Feedback for Upgrade Path
 

I'm looking for feedback on my plans to upgrade my 2010 MS3. I plan to make the car more efficient, but I want my "zoom zoom" when I ask it to deliver since VA drivers are a pain in the ass to drive with. It's my DD but I'd like to increase its power. I mostly want to know what I should prioritize (currently listed in order I would have planned to buy and install), as in install parts X Y & Z before A B & C. Also after Line item #20 I plan on having PTuning in my area create a custom dyno tune on it.

1. Cobb Tuning Accessport V3 (first purchase, should be here this Thursday)
2. CorkSport HPFP Internals
3. CorkSport High Pressure Fuel Line
4. Damond Motorsports OCC Stage 1 w/ VTA Kit
5. Cobb Tuning XLE BPV
6. JBR Tru 3" Wide Path Silicon SRI w/ Dry Filter Wrap, because VA pollen/dust is high
7. JBR DISI Turbo inlet Pipe
8. JBR Bypass Valve Hose
9. JBR Intercooler Boost Tubes
10. Bosch 3Bar TMap Map Sensor with IAT w/ PnP Harness
11. GlowShift Tinted Digital Wideband Air/Fuel Gauge
12. NGK Iridium IX Spark Plugs (LTR7IX-11)
13. CorkSport Hood Scoop
14. JBR Motor Mounts (Trilogy)
15. ETS TMIC
16. ACT Heavy Duty Clutch w/ 6-Puck Race Disc & Streetlite Flywheel (can hear clutch engage and disengage, but no slipping yet so thinking previous owned dogged it a bit)
17. JBR Short Shift Plate Kit w/ Shifter Base Bushings
18. Cobb Tuning SS 3" Turboback Exhaust
19. CorkSport Camshafts
20. GrimmSpeed or CorkSport EBC Solenoid 3-Port (still on the fence on this one)
21. eLine (DrilledRotors.com) Black Edition Cross Drilled & Slotted Rotors Kit w/ Premium Ceramic Pads
22. StopTech Stainless Steel Front & Rear Brake Lines

That's all I can really think of wanting to upgrade over the future, I love criticism so if anyone thinks I'm overkill on it or lacking, please let me know. Again thanks for those that can help me out, this forum has been great to learn about this amazing car.

Overall it looks decent to me, but I see a couple things.
#6 : you will need a MAF cal after you put on that intake.
#3 : not necessary.
#10 : not necessary on stock turbo as you shouldn't really push it past 20 psi.
#11 : not necessary with the AP, but if you want it for style, I believe that gauge comes with it's own wideband sensor. If that's the case, you'll need another O2 bung which (essentially) means a new downpipe. Therefore, a downpipe must come first, and until then you'll have the AP to read AFR anyway.
I would also add that if you're trying to upgrade brakes, toss some pads on there too, they'll make quite a difference.
Good luck.

Comments above in red.

Do not have whatever shop that link was tune the car. Look into reputable tuners who have worked with this platform extensively. There are plenty around here still that can tune on dyno or remotely via email. Tuning this platform is quite a bit different than others, and many horror stories start with shops lacking experience in the platform attempting to tune it.

Guess I should have mentioned the Brake Kits come with Premium Ceramic Pads. Thanks for the input Bingo and yes the Wideband was more for style and my buddy with a Civic Si said its useful especially when you run larger intakes - but for functionality would Oil Pressure or Oil Temperature be a better Gauge to install? Was going to place it in the Driver side air vent with a VentPod.

Thanks Wetz, looks like I can save a bit more money since I appear to have gone a bit overkill. I went with PTuning because a lot of their cars have been featured in Import Magazines they tuned and help design (besides being local).

The philosophy I started going by is to determine what your goals are in terms of driveability and power. Then upgrade with the right parts... not the most amount of parts. Your list looks pretty good.

Do they have any Speeds featured in said magazines? How do you know they can tune Speeds safely? So many "Pro tuners" and "speed shop" out there that are good at tuning other platforms and really horrible at ours.

Not everybody knows the ins and outs of our platform as well as our E-tuners here. Go with Freek, Hypnotic, Nishan, Stratified, and some others. (Stay away from Brentune and orange virus. Others can chime in on this matter.

Definitely need to keep drive-ability the focus since it is my primary vehicle and I want to notch the power up as much as possible to bring out the potential of the car and also have the ability to react (drivers in my area don't know what turn signals are and hit their brakes for no reason half the time (so need to dive around them, speed past, etc.).

This is from their Dyno info site "Our in house tuner, Toan Nguyen, is an EFI University certified tuner with years of experience tuning various vehicles such as his personal S2000 (AEM V2 EMS) and our Time Attack tC (Haltech Powersport 1000). We can’t forget to mention that he’s also tuned many of our employee’s vehicles too (Hondata KPro RSX, Megasquirt MS3X 240sx, Megasquirt PnP Pro SC300, Cobb AP Fiesta ST, EcuTek FR-S) so we can safely trust in the quality of his work! Some of our most common tunes include the WRX/STI, Mazdaspeed 3’s, and FR-S/BRZ but he’s done everything from 500AWHP drag Evo 8’s, drift setup 240sx’s and our SC300, track setup turbo S2000’s, and even 2JZ swapped resto-mod’s just to name a few. Toan works hard to maximize every aspect of the tune so that nothing is left on the table."

However, I do completely understand that I would want someone that specializes in the Mazdaspeed platform so when I talk to them in person this Friday (was going to be in the area) I'll ask how many MS3's they've tuned and what they were tuned for... if I don't get the warm and fuzzy then I'll come and check out the e-tuners featured here.

@WetzMS3;, @MD1032;, @Djohns; you guys familiar with that name?

What name? Jesus Tim...

Lol! I was referring to the name OP gave on the post above my other post. Toan Nguyen.

Classic kiwi

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I've never heard of that tuner honestly.

I have no idea who that is. What kind of person are you looking for? What services do you need?

Was just trying to prove a point to OP.

I hear Cobb offers some EFI classes that don't teach you anything about tuning Mazdaspeed3's for the low, low price of $150.

And that's why I come here to get expert advice ;) so with the e-tuners available here - any preferences?

These are some great E-tuners on here.

I personally prefer Justin from freektune but they're plenty of other quality options on here.

Replace the AP with Versatune..

Only if he wants to self tune.
AP is good if he does the Etunes and the AP itself is a good tool to monitor 6 parameters on one screen at CAN speeds.

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The only real reason I have my v3 still over VT. Compact package, easy monitoring, no extra laptop/tablet needed.

If they made a VersaTuner app for Android, something I can connect an old nexus 6 to, fire up the program, connect cable like AP, and monitor at the CAN speed, my AP and ATR copy will be for sale in an instant.

Wow, I guess we're back to the being nice people forum?

I agree with @WetzMS3; also. Some of the items depend on how long you think it will take to get them all. If you're tight for money, I'd change the order to get the biggest bang first, then smooth it out with the other items. IMHO #s 4 and 5 could be skipped or wait til the end, in addition to what the others said

Every now and then, we need to be nice to people who don't get butthurt about their n00bness and initial posts. Keeps information fresh and allows us a chance to flex mental muscles about current knowledge of mazdaspeed platform mods.

Overarching theme ^ spend less money on mods, more on track time.

IMO, the AP is on life support. There are plenty of options for real time monitoring that dont lock you into the cobb tuning cash grab.

It's going to get really expensive paying for etunes as these parts are added over time.

What are the other of those "plenty of options" that doesn't require another device and that can monitor 6 things at once?
The Cobb AP is great at what it does. And it can also do hybrid tunes while VersaTune is a bit more actively updated, it's only can do Load based tunes for now.

And those etunes don't have to be expensive. Anyone can do OTS+ tunes for about $50.

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Some people are okay with that.

OP for number 22 on your list, these will be good too

Cross Drilled Brake Lines - $72.95 : KaleCoAuto.com, Your home for the rare, unusual, and hard to find auto parts.

You can buy bluetooth and USB OBD adapters that will also read at CAN speeds, just need a device that can display it.

I finally read the OP. @Kavik; you actually have a reasonably well put together list there. Let me write down my recommendations:

You need:
1) As much seat time as humanly possible. Attend as many autocrosses, track events, and driving schools as you possibly can.
2) Tuning (Versatune or Cobb), HPFP internals, MAP sensor
3) Motor mounts, except use the Damond Trilogy, not the JBR trilogy (trust me, worth the money)
4) Test pipe
5) Intake (recommend HTP 3")
6) E85 tune
7) Some kind of shock upgrade, eg Koni Yellow, Bilstein B6, as the stockers are short-lived
8) Real tires. I recommend Michelin Pilot Super Sport.

Things you might want, but don't need:
1) 3" TBE (makes the turbo spool significantly faster)
2) Some MAC solenoid-based EBCS kit, eg Cobb, Grimmspeed, JBR (the valves are all the same)

Things you don't really need:
1) Clutch - unless it's slipping, don't bother. The stock clutch is great. I do recommend the ACT when it eventually dies, though
2) Intercooler - E85 will make all of your knock problems go away anyway
3) Brakes - stock brakes are good enough. Leave them for now.
4) Spark plugs - the stock ones are awesome. Keep using them and change every 60k miles according to the FSM.
5) Plus all the other shit you mentioned like the cams...

Greatly appreciate the feedback from everyone, so after everyone's input and little more research I've come up with the following which will fit my power needs and keep my daily driving from being too harsh (60 miles a day for work, sometimes in stop and go highway traffic - fellow VA speed owners will understand the horror of I-95).

1. CS HPFP Internals
2. HTP 3.0" Full Intake System
3. Cobb SS 3" Turboback Exhaust
4. Cobb XLE BPV
Get 1 - 4 installed and set with a custom E85 e-Tune by either Freektune or Stratified
Then finish with...
5. Damond Motorsports OCC Stage 1 Kit w/ VTA

Then replace as needed the brakes/rotors/tires/shocks/clutch and if my power needs increase, come back here to ask for more recommendations.

Rotors/Brakes: eLine Cross Drilled and Slotted w/ Premium Ceramic Pads & StopTech STAINLESS STEEL Brake Lines
Shocks: Koni Yellows
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (live in a townhouse, no room to store separate types)
Clutch: LuK 10-064 Kit w/ Fidanza Flywheel

Also if it matters, I plan to run Shell T6 Rotella 5W40 Full Synth Oil with Napa Gold Oil Filters when I do my first oil change with it - didn't research any other fluids, could use recommendations for those whenever they need to be flushed and replaced with.

Per @WetzMS3; suggestion

Yeah... I'm going to admit I'm going for more of the aesthetic looks on this one, always liked the drilled/slotted look. I did look over @WetzMS3; suggestion and read of Centric Blank's superior metallurgy makeup of their rotors.

So with that said... instead of the Blanks, would the Centric C-TEK Drilled/Slotted be better than the eLine?

Btw... Please do not follow my suggestion on that brake line.. Unless you want to stick your foot out the door everytime you want to stop.

But you said they would be a good choice... back to the stainless.

Oh, ha, I got it - started to actually look at other parts on the site.

I was just trolling. Any holes in brake lines are bad dude.. lol

Figured it was some cooling sleeve for the lines on the outside lol. Well I certainly fell for that one.

FWIW I use stock brake lines and stock rotors with Hawk HP+ pads and anyone who has been in my car can attest to the fact that it stops a lot better than most other setups. I don't understand why you feel the need to use the drilled rotors. They are going to be more prone to cracking and will give you less braking force relative to a solid rotor.

Personally I do not like the Koni Yellows, and they aren't going to do much for you when you're using shit all-season tires like those Michelins.

I also hold the unpopular opinion that oil catch cans are useless on properly working stock engine cars. I use a bone stock PCV setup on my car and have (unsurprisingly) never had any problems with it.

No matter what oil you use, do yourself a favor and have oil analysis performed on it every single oil change. You will see problems long before they manifest in a catastrophic fashion.

I'll have to see if a shop near me offers oil analysis. Is there even an All-Season tire worth having (obviously not for track) or would I be stuck having to get separate sets of Summer & Winter Tires?

Stafford sucks. Moved there in high school and lived there 10 years. Fucking miss Wawa tho.

I would put more emphasis on wheel/tire/suspension. Ditch the crap other people have already stated. After basic bolt ons I would do an upgraded turbo. You can get a bnr bundle for a decent price. Plan on injector seals, pcv valve, occ, and cleaning your valves.

Based on your list looks like you have just a bit more research and reading to do.

Jobs with the Government is what keeps me in the area, yeah I'm reading through all the threads I can to try and learn what I can. Just trying to create a goal to work towards with my MS3 and make sure I don't mess-up along the way.

I don't know if your shop can do oil analysis.

We usually use Blackstone Labs for our used oil.
Link here: blackstone-labs.com

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