[xGRIZx]

Well, I know I am still fairly new to this forum, but hey got to start sometime! This thread is for anyone curious of other builds and a lot for me just to keep track of everything! I am posting thumbnails for all the pictures to save space, please click them for a bigger view!

2011 Black Mica 3 S 2.5L

APRIL 30, 2011
Brought her back from the dealership. Faulkner Mazda! There was a little rain before I could snap the picture!



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Living a boring life paycheck to paycheck with car payments, bank is slowly building!


August 20, 2011
Hit 5000 miles!

August 30, 2011
First Service appointment! I know the dealer told me that I don't need an oil change for another 5 grand, but Lets make it like 4k this time.. call me OCD.

August 31, 2011
Ordered Konigs and Hankook V12s !!! Discount Tire

September 1, 2011
Ordered TPMS from Ebay Store, OEM by Continental ... only 100 bucks.. made me a little nervous..

September 2, 2011
Hankooks Arrive! Look real nice, smell like awesome!
TMPS also delivered! Looks like OEM Mazda

September 4, 2011
Ordered Corksport SRI+ Cold Air Box. Went black up to a red filter.

September 5, 2011
Konig Illusion Red-Ball Cut 18x8+45 Arrive



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September , 2011
Ordered Corksport Strut Tower Bar, and Vinyls.

September 12, 2011
Went to a shop to get my wheels mounted and balanced. Painting calipers black for new wheels.

Before:


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After:


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Too dark at this point to take pictures of the wheels installed. Photos tomorrow if it is a nice day!

September 13, 2011
Going to local Tint and Vinyl Shop to get a quote on windows and pin stripe, shame it was closed =/

Called Corksport and changed my SRI order to a red silicon housing, I got them to admit to an unkown restock date on the black.

Took a couple pics of the new wheels!


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September 14, 2011
Another email from Corksport.. looks like the cold air boxes are backordered till end of October.. =/ Hopefully they can still ship me my SRI until that date..

September 17, 2011
So driving at highway speeds for the first time since the new wheels were on, had much vibration feeding back through my steering wheel, so went to another tire place and had them rebalanced. Here is what they were off by:
LF 4.5 oz
RF 3.25 oz
RR 3.5 oz
LR 3.25 oz

As you can probably guess, after they were rebalanced, they were much better!

September 19, 2011
Corksport Tower bar and Vinyls came in! Forgot to take a picture of the tower bar... but for the record even not jacked.. my struts moved out of place, so I ended up having to jack the car up anyhow.

Applied some vinyls! Tried to keep low key..

From side..


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From Angle.. hard to kinda see.. it started to get dark.. but that is the idea..


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Back center unlit..


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Back center lit up...


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SEPTEMBER 22, 2011
Installed my CS SRI!!!! Took a bunch of pics of during and after.....
Let me make a few comments.. I read a few places online that it was a pain to have to take out much of the stock intake and harness and blah blah blah.. nonsense to all that..

before...

Intake is in my hand.. entire thing came out in one piece.. you only need to undo one bolt, unhook the maf and vacuum tube.. and the clamp on throttle body.. BAM!

Intake just before install...

All said and done..

Now.. for review... OMG.. thats it.. take what you need from it =P

SEPTEMBER 23, 2011
Just ordered my INJEN intake Hydroshield.. keep some of the weather off my nice new SRI.

SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
Ordered my LED kits for floor and possibly ceiling lighting from Oznium.com

SEPTEMBER 26, 2011
So I went to a local tint shop with my buddy to get hashes put on his 6.. ended up leaving with tinted eyelids (which I think turned out awesome.. =D) and a rally shade!
Courtesy of Mike at SSC Tint and Graphics!



SEPTEMBER 29, 2011
Oznium order arrived. AutoAnything order arrived with Injen Hydroshield... and I ordered some red striping to accent my bumpers... that came in just after a days wait.
Hoping to put it all together on Saturday!!!

OCTOBER 1, 2011
Installed floor lights! Went with red to start. Set up everything modular so I can swap colors.. number of LEDS and there positions. =D

OCTOBER 6, 2011
Blacked my M's, badges. and fog bezels.. used Plasti-dip.. turned out real nice. Hopefully will be doing red accents tomorrow!

rear...

front...


OCTOBER 7, 2011
Added some red pin striping... went with a smile accent... still debating if I really like it or not.. we will see.. =D

October 17, 2011
Order JBR short throw kit w/ bushings and 650 gram shift knob! Looking forward to this!

October 23, 2011
Installed JBR SSP, bushings and 650 gram knob! The throw is way shorter, and with the bushings is much more responsive. It is a completely different feel that is going to take some time to get used to!

November 23, 2011
Hit a nasty pothole.... and bent a wheel :crybaby 1: :argh 1:

November 28, 2011
Ordered Kenwood KFC-XW800F sub and MTX RT2500 AMP :yes:

December 3, 2011
CAR GOT KEYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :argh 1::argh 1::argh 1::argh 1:

December 12, 2011
Sent car to Jack Giambolvo Mazda in York, PA to get repainted... well the drivers side doors and rear quarter panel... :sad 1:

December 16, 2011
Got her back and she is gorgeous again !!! :tongue:

I know I said this in another post, but I am absolutely pleased with this collision repair center. They did a fantastic job and even overnighted and installed a CS decal to match the one I had on the other side!!! Awesome..

December 25, 2011
Had a great Christmas! Girlfriends parents bought me some new speakers!!!!

Rockford Fosgate P152-S for front doors
Rockford Fosgate P1683 for rear doors

December 27, 2011
Ordering rest of audio gear for install!

Tsunami TSFBW-ANL
Tsunami TSBT-PN
Tsunami FS-ANL100-5N
Kicker 09PWB0-5FT
e2 EWDB2 by Scosche

January 10, 2012
Owner of a Racing beat exhaust!

January 17, 2012
Got exhaust in the mail and installed =D

For installation..... LINK
Before:

After:

March 21-22, 2012
Been too long since anything was done! Got tint and platidipped 'rear' eyelids.... Only did the outer lights, will do the top of the insides maybe tomorrow.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[rj1790]

Nice! Any plans on lowering?

 

[xGRIZx]

Nice! Any plans on lowering?

So.. on conditions of my parents co-signing my lone to get 0% APR (Last year in college), I had to get the 7 year 100k warranty...

That hinders what I can drastically do.. Intake is fine, because i can switch it out wherever, tower bar is okay regardless.. Springs.. or coils.. you know.

If I did lower, which I will at some point, I will be first doing an Eibach Pro Kit.. 1.75 rear, 1.5 front. Had them on my Jetta, friend on his Mustang and Mazda 6.. had lots of good experience.

 

[Crespo]

Lowering isn't all bad. As long as your can drive responsibly OR be able to replace the parts without them knowing, then your in the clear. My parents stopped caring about what I do at this point but I only have the factory warranty. If you really want to, then bite the bullet and do it. You will be much Happier in the end if you really want to do _____ to your car and like the result.

 

[xGRIZx]

Don't get me wrong, its not like I do not want to lower or up my cars performance, I just need to be cautious of what I do, in case something does happen. More then likely, after May, I will lowering her, CS exhaust with high flow cat, and rear sway bar.. more then likely

 

[hwdp pl]

About time to break them in...

 

[Crespo]

Don't get me wrong, its not like I do not want to lower or up my cars performance, I just need to be cautious of what I do, in case something does happen. More then likely, after May, I will lowering her, CS exhaust with high flow cat, and rear sway bar.. more then likely

Those mods, especially if you get a moderate to conservative drop, wouldn't really cause any problems. Do you belong to a local car club? If so they might be able to help you if anything does happen to go wrong, but I doubt it. I waited a little while as well before I started doing more serious mods. Also check out the MS3 Axleback. Could save you some money to put towards more mods in the future.

 

[xGRIZx]

Those mods, especially if you get a moderate to conservative drop, wouldn't really cause any problems. Do you belong to a local car club? If so they might be able to help you if anything does happen to go wrong, but I doubt it. I waited a little while as well before I started doing more serious mods. Also check out the MS3 Axleback. Could save you some money to put towards more mods in the future.

I definitely will look into the MS3 axleback. I do not belong to a local club.. not much around where I am haha!

 

[Crespo]

I definitely will look into the MS3 axleback. I do not belong to a local club.. not much around where I am haha!

Well, putting on an axble back is super easy. They go for around $200-250ish used. But when they are up for sale, they go quickly. The one I purchased never even had a for sale thread....hmy 1:

 

[JP0317]

I definitely will look into the MS3 axleback. I do not belong to a local club.. not much around where I am haha!

Keep an eye out and you'll find one on a forum or CL.
I picked mine up for $150.
Also if you're interested in the speed parts you might check out msf and donate to get their for sale section.

 

[xGRIZx]

Definitely will! Thanks!

 

[xGRIZx]

SRI comes in today! =D I will hopefully remember to get some pictures of it and the tower bar once installed.. lol

 

[xGRIZx]

Just installed SRI =D

 

[xGRIZx]

Okay, now that I have a little more time. I am going to provide a complete review (my opinions) of the installation of the Corksport SRI and notable changes.

I will post this is my build thread for all that come to visit! Until otherwise requested to move it.

So anyway..

I do have some background working on cars and using tools, etc.. just thought I would just throw it out there..

Also note that I will number certain points that I will explain in more detail below this...

Installation:
Took me just under 40 minutes all said and done. I was working out of my college's shop so I was in and out for tools I needed when I needed them. I was also being lazy and slow.. it could be done much faster. Especially now that I have done it once for real on this car.

I read a few threads and other forums on removing the stock intake and honestly.. I found it much easier then any of them said.. I know I do not have pictures.. this is not a DIY, just informative..
You use a 10mm socket for pretty much everything which is nice, Front right of the stock air box there is a bolt.. once that is removed, I undid the vacuum line (just pulled out), loosened the clamp on the throttle body with a screw driver (did not remove it), unclipped the grille intake hose from the grill (see #1), finally unclipped the MAF sensor (see #2), finally gripped the B**ch and pulled her right out all in one piece (see #3). Easy as eating pie! You can see the entire intake in my hands in pictures on my first post..

Now that the stock is off.. I put together the SRI.. the MAF housing was easy.. just a little bit of force is needed to pop it in, the rest is pretty straight forward.. using the CS clamps, just make sure you use the right ones .. the 3.5" (i think..bigger two) are used to attach the filter and hose to the MAF housing.. i personally pointed the nuts facing up so i can easily access them later even if maybe it takes away from "a clean look".. Once together easily popped it onto the throttle body and tightened her up.. originally had the coolant line running under the SRI.. but then took it off and moved it on top.. just didn't like it flopping around.. not that it matters any.. So once I had it back on.. put the vacuum line back in.. made sure everything was snug.. popped the MAF sensor plug back into the MAF, and hooked my battery back up (I know I didnt say I unhooked it .. but do that first =P )...

Turned the key and she ran first try beautifully. Have about 60ish miles on it and no CEL yet.. do not expect one.

1) Alot of people said that this was hard to do or left too much clutter if you pull out the whole thing.. personally i left the grille air duct in.. you cant even see it and if anything, it might direct a little bit of cooler air towards the SRI.. maybe it doesn't but its whatever...
2) Just a heads up.. i have big fingers so it took me a couple minutes.. :argh 1: ... push down of the top closest to the back side of the sensor.. and the clip will easily unhook and she slips off
3) Many people also said they left the bottom half in because it was too hard to put back in.. etc... well just to see.. i took that one piece and put it back in.. in one piece... so i don't know what to say...

Aftermath
I let her idle for about ten minutes.. held it at 1500 for another couple minutes.. tapped the throttle a few times... wow! Some may not notice, but others who drive their car to drive it, will definitely notice better throttle response. Its not huge but its there.. very noticeable under load coming out of first gear..

Sounds awesome.. nice deep roar. Also changed the note of the exhaust slightly.. I even have a little blow back now (nice gurdeling noise you here with high flow systems... =D ). At normal driving pace, I personally only heard a difference with the windows down.. you could here a low roar.. at WOT, i went from 6 to 12 pretty quick :yes:

As for performance gains.. I mean you can argue ahhh 8hp here.. 6lbs of torque there.. eh.. its just an SRI paired up with a stock system.. however much the numbers changed.. I can say that it made 6th gear useful.. didn't feel like it was just a fuel economy gear anymore, I can actually get moving in it. At WOT coming from 0 and cruising.. it felt faster.. but by how much.. no idea.. I definitely pulled through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear much quicker..


Well.. there you have it.. hope this helps anyone who is making a decision or is afraid of doing the installation themselves.

Most Thanks to Corksport again for such a great product.. My cold air box is on back order, anxious to see if that changes anything. I am ordering a standard filter net just to keep crap off of it.. probably not needed but I have a lot of pollen out here lol.

 

[Camocustom]

Great write up on the install.

Soon as I get some extra cash I am going to install one too. I had an Airaid intake system on my focus, it was really freaking loud. And as you said, Under an hour for somebody semi-versed in vehicles. Took me an hour just because I like to make sure everything is Perfect.

 

[xGRIZx]

Great write up on the install.

Soon as I get some extra cash I am going to install one too. I had an Airaid intake system on my focus, it was really freaking loud. And as you said, Under an hour for somebody semi-versed in vehicles. Took me an hour just because I like to make sure everything is Perfect.

Thanks man! Appreciate the thanks!

You will not regret getting one I can certainly say that. Have about 140 miles on it now.. still sounds amazing and im getting about 33-34 miles per gallon on highway at 65-70mph... and about 29-30 at 80.

 

[xGRIZx]

Ordered INJEN Hydroshield and Oznium LED kits =D

 

[xGRIZx]

Got some tinted lids and a rally shade! Slowly pulling her together!

 

[xGRIZx]

Blacked badges

 

[xGRIZx]

Added some Pin stripes!