Mod cost

[Artemis]

Ok I was all against mods but reading some of the posts on here has got me interested.

Can someone explain the basic mods to enhance performance, what they do and approximate cost in layman's terms?

[Grajy]

Depends what you want your car to do...

[RedDjinn]

Start with Engine Mount upgrade ( better gear shift, handling). Than Rear sway Bar ( cornering response, handling ). SRI (intake), DP ( Dump Pipe), tune these are power mods.. These are the best things i feel for a MPS 3

[Artemis]

Start with Engine Mount upgrade ( better gear shift, handling). Than Rear sway Bar ( cornering response, handling ). SRI (intake), DP ( Dump Pipe), tune these are power mods.. These are the best things i feel for a MPS 3

Why is the engine mount so important and what does the other stuff do. Sorry, I'm a girl. I like fast cars but the rest is a mystery lol.

[Artemis]

Depends what you want your car to do...

More oomph and better handling.

[mpsgarage]

By far the best mod you could do is a Down Pipe, Best power gain, but pipe is not easy to fit.(few hours).
This mod will give you a good gain in your mid range rpm.
A good DP will not give a CEL

[SarcasticOne]

Why is the engine mount so important and what does the other stuff do. Sorry, I'm a girl. I like fast cars but the rest is a mystery lol.

stops this:

best way to see the difference in engine mounts is to see if someone will let you take their car for a quick drive, doesnt have to be much, just a quick run up and down the street is usually enough, so you can compare back-to-back

the downpipe gives you better performance in the 2200-4000(ish) range by allowing the turbo to start spooling sooner, it also gives a better exhaust noise
SRI/CAI induction noise is really a personal taste, see if you can find someone with one to take you for a spin, see if you like it or not

[bd581]

The engine mount upgrade fixes the prone to breaking stock one. Holds the engine firmer (doesn't move around as much) makes a huge improvement to how the gears shift.
However, side effect is more vibrations felt through the car.
Thicker rear swar bar improves handling
SRI (short ram intake) replaces your stock air cleaner box. Results in bit more power, bit more throttle responce, lot more noise
DP (dump pipe) is bit of exhaust that is attatched to the turbo. Standard one is restrictive. Replacement allowes the gasses to flow more freely. Result, much more power.
Tune - Fiddling with the cars computer, really tricky thing to explain, basically reprograms the computer telling the engine to do different things to the factory settings like how much fuel, how much air. Result is much better everything usually, fuel economy, power, driveability etc


Hope that helps

[MadAussie]

Why is the engine mount so important and what does the other stuff do. Sorry, I'm a girl. I like fast cars but the rest is a mystery lol.

Its easier to dismantle and modify a car than it is to cook a Pavlova
My girlfriend didn't know the first thing about cars when I first met her a couple of years ago, and just the other day I overheard her explaining to her friend what an intercooler is and how a colder intake charge gives power gains... I was well impressed!

Once you start doing things on your car, you'll learn quickly!

Personally I think you should do handling mods before power mods. Get nolathane bushes throughout the car to tighten the underside up, drop a swaybar in the rear, and get a set of coil-overs for it. All up you should be able to get the parts for under $3k (excluding installation, but you should do it yourself ). Then learn what the cars limits are once it's set up to handle. I'm always in the opinion that you should learn how to drive your car fast, before you build a fast car.

[bd581]

Nolathane

Way more negatives than positives. I'd never ever put a complete kit through a car. One or two bushes if you have to, but never the lot. Way to firm and way to noisy for every day use.

agreed however with handling upgrades first. Power is pointless if you can't use it.

[Caffeine Fiend]

Well the first thing to probably do is define the different types of mods you can do on an MPS

For the sake of simplicity we'll separate them into two categories; Power mods, and Handling/Drivability Mods

Before anyone goes off at me, yes some mods fall into both categories, but let's just keep it to those to make it simple

Handling/Drivability Mods

As the name implies, these mods improve aspects of your car's handling. They will give you minimal if any actual raw power gains, but what they can do is help you get your power to the road better and help give you more positive control over your car.

* Rear engine mount - there are several points at which your engine attaches to the car's chassis. Arguably the most important is the rear engine mount. As you rev the engine, the engine rocks back and forth in the engine bay. The rear engine mount helps control how much the engine moves back and forth. Essentially, the less movement the engine has when you rev it, the more 'connected' you feel to the engine. Also, the firmer the engine mount, the easier and quicker it is to change gears, manly because the engine isn't rocking around so much when you go from full throttle to no throttle when you change gears.

Mazda, when they designed the MPS chose a relatively soft rear engine mount in order to minimize NVH in the cabin (Noise Vibration Harshness). This keeps the ride nice and smooth and quiet, but many argue that it's TOO soft for a performance car such as the MPS. replacing the rear engine mount with a stiffer aftermarket unit does add some additional vibration, felt mainly when the clutch grabs on takeoff from standstill or when the A/C is on, but the trade off is better shift feel and a better feeling of connectedness to the engine. This is arguably one of the best mods you can do to liven up the feel of the car.

*Short Shift Plate (SSP) - this is a simple metal plate that installs into the engine bay that reduces the 'throw' in the gear stick, meaning you don't have to move the gear stick as far when changing gears, and thereby allowing for quicker gear changes. There are a number on the market and they're an inexpensive and completely reversible mod to do to your car.

*Sway Bars - these are suspension bars that run more or less the width of the car. There's one in the front and one on the back. Their purpose is to help the car to sit flatter through corners and help keep a neutral balance (curb understeer and oversteer). On a front wheel drive car, the natural tendency is for it to understeer in corners. Replacing the rear sway bar with an aftermarket unit can help counteract that tendency when pushing the car hard through corners

I'll add more later (or someone else can feel free to continue )


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[Artemis]

All this info is great and the SSP and rear engine mount is what I'd probably start with although there is no way in hell I could do any of this myself. My bf could probably do it though.

What does adding mods and doing it yourself do with warranty issues though?

[Grajy]

Adding mods will usually void warranties.
Get a Dump Pipe and Rear Engine Mount first. End of conversation

[2XS]

The mods you fit will cause you to lose warranty on that particular part (and anything related to it) regardless of who fitted it.

Eg: Fitting a DP won't lose the warranty on your suspension, just your exhaust. Getting the right DP fitted to not cause CELs, thats a different answer.

[Caffeine Fiend]

Part 2

* Springs and Shock Absorbers - Springs are suspension components who's chief job is to keep the wheels and tyres planted to the road when traveling over bumps and potholes etc. Springs allow the wheels and tyres to move up and down to counteract the road surface in order to maintain traction.

Shock absorbers work in concert with the springs. They're integral for both ride comfort, and keeping the tyres on the road by "absorbing the shock" of the fast compression and expansion of the springs as the car rides on the road

Some people elect to install 'Progressive Rate' springs to replace the standard ones. A standard spring has the same tension or 'rate' along it's entire length. Progressive Rate springs have different tension rates and get 'progressively' firmer as they compress. This allows the spring to sit shorter when installed in the car and thus lowering the stance of the car, whilst still maintaining a good spring rate for cornering.

Lowering the standing ride height of the car with progressive rate springs, in addition to being more aesthetically pleasing, also lowers the centre of gravity of the car, thereby helping it to sit flatter in corners. There are a few downsides though. First and foremost, lowering the car reduces its ground clearance, which, if lowered too much can severely impact the practicality of the car (issues with scraping on steep driveways, sometimes even on speed bumps). Lowering the car too much can also cause the tyres to rub on the inside of the guards (wheel arches) under heavy load cornering. This can be very dangerous and severely shorten the life of the tyre (or yourself if if happens often enough that the tyre wall weakens and bursts the tyre).

If just the springs are changed and the shock absorbers are not, the lower ride height of the springs can shorten the life of the shock absorbers due to the fact that the shock absorbers are under higher stress than with stock springs. Also, as shorter springs are generally firmer than the stock units (higher spring rate), the stock shock absorbers can find it harder to match the faster rebound of the spring (the rate at which the spring uncoils from a compressed state). This can lead to a jarring, crashing feeling when traveling over bumps and potholes at high speed. Ideally, you want to change the springs and shock absorbers at the same time so they're evenly matched, however if you don't have the budget to do this and are prepared to put up with a bit more jarring, then you can just change the springs.

Some elect to change both and go for what are called 'coilovers' which, simplistically speaking, is a set of matched springs and shock absorbers. Coilovers also generally have higher levels of adjustability than stock when it comes to changing ride height and also the absorption rate (damping) of the shock absorber. Some also have the ability to change other profiles of the suspension such as camber etc. Coilovers can be an expensive mod, but they're ultimately one of the best, most aggressive mods you can do to your suspension setup.

* Wheels and Tyres - Wheels, aside from being an aesthetic choice, can also play a role on the car's handling. A lighter wheel can reduce 'unsprung weight' and make the car more nimble under fast cornering. Generally speaking the larger the wheel diameter, the harsher the ride as the tyre 'profile' (side wall) has to be reduced in height to keep the car close enough to its stock wheel and tyre height combination that the speedometer stays accurate. The larger you go on wheel size, the lower the profile you have to go in tyre. Wheels are generally more complex than many give them credit for, especially when you start taking about wheel widths, offsets etc. and probably too complex to start going into too much more detail here.

Tyres are similarly underestimated by many in their complexity. In simplest terms, the softer the compound of tyre, the better they normally grip. The downside to this is that softer compound tyres also wear quicker. The MPS comes with a performance tyre that is of a reasonably soft compound. This helps the car grip the road but does mean that tyre life is generally short. The average seems to be 25 to 35 thousand k's for the OEM tyres on the MPS. people's mileage varies though depending on how hard they drive their cars, and whether their suspension is correctly tuned

To be continued

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[bd581]

Well written

BUT

Quality lowered springs should NOT be shorter that OEM
Quality lowered springs should be basically duel rate, very soft at the start to allow the cars weight to sit on the spring and compress to a set height.

If the spring is shorter, it will fall out of its saddle when the suspension moves down (droop) off load.
The car will crash down onto the spring causing all sorts of problems. Hence why cutting springs is a no no.
Down travel and droop is the most underated and one of the most important setting there is.

I know with racing my radio control cars, droop has the biggest effect on the cars handling than any other change

[Grajy]

Lol @ droop

[Caffeine Fiend]

Yeah Brad fair call. I was talking more about them being shorter when installed in the car and under compression. Didn't really want to get into the whole progressive rate stuff, but I'll edit it accordingly as I can see how it would be misleading


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[Reedy]

The Downpipe is a good mod, but quite expensive for the gains it offers in my opinion. On the Gen I it was excellent value but it doesn't give the same boost to performance on the Gen II unfortunately.

Basic power mods are;
Intake (SRI + TIP) ($350 - $600) - Do this first in my opinion
Downpipe ($1450 fitted)
Tune (Between $500 and $2000)

Handling upgrades;
Tyres ($1000 ish) - just get something good when your stock tyres run out.
Rear Swaybar ($300)
Coilovers/Shocks - not sure about price

It's all about deciding what you want and setting a budget. Then trying to stick to it. I initially said $3000 and ended up spending $4000, so bear that in mind.

[Grajy]

If we're taking about 'bang for your buck' mods, dont get coilovers. For a road car, they're over kill. It's only wank factor to say "I've got coilovers, yu-leh".
For a road car, springs, shocks and sway bar/s are all you need...