do that if you could put $6k into a $14,000 car and make it faster than that $40,000 car is stock? and stand alone fuel management is no where near $10k.... if i dumped only 16 grand into my car (which i paid 12k for) i could theoretically be pushing 700-900 hp granted i upgraded everything that needed to be upgraded. Find me a car for 40k that has those numbers
 
dude..."essential mod" u dont need any of those mods im sure the car is fine iv driven maz's before unless its a peice of shit but if u really do dont put hardcore shit in that would fuck it all up and make ur warenty go down the shittyer. maybe like exaust system, short throw, chip, intake, u really dont need a lot
 
You want to drop 4-8 grand (it will be way more expensive than you think..I'm saying 8 grand as a max just in case) to get 8 psi, maybe 10 psi? Personally I think that's a waste of money, you could spend it in many better ways. You really won't notice a ton of boost with so little psi.

Where are you getting this money anyways? You're talkin easily like 10 grand in everything you want to do. Anyways, if you want some mods you can do before you turbo it I would go with something simpler. Some of the best advice I've heard is that you should get the car handling how you want before you get it performing how you want. Sway bars, struts, steel-braided brake lines, upgraded brakes etc. Easy to do and not too expensive. After that you could probably go with a catback exhaust and then get lightened pulleys. In the future if you do end up getting a turbo kit, a cold air intake won't give you any power gains really at all.
 
ook...
then ill add for my truck ill get
ARB bull bar
ARB air lockers
Old man Emu 2 inch suspension
custom made canvas bed cap.
 
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