N00b saying Hi

[olcho]

Hi guys, I've been reading quite a lot of threads before I decided to finally post my first question. There's some pretty amazing info here so thanks a lot for sharing your experience! I've been thinking about trying to do some simple mods to my car but there's something that I hope one of you might be able to tell me. I have a Mazda Axela MPS 2006, which was imported from Japan and I think the equivalent in US should be Mazdaspeed3 2006. Lots of the parts that I'm thinking of upgrading - BPVs, cold air intakes and so on seem to be listed as compatible for models from 2007 and up, but looking at my engine at first glance it seems like many should be able to fit my car well (I should probably mention that I don't really have much experience in that area). Has any one of you done mods on cars like that?
Thanks!

[SleeperHatch]

Originally Posted by olcho Hi guys, I've been reading quite a lot of threads before I decided to finally post my first question. There's some pretty amazing info here so thanks a lot for sharing your experience! I've been thinking about trying to do some simple mods to my car but there's something that I hope one of you might be able to tell me. I have a Mazda Axela MPS 2006, which was imported from Japan and I think the equivalent in US should be Mazdaspeed3 2006. Lots of the parts that I'm thinking of upgrading - BPVs, cold air intakes and so on seem to be listed as compatible for models from 2007 and up, but looking at my engine at first glance it seems like many should be able to fit my car well (I should probably mention that I don't really have much experience in that area). Has any one of you done mods on cars like that? Thanks!

Speed3 were made from 2007 to current here in the US no 2006's. the mazdaspeed6 was made in 2006-2007. Post a pic of the car and engine bay

Sent from my Evo LTE

[anavrinIV]

Originally Posted by SleeperHatch Speed3 were made from 2007 to current here in the US no 2006's. the mazdaspeed6 was made in 2006-2007. Post a pic of the car and engine bay Sent from my Evo LTE

Other countries aren't retarded like we are and actually label a car year by when it was made and sold so the MPS cars in europe (and I'm guessing new zealand) were 2006-2008 for the won's and 2009+ for the pu's.

OP, we have lots of experience with that. there are plenty of intake systems for this car. I'm not sure what tuning systems there are for JDM cars though, so that would be something to look into. As far a BPVs, unnecessary really so you may as well save your money.

[olcho]

Looks like this:

[olcho]

Originally Posted by anavrinIV Other countries aren't retarded like we are and actually label a car year by when it was made and sold so the MPS cars in europe (and I'm guessing new zealand) were 2006-2008 for the won's and 2009+ for the pu's. OP, we have lots of experience with that. there are plenty of intake systems for this car. I'm not sure what tuning systems there are for JDM cars though, so that would be something to look into. As far a BPVs, unnecessary really so you may as well save your money.

I read in few places that the stock plasic BPV can leak air. I guess if I'm to make any mods I'd like to start smaller and cheaper for now so I was thinking about BPV, air intake and may be exhaust. The car has already 100k on it. It still runs really good, though there is the infamous 1-2 gear grind which bothers the hell out of me. Funny enough when I took it to a Mazda garage, they said that they didn't really know what's causing it but I found lots of answers about that here so changing the bushings is another thing to consider...

[Whiteboy]

Originally Posted by olcho I read in few places that the stock plasic BPV can leak air. I guess if I'm to make any mods I'd like to start smaller and cheaper for now so I was thinking about BPV, air intake and may be exhaust. The car has already 100k on it. It still runs really good, though there is the infamous 1-2 gear grind which bothers the hell out of me. Funny enough when I took it to a Mazda garage, they said that they didn't really know what's causing it but I found lots of answers about that here so changing the bushings is another thing to consider...

Change your tranny fluid to the ford motorcraft stuff. Look it up on here, great results. As far as the BPV goes...the stocker can hold boost all the way up to 23psi and your car is probably boosting 16psi so don't worry about the BPV unless you have a blantent boost leak at the BPV.

[anavrinIV]

it can leak, yes, but if it's holding boost it's not worth replacing. I"m not really one to talk since i changed mine without my stock one going bad, but I have plans for a fmic and got a good deal on mine.

A full intake will be the biggest change for the least money. I'm not sure what the exhaust side looks like on a JDM speed, but on the USDM models a catback isn't a good power-to-dollar investment, but replacing the cats in it is.

[olcho]

Great stuff! Thanks guys, that's very helpful!

[jbarone]

Welcome!! Let me know if there's anything you need. Visit our forum here on MSF.

Jamie

[themytb]

Welcome, and are those aftermarket wheels, or do The jdm's come with those sexy things?

As stated intake, test pipe or downpipe and hpfp internals are the best bang for buck hard parts. Tuning is a real difference maker though.

[MSMS3]

Aftermarket intake, either CAI or SRI, will pick up 15 whp and torque, maybe as much as 20. The stock intake is that restrictive. This is a no-brainer upgrade and the change in power is probably the best performance value going.

Next mod probably should be the rear motor mount, which is weak to begin with and only gets worse with time. You already have a high mileage car. If the stock mount is still there, upgrade. This greatly enhances engine stability and shift accuracy.

Beyond that, you'll need to read the threads and get some help from Euro MPS users here (not sure if we have any Japanese spec users here) who may be more familiar with how mods affect different ECU's. I'd be reluctant to advise you based on the fact that our US spec ECU is probably different, maybe much different.

As stated above, stock BPV is excellent. Get a boost gauge at a minimum. Other monitoring may depend on what software will work with your ECU.