Today I put on the Cobb Tuning FMIC, first impressions out of the box, this is a great quality great looking kit.
I did come across some differences between the AustralianMPS and the USA Mazdaspeed 3, however modifying some parts and it fits likefactory. To some people / businesses this type of thing is top secret, but not to me, so here is what needed to be modified & Pics below:
First: behind the front bumper has a lot of differences between the AUS and the USA model however the mounting points are still in the same place so it’s relatively easy for us too.
The first hiccup came when I tried to push the intercooler up high enough so that the bumper could go back on, as you can see the Australian bumper does not let the bracket move up, this was an easy fix, 30 seconds each with an angle grinder and a bit of blackspray paint and the brackets are now AUS MPS friendly.
Intercooler back on I can now push the intercooler all the way up till the bracket is as high as it can go and tighten them down, one thing I noticed here is that our Bumper has more room between the top of the intercooler and the bottom of the bumper.
Putting on the charge pipes the one on the passenger side is blocked by the horn, it’s a very technical fix so here goes, take the horn bracket off put it in a vise and smash it with a hammer to bend it 90 degrees,no more problem with the horn!
Everything is coming along well, some of the T bolt clamps are a bit hard to get on, (its been mentioned on the USA forums too) it’s an easy fix, just get some long nose pliers and use them to squeeze the clamp in enough to get the bolt started.
Now when it comes time to put the bumper back on there is one more thing to do that is not in the instructions, and that is to take off the air ducting that is on our AUS version MPS, five screws with a Phillips head on each side and they are off.
Everything else was in Cobb's instructions
Now bumper back on and hello to cooler BAT’s