Thanks man, would love to hear more about it. Hoping to get it installed this weekend.
Thanks man, would love to hear more about it. Hoping to get it installed this weekend.
Ok .... there are several ways you can add HP. Adding mods like your cat back exhaust , intake etc. and also stuff like flywheel and clutch stages which doesnt really add HP (if tested on a Dyno)
but changes how fast the HP is delivered to wheels, ie: load on the engine. Plus there is stuff not associated to the engine and HP like suspension/brakes/weight/center of gravity. And of course
having your ECU returned will add HP and change the throttle response. Let me go through each and provide some details and potential HP gains with some costs (parts only).
The whole reason for this thread : Mazdaedit tuning with epifan software & Tatrix hardware.
ECU Tuning the Mazda 3 ... E-Tunes can be done with several companies :
1 . OV Tune -- they used to but now work only on toyota. Rafael who worked for Matt started OVT PH and you can reach Rafael at dikkobautista@gmail.com
2. DrTuned Racing --- https://www.drtuned.com/
3. Dynotronics tuning ---- https://dynotronicstuning.3dcartstor...ZDA_c_711.html
You can also migrate to a stand alone platform like the Haltech Elite 1500 ... for advanced tuning, track , race , hobby.
For the above 1,2,3 ...You are looking at about $500 - 700 (tune and equipment) and you need a laptop (not Apple) to run the software and connect to your car.
HP gains 15-20 HP on stock. Throttle response is changed drastically. This changes how fast you lay down the extra HP.
IF SOMEONE KNOWS SOMEONE LOCAL WHO CAN MAZDEDIT OPEN SOURCE TUNE .... WE WANT TO KNOW !!! THX
MODs that change your HP with or without a ECU TUNE. (In order to maximize the gains of the mods to the engine a tune is required)
1 . Cold Air Intake & Cat back exhaust (do these together , thank me later). This can set off a CEL btw. A tune can program to turn that off.
For example : Corksport says for their products 10-15whp, and with a tune add 20+
2. Headers , like MSDS http://msdsinc.com/exhaust.html and others can open up 10-14% more HP. This will cause a CEL and a tune can that off.
The gain is because now there is no main catalytic converter. Some headers come with a high flow cat. Headers increases exhaust flow and this will also
contribute to increasing engine scavenging. Going to a stage 1 or 2 increase engine scavenging.
3. Replacing your Catalytic converters with high flow cats. BTw the mazda has two, one with the oem headers and , a small one at the mid point
right after the downpipe. You can replace both with one large high flow cat. Just the CAts yo free up 2-3HP
4. Straight pipes or not to straight pipe (no cats / no muffler / no resonator ). The ECU systems require back pressure to work properly
so unless you on a standalone ecu like haltech , not sure if there is anything to gain except a louder exhaust. Also too large a diameter
will also mess with back pressure.
5. Cams .... Going to a Stage 1 or Stage 2 Cam will increase HP (with the cost of the parts ~$700-800 CDN + labor you absolutely need a tune and
above mentioned mods to take full advantage of this mod).
BTW ... OEM exhaust is setup to maximize torque and opening the exhaust with Headers / Catback exhaust / removing Cats and straight piping
drops your torque under 3000K but gain it back in HP 4k+ rpm. You can offset this loss by reducing engine load with lighter flywheel and pulleys
and/or an AC delete and also add a few extra HP too.
1. Racing Pulleys can add up to 4-6 HP and will decrease load on engine.
2. A lighter flywheel (dont go too light if you daily drive your car) like EXEDY racing flywheel (12.8LBS & 1/3 the weight of OEM flywheel) is perfect to daily drive.
This wont add HP (but it will, i'll explain) total HP on a dynojet , but it will liberate about 10-15whp 1st to 2nd gear and a bit in 2nd too. It all has to do with your
engine to turn the rotational mass of the flywheel. Turning a heavy flywheel take longer than turning a lighter flywheel. The gain is about that split sec difference.
3. Removing your A/C adds HP 3-5HP im not exactly sure... need AC so im not going there until we have no traffic on our highways in the summer.
You can also increase HP indirectly ... buy reducing your cars weights. Its all about that HP to weight ratio. (unless you decide to Turbo or Supercharge the NA engine you have)
BTW all the above mods dropper car weight by about 50lbs.
1. Rims ... Enkei RPF1 rims are lighter than OEM rims steel or mags. Anything higher than 17x8 rims then there is really real weight loss. Check and double check the rim specs before you buy
You can drop up to 5 lbs a corner.
2. Front seats ... Go with bucket race seats ... 40+ pound loss
3. Coilovers .... depending which you get can drop your weight 5 lbs a corner loss.
4. Car battery .... thats 40lbs.... a lightweight lithium 4-6 lbs
5. Everything in your truck ... spare , jack etc ...40lbs
6. Some sub frame bracing can be swapped out for lighter and stronger ... 4-5 lbs loss
7. Big Brakes wont drop much weight , about same as oem ... but now you have serious stopping power and can zoom zoom faster
Let me know if i missed anything !
Thanks.
Captain Mazda (12-07-2020)
Appreciate the detailed post. Reducing weight will never happen with my car because when this pandemic is over, I'll be back to using it for hockey 90% of the time. That's basically over 50lbs of sporting gear in addition to a sub and amp that are mounted in the trunk. Other times I'm using the car, I'm picking up groceries and/or furniture, heavy hardware, etc. I'm also not ever going to track this car again, it's too expensive of a hobby and I've got the bike for when I want to smoke a GTI on the highway haha
I'm mostly just interested in a basic tune that will help me squeeze a bit extra out of having the SRI and high-flow CS system, to give it a bit more power and throttle response off the line.
Diflexster12 (12-30-2020)
Haha...totally agree... tracking is expensive, especially getting the car to level of performance you want it to be. But still way cheaper to mod a 3 or speed 3 than buying a
Porsche (waiting for that 6/49 to hit with a bigger win than just $20) or BMW M2 Comp. But once you got the car where you want it , upkeep is not so bad and events to participate
like time attack ($200-250 each) or Autocross ($40-50 each) or Solo track events , like with IRL race school (once you do the school) $250 for the whole day with lunch only 20 cars on the track.
If you think about it , these events are all pretty much in the summer on the weekend and how many can you do. Maybe $2000 worth of events.
I was thinking of going to a motorcycle too, find an older Ducati. Maybe when i grow up...lol
Hey Guys who are interested and have been tuned (not the Speed3 guys on Cobb or stand alone)
Something to look out for in 2022 ( April - May)
OVT (Orange Virus Tuning ) will be back on a new platform ... VF Tuning for mazda products.
It will essentially be more easy and versatile than mazdedit and able to be used from a smartphone