First modification help/opinion
 

Hello everyone, I'm new to this forum as I have just bought a 2011 speed3. I have been out of the car game for some years, and I'm so happy to be back into it, and already love my car. I am wanting to know which mod or mods are the best for starting out, basically I was thinking simple bolt ons. It's my daily and I would like to have a little extra power and sounds without breaking my wallet right now. I do plan on getting the Cobb tuner as soon as I save up enough for it, would it be a waste of time or bad to get an intake and down pipe before I bought one? Is that the fist thing I need to do? Thanks!

First thing you need to do is read your welcome PM. Then you should buy a fuel pump internals and AP combo from one of our forum vendors. Once you install those things get a proper tune and then modify from there. You really have a lot of reading to do, it takes awhile, but it is worth it. Be glad I replied before the rest do. Good luck.

This is not a game.

Kevin Costner does it for the Love of the Game!

As another fairly new owner of a Speed 3, of the 2010 vintage, my recommendation is to have fun first and don't let the attitudes here get to you and ruin your fun.....


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Get a catless long dp and 3.5in intake and got wot all day

Searching google for "fist thing" provides a classic.

Tifosi is right (of course... Luigi follows only the Ferraris), but if you want to listen to a guy with "turbofart" in his sig that's your prerogative.

If you're looking for power/engine mods, start with HPFP and AP. If you're looking for general things you can do right away to improve drivability/enjoyment, getchu an upgraded RMM and maybe a short shift plate.

This gave me another one...get an ebay BOV. Make sure it vent to atmosphere.

Ps OP way to put up another great 1st post. #spoonfed ftw

Do you even read?

Geeze. Everyone went fairly easy on him and he still disappeared!

Well i wonder if might even have any mods done on the car already, since its a used..obviously 2011..then go from there
My first thing was the super annoying wheelhop..so RMM is a Must, and maybe an intake for starters

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Thank you
 

First I would like to apologize for asking newbie question. This is my first forum. I'm probably older than a lot of you so it's going to take me a few to get the forum lingo down.
I actually hit the jackpot with this car. It is completely unmolested and stock, down to the factory airbox. It only has 56K on it, and it basically looks like a brand new car, and drives like it too. Which is amazing, I have been looking at these cars for over a year and a half, and have never seen one without at least an aftermarket air filter on it. And it was less than 12 grand.
As far as mods go, I think my very first MOD will be a rmm. I have heard the complaints of vibration at idle, but, if anyone has driven a race car, a little vibe at idle is nothing. After that I haven't made my mind up, was thinking air filter, and downpipe, along with the access port I just ordered. I hope this is a decent start. I don't want a full race car, I want a fun, fast daily.
Thank you everyone. P.S. you guys can be pretty brutal. Should probably take it easy on a new person right off the bat with guiding them to proper new member links, after the initial info, it's on them.
Anyway, thank you and God bless.

Oh, and I didn't mean you guys were brutal to me, and I appreciate it. I just went back and looked at past posts. LoL it'll take a lot to scare me off. And even if I am quite or silent for a while, I'm still looking at everything and reading posts and trolling for info. I've been a mechanic for over 19 years and have worked on a lot of vehicles, but my personal sports cars or modded cars have always been na engine vehicles. This is my actual first forced induction car, so I'm trying to learn as much as possible to make the right decisions and modifications. Thanks again guys and gals.
Steve V.

The Welcome PM pretty much spells it out for new members. Search and read. Search and read more. Then read it all over again. These cars are upwards of 10 years old. Pretty much everything has been covered. If it can break, there's a thread on how to fix it.
We are brutal to people who don't follow instructions and we nip it right away. If you hang around, you'll understand why. You will also realize there is a wealth of knowledge here that is invaluable and a community that sticks together.

Now to the question of first mod.
It's obvious you already ordered the AP. Good for you. Next is fuel pump internals. There are many threads for HPFP, CDFP.

With that attitude you will fit right in. Many people on this forum have a lot of knowledge and experience. I have not seen another forum containing this much technical information.

FYI - the primary exhaust restriction is in the pre-cat. You can replace it with a "racepipe" that's either uncatted or w/ a high-flow cat. Either one will get you most of the benefits of a full downpipe without the extra cost and installation headache.

Thanks for the input people, much appreciated!

Next is donate, head to VIP section and buy my intake. You'll enjoy hearing your engine.

Leave! Do it now! Trade in for a Subaru! lol.

Maybe my car is wierd, but I saw no gains installing a racepipe. But I still have stock intake and downpipe.

Your car is weird.

OP; definitely do HPFP upgrade before you remove either of the cats.

RMM is a great first mod. Damond or CPE s2 are the only ones I'd suggest.

Get a way to monitor FP ASAP. If you're an experienced mechanic you may already have a setup you can use. Read the CDFP/HPFP thread ASAP, measure it during some WOT runs. gen2 cars run the gamut from being able to do an intake without it, to being right on the edge of needing it in stock form.

After that stuff - Read, read, read before you do anything else.

For fuck sakes this game again??! Dude read your welcome PM....And search the goddam forums and don't you tell me that you did because there's hundreds of these threads which is why they all go this way.

Mods: 1) rear motor mount (damond Motorsports are the way to go for all mounts)
2) hpfp internals (auto tech is where it's at)
3) Cobb access port
4) now we can have fun...Add an intake I'd recommended the Cobb one (get Sri and tip)
5) down pipe and intercooler and now we're having some fun with power
FYI the Cobb maps are carbage once you start modding worth paying for a custom or semi custom tune freektune has some OTS maps for 75$ each which he'll actually review on your vehicle to ensure everything's all good.

I'd also do a compression test, oil change and new spark plugs before modding.
Also if you're having troubles with shifting switch your transmission​
Fluid to Ford transmission fluid which is referred to as unicorn juice around here


Also read your dam welcome mail? Has that been mentioned before? Do you see the theme? Read all the links in it.

For what you'll pay for any SRI/TIP combo, might as well just go straight to a full 3/3.5" intake...I wish I would have.

Actually shark has a point, I'm right there with him. JBR or HTP 3.0" is the way I shoulda gone off the bat (still can fit with stock battery box)

It'd be one thing if OP wasn't getting an AP and wouldn't be able to MAFCAL the larger intake, but since he's already got one on order...might as well go big and do it right the first time! :D

Should oil catch can be the real first


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I just went from stock intake to JBR Tru-3.5 today. As stated, go big or go home. Finished MAF cal by 3rd revision. Ramping up WGDC to where it was before intake install and will check MAF cal again for good measure.
My sequence was:
BPV (CS) (also completely not necessary)
Tuning Solution (VT)
RMM (Damond)
HPFP (CS)
Racepipe (CS)
Intake (JBR)
DP (CS) (next)

Ur best mod would be to leave this forum and join ur local mazdaspeed fb group. Less assholes there. But u should still do ur own research.

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Fewer assholes, maybe; more idiots who don't know dick about these cars, definitely. I can't think of worse advice to give someone.

Wished that too, but they didn't have it when i bought my injen back in 08'
Now i need to blow the extra $$ [emoji51]

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I see you like to give absolutely terrible advice.... most guys here are actually awesome, despite the same questions being asked over and over when there's a very comprehensive welcome msg sent out with thread links to more threads that new mbrs are told to read. After a year on the forum of seeing all the same threads I understand why people and now myself are hard on lazy fucks that don't read their welcome msg. As for Facebook it's full of giant chodes who think it's okay to run DP's on speed without internals, also there's way to many stance boys out there. While I'll admit there are some good guys on Facebook that know their shit 90% (that don't atleast browse the forum's) shouldn't be listened to

Welcome!

We both drive 2011's; I got mine with 13,900 miles on it back in 2013 and I'm now at 77,500 miles. I'm only starting to mod my car, but check this link out to my mod path. Take from it what you want, but it has been vetted by a few members on here who have given me very helpful advice.

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...ed-3-a-208450/

If your sig has anything to do with your age then I've got you beat- so I can understand where you are coming from. The RMM was the first thing I did on car followed by a shifter plate. I chose the e-focus mount (stock mount for the electric version of the Ford Focus) and would recommend it. No noticeable increase in NVH but firms up the driveline quite a bit- and pretty cheap. I chose the Damond shift plate since its shorter than stock but nothing crazy. Both are great "feel" mods.

As others have mentioned HPFP upgrade and AP (and a good time from a well known tuner- stratified and freaktune are two that seem to be the the most discussed) are the basic cost of entry when doing power mods. Think of it as insurance- there are folks here that have learned this the hard way.

Some of the folks here are dicks but that doesn't mean they dont know what they are talking about. There are some seriously intelligent people here that have spent an enormous amount of time learning about the car and sharing that knowledge on the site for everybody to use. All they ask is that newbies do some due diligence and make a donation to keep everything going. If you dont do those things be prepared for ridicule. Cant say I blame them- and certainly makes for an entertaining read at times.

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Short shift plate and RMM Definitely a good place to start as @Majmun; stated

My response for now.
 

OK, I appreciate all of the advice, well, I read all of the advice, listened to some of it, ignored the rest. As of right now, I have a torque solutions rmm, corksport shift plate, here at the house waiting to be installed. I also have the Cobb ap, sr filter, and autotech hpfp internals on the way. I read that our turbos don't really need a turbo timer, but I don't see how it could be a bad idea to get one. Looking at a few gauges to install now for my next purchase. Thinking boost, air/fuel and egt. Anyone think of something I'm not when it comes to what to watch right now??

Don't waste money on turbo timer, our ECU and boost controller do everything you need, you'd be better off to buy a 3 port ebc than a turbo timer....As for gauge's boost, oil temp/pressure are top 3 as we have no way to measure the oil temp without one...If you have an AP you can view your boost, EGT kinda seems meh to me doesn't seem to common on this platform.AFR is a good one too as well

OK, I appreciate it. I will go with oil for gauges. I want to make sure I can see as much as possible. May wait until the ap is hooked up so I can see what I need.

You can see AFR, hpfp pressure, boost, coolant temps, fuel trims, knock, mass air flow, intake temp, BAT to name some of the most comm watched temps (can display up to 6 a time of you have a v3). Don't know if you've seen these but probably one of my favorite on the market

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/p.../MTXD.php#3852