Scaredycrow's mod plan. Opinions welcomed :)

[Scaredycrow]

The aurora bullet is now out of warranty, and will soon be fully paid for. Meaning substantially more cash in my account each month! As I've been kicking around here for a while now, I thought I'd share my ideal build.

The goal: To create a monster of a daily driver, maintaining great drive-ability, reliability and "wolf in sheeps clothing" properties the car has from stock. Put simply, a ripper of a sleeper.

Power-train upgrades:
- Best Mufflers DP, retain stock catback.
- BNR Turbo upgrade (stage 2)
- Corksport FMIC kit with RamAir intake
- Flash tune (ecutek or chiptorque dyno tune, will decide when the time comes)
- CP-E Rear mount (60 duro)
- Exhaust Manifold (2XS?)

Maybes:
- After market BPV (if I find that the stock one is leaking / not holding boost)
- HPFP upgrade (not convinced I'll need it)
- Corksport or Magnaflow cat back (want it kept quiet, drone unacceptable)
- CPE Standback (only if i got it cheap 2nd hand, would use it in conjuction with a Flash)
- Potentially a hyperflow TMIC with CES SRI instead of the fmic kit (only if I can't source the CS FMIC kit)

Suspension:
- Koni Yellow Shocks (done)
- Mazdaspeed Springs (purchased, waiting to install)
- Stiffer Front and Rear Sway Bars (waiting to see how it handles with the springs installed)

Brakes:
- DBA4000 Brake rotors (done)
- QFM HP-X pads (done)

Wheels:
- RX-8 Series 1 18x8 +50mm (Done)

Key points to emphasize:
- I'm not keen on upgrading the internals, hopefully if done right, I won't need to.
- It shouldn't be obvious from looking under the bonnet or under the car that it's not stock obviously assuming someone that's not very familiar with these cars. Willing to pay a bit extra (within reason) to achieve this.

This is not really about numbers on a dyno, the bum dyno is the only one I need to satisfy! That said, the numbers i *think* this all should net are something like 210atwkw and well on the way to 500nm of torque, and at the end of it all, the engine ought to be working less hard than it is now to achieve that!

Discuss

[rogwick]

I'm not too familiar with the exhaust set up of the 3MPS, but you could possibly consider a catback system, but slip in two resonators like mine to keep it a little more quiet.
You would probably need a BNR stage 1 if your turbo starts smoking anyway. The stage one is a good buy though.

Go with a FMIC and possibly consider painting/powder coating black? Keeping your theme of a stealth look?? Possibly paint the associated FMIC pipes gloss black in the engine bay too.
There was an awesome FMIC in black knocking around google somewhere, sorry couldn't find it
All Black BOV or BPV (stealth) such as;

[AD07]

Dont over look suspension , unless you already have changed it.
A good set of coil-overs or a good spring/ shock setup will be needed to get that extra power to the ground.
Also put an engine mount on your list.
Goodluck with it.
Ad.

[Scaredycrow]

Dont over look suspension , unless you already have changed it.
A good set of coil-overs or a good spring/ shock setup will be needed to get that extra power to the ground.
Also put an engine mount on your list.
Goodluck with it.
Ad.

Added rear mount to the list

Added suspension / brake / wheel sections. Suspensions upgrades will be completed before I add any power mods.

---------- Post added at 12:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------

I'm not too familiar with the exhaust set up of the 3MPS, but you could possibly consider a catback system, but slip in two resonators like mine to keep it a little more quiet.
You would probably need a BNR stage 1 if your turbo starts smoking anyway. The stage one is a good buy though.

Go with a FMIC and possibly consider painting/powder coating black? Keeping your theme of a stealth look?? Possibly paint the associated FMIC pipes gloss black in the engine bay too.
There was an awesome FMIC in black knocking around google somewhere, sorry couldn't find it
All Black BOV or BPV (stealth) such as;

Totally agree rog. The plans around the FMIC can get very interesting (and expensive!). I've had a few ideas to mod the CS FMIC: replace the core with a more efficient bar and plate of the same capacity. (pretty sure its a tube/fin design standard) Paint the core black. Ceramicoat / jet coat the piping black. Get black silicon couplers instead of the bright blue ones!

It's a bit of messing around, but we'll see how we go!

I know it not a certainty, but i'm approaching this with the expectation that the turbo is going to smoke. My car is an 06 model so not much chance that they had that problem solved by its build date. Saves my having to find the cash for a new turbo unexpectedly if I factor it in now.

The stock catback will do fine with the DP installed, I've heard a few on youtube etc and am happy with the sound. Leaving the catback as is gives me something to change down the track if I start getting modding urges ::

[SarcasticOne]

maybe look into the 2XS FMIC kit being developed?

[Scaredycrow]

maybe look into the 2XS FMIC kit being developed?

I believe 2XS is already selling But he's not going to do the top mount filter type system due to heat soak concerns. Otherwise I'd definitely be interested, Troy does top notch work, just look at his 1/4 mile times!

[TD]

Looks like a good plan.

I've got the shiny FMIC hanging out the front of mine, it's all but a sign saying "look at me!!" with a Forge BPV fluttering and making kaching noises, and still no one knows what the hell it is so don't be concerned about losing your stealth

It has even passed the being pulled over by Police test a couple of times after giving it a squirt...

On another note, how do you rate the Koni yellows?

[Scaredycrow]

Looks like a good plan.

I've got the shiny FMIC hanging out the front of mine, it's all but a sign saying "look at me!!" with a Forge BPV fluttering and making kaching noises, and still no one knows what the hell it is so don't be concerned about losing your stealth

It has even passed the being pulled over by Police test a couple of times after giving it a squirt...

On another note, how do you rate the Koni yellows?

Good to hear dan! The fuzz have already had one look under my bonnet, they possibly were convinced it was a turbo diesel though..

The koni's are cool. I was playing around with different adjustments yesterday, 1 full 360 degree turn on the left and right fronts *completely* transformed the car. It's like its taken a bunch of awesome pills
On the softest setting they ride like stock should have been, I can't say i really understood that statement till after putting them in though. Stock feels good until you realise what it can feel like. After which stock feels pretty feral!

Would I recommend them? Yes. And I'm only on stcok springs atm.

I do have mazdaspeed lowering springs ready to go, which was not my original plan. But the front is standing a bit higher after putting the konis on, reckon this is because the koni shafts are a bit longer than the stockers.

[Scaredycrow]

UPDATE: Sorry to say guys that little if any of this plan is likely to be put into action anytime soon. I'm now in saving mode for a trip around Europe in April/May 2012... It's been coming for a long time but I was hoping to have the car all up to scratch first. No chance of that happening now Got 18 months to scratch together about $15K.Wish me luck

[rogwick]

Buy a scratchie!