[Doogle510]

Hi, just picked you my new car this week and after just 4 days with it, I couldn't be happier. I got an amazing deal, and this car is just light years ahead of my Chevy Cruze I had before. Which was such a horrible car, GM ended up buying it back due to lemon law. Anyways back to the Mazda, I've already got the itch to start the modding. Never owing a mazda before, what are some good aftermark sites to check out? I'm happy with power, but would like to upgrade suspension and brakes. Also what are some of the more popular mods for these cars?

 

[arathol]

I've already got the itch to start the modding. Never owing a mazda before, what are some good aftermark sites to check out? I'm happy with power, but would like to upgrade suspension and brakes. Also what are some of the more popular mods for these cars?

https://www.tirerack.com/content/tirerack/desktop/en/homepage.html

The best modification you can do is lose those boat anchors that Mazda calls 18" sport rims. :w00t 1:
Those things are 50 lbs each with tire mounted.:crying: Good lightweight rims will make a significant improvement in how the car drives. A good set of 17x7.5 or 8" rims with 225/50 tires can get you a net loss of 15 lbs or so of unsprung weight on each wheel. :surprise:
Oh, and you will need tires in any case. The OEM Dunlops are garbage. :thumbsdown 1:

As to the suspension, H&R, Eibach and Racing Beat springs are popular additions, each with its own properties. There are many dampers available from any number of makers. Bilstein has some good ones, and Koni has a couple popular choices. The Koni Yellows have a following among the sport competition crowd but are a bit stiff for daily driving. Koni FSDs seem to be a good upgrade. While you are into the suspension don't forget to add a larger rear sway bar and stronger endlinks. A larger rear bar is usually the first thing that many owners do to their car.
There are extensive threads on springs and swaybars in the sticky section of the suspension subforum .

There are not a whole lot of brake upgrade options. EBC has a couple performance pad upgrades. CorkSport has a big brake kit but its way overkill for street driving. I've seen some drilled / slotted rotors out there but not sure of the quality of those.
The larger brakes from the Mazda 6 are another option as they will fit with some small modifications.

A short shift plate kit is a nice addition. JBR Racing and CorkSport both carry similar pieces.

Don't get sucked into the cold air intake hype. SRIs look neat and sound cool but in reality they do very little. They can actually cause a hp loss due to heat soak, drawing in hot under hood air and causing a large spike in intake air temps. :frown2:

Aftermarket exhausts are fairly common also. There are several good ones out there. Check out the performance subforum for stickies and numerous other threads on the various exhausts available.

 

[Rdrokit]

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new ride. Thanks for the photos. Great looking ride. arathol had some good ideas for mods. Personally I like the look of the 18" OEM wheels so I did not change mine out......waste of money to me. The Dunlops are a crap tire but I left mine on till they got some wear. Do tint the windows and if you are into lowering the car get a set of springs. Mods usually come down to personal preference and how much money you want to spend. Good luck on whatever you decide and happy motoring from Thailand.

 

[GerryB]

Welcome aboard.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Doogle510]

Thanks for the in depth information! I found BC coils and have a friend who is sponsored by them, he's hopefully gonna see if he can get a deal on them. Are the short throw shift basically the same between the two companies?

 

[arathol]

Thanks for the in depth information! I found BC coils and have a friend who is sponsored by them, he's hopefully gonna see if he can get a deal on them. Are the short throw shift basically the same between the two companies?

Just FYI, BC = Bor-Chuann Racing in Taiwan, producer of the myriad of multi-color cheepo coilovers seen on Fleabay. BC coilovers for the 3 are mostly low end stuff under $1000, ride awful, the adjustments don't work well etc. Lowering the car reduces suspension travel, and the adjustable perch coil overs reduce it even more.:frown2: Better off sticking with the better European products like H&R, Bilstein, Eibach and Koni. You can get a good set of H&R springs and a set of Koni FSD or Koni Yellow dampers for about the same price as the cheepo BCs and you will be much happier with the results.:smile2: Coil overs don't really provide much advantage over proper springs anyhow.
The CorkSport and the JBR shifter plates are similar, but not the same. The CS plate has one setting for a 33% reduction, the JBR plate has 2 setting for 20% and 40%.

 

[Doogle510]

I see your points about the coilovers. The car might see 2 or 3 track days a year. So just looking to find a good balance between a daily and weekend corner carver.

I checked out corksport, I'll be ordering the short shifter from them, 40% seems a lot. Are the shifter bushing really beneficial?

 

[arathol]

I see your points about the coilovers. The car might see 2 or 3 track days a year. So just looking to find a good balance between a daily and weekend corner carver.

I checked out corksport, I'll be ordering the short shifter from them, 40% seems a lot. Are the shifter bushing really beneficial?

Actually, I find that the 40% reduction is quite good.:smile2: And yes, the solid bushings do make a difference. I have the JBR plate with the solid bushing upgrade. It makes quite a difference from stock.

 

[Road Trip]

Welcome to M3R. Great new car you have. As you have read in above posts, lots of helpful, friendly and smart folks here. Best of luck.

There are many excellent mod/build threads. I just got a near identical car to you ten days ago, and if you are interested:

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/...arance-interior/197826-road-trip-s-build.html

And this thread will be interesting and useful to you, with its over 2,700 posts:

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/...1009-what-did-you-do-your-2014-mazda-3-a.html

 

[minsanity]

WelcoM3 HoM3!!!! Grats on a great car. As mentioned above, there are a handful of great builds here. @Chazzy J's & @Road Trip's among em.
Wheels....you need not downsize to shave weight. Here's a sample...
Stock: 18x7 w/ 215/45/18

Wider Rota KBF 18X8.5 et45 w/ 245/40/18


You have axleback exhausts...
Racing Beat, HKS, Corksport, Borla, & others got em.
Intake....JBR, K&N, AEM to name a few
Springs...Eibach, H&R, Racing Beat, Tein, Tanabe
Coilovers: Tein, BC are commonly opted for.

Enjoy your Mown3rship, sir!

 

[arathol]

Wheels....you need not downsize to shave weight. Here's a sample...
Stock: 18x7 w/ 215/45/18

Wider Rota KBF 18X8.5 et45 w/ 245/40/18

The difference between those wheels is maybe 5 pounds, not really worth the cost of doing a swap considering the cost of those Rotas is around the $250 mark each. If you are aiming to lose unsprung weight, there are far more cost effective ways to go about it. For a small amount more you can get some nice light 17" rims and tires.

17x7.5" Traklites with Continental Extreme Contact Sports, total weight ~35 lbs vs 50 and 45 as shown above , that would be 15.9 kg vs 23 and 20.5 kg. Not to mention that 17s with 50 series tires ride so much better........

 

[Doogle510]

The difference between those wheels is maybe 5 pounds, not really worth the cost of doing a swap considering the cost of those Rotas is around the $250 mark each. If you are aiming to lose unsprung weight, there are far more cost effective ways to go about it. For a small amount more you can get some nice light 17" rims and tires.

17x7.5" Traklites with Continental Extreme Contact Sports, total weight ~35 lbs vs 50 and 45 as shown above , that would be 15.9 kg vs 23 and 20.5 kg. Not to mention that 17s with 50 series tires ride so much better........

Will take that into consideration, I would really like to stay with 18", I like the look. A friend suggest looking into some Gram Lights wheels.

 

[arathol]

Will take that into consideration, I would really like to stay with 18", I like the look. A friend suggest looking into some Gram Lights wheels.

Rays Gram Lights are excellent, but at ~$400+ per for anything in 18".....:surprise:

 

[Doogle510]

Rays Gram Lights are excellent, but at ~$400+ per for anything in 18".....:surprise:

Yeah figured I would spend about $1500-$2000 just for rims, then find nice rubber to wrap them in. I'm a Motorsport photographer on the side, so I have few connections with different vendors.

 

[minsanity]

To many, looks & proportions matter as much as unsprung weight reduction. Some find 16s & 17s too small for the M3's frame.
Check out @Loud3's, @Chazzy J's builds.

 

[Chazzy J]

@minsanity

Thank you sir!

 

[minsanity]

Some sick reds who went for 19s....

 

[juicyfrys]

Welcome aboard!

 

[ebiancarelli]

Thanks for the info!

 

[macrostr]

What a difference