First bicycles, and now cars! Mikef5000.com is (apparently) ever expanding!
I hope to build this section to include details of my previous, highly modified Mk2 Volkswagen GTI and lightly modified Audi A4. For now, I will simply throw some details up about my new Mazda. Starting with my introduction to the world of Mazda (posted to the Mazda forums):
After a lifetime of German engineering, in February of 2015, I bought new Mazda 3 S Grand Touring.
I started with a 1989 VW GTI that I built into an Autocross race car.
After a lifetime of German engineering, in February of 2015, I bought new Mazda 3 S Grand Touring.
I started with a 1989 VW GTI that I built into an Autocross race car.
I then bought a 1996 VW Jetta to be my daily driver after I over-did the GTI. I ended up selling both and buying a 2002 Audi A4. 1.8T motor, 5-speed manual, Quattro.
I put a fair amount of time and money into the A4 right away to personalize it. Coilovers and monster sway bars. Stage 1+ tuning with bigger fuel injectors (good for about 225 HP and 275 TQ), slightly bigger brakes, BBS Wheels with wide sticky summer tires, window tint...
I had the A4 for 9 years, and it began to nickel and dime me to death. It would have a small (often insignificant) issue, once a month. After a year or more of this, it was time to go car shopping.
Really long story short:
I required a manual transmission and a fun-to-drive car, doesn't really need to be fast, but it needs to be an enjoyable drive.
The 'wanted' list:
Hatchback or wagon
Leather
Bluetooth
All Wheel Drive
Cars I looked at and test drove, and their leading reason I kept looking;
2012 Audi S4 (too pricey, and wasn't as 'fun' as expected)
2013 Audi A4 (too similar to what I've had for 9 years)
2012 VW Golf R (This was my #1 choice for a long time, but the more I researched, the more fearful I became of some common reliability issues)
2015 VW GTI (too pricey with leather)
2015 VW Golf TDI (too pricey with leather and the motor lacked fun-factor)
2015 Mazda 6 Touring (Liked the Mazda3 grand touring package/price more)
2015 Elantra Sport (0-60 in 12 minutes)
2013 Subaru WRX STI (too pricey, and lacking in features)
I couldn't find a newer Subaru WRX hatchback with the features I wanted, but it was on my list.
In any case, I abandoned the all wheel drive, and found the Mazda 3 hatchback. The features of the S Grand Touring blew me away, and the pricing was coming in less than the 2012-2013 VW's I was first looking at. Needless to say, it was hard to justify anything else. A new and comparable VW (Golf/GTI) was coming in every bit of 6 grand more expensive. I do wish it was all wheel drive (and perhaps a bit faster) but it's a solid compromise, and I'm very happy with it. I know there are rumors of a new MazdaSpeed 3 that could be all wheel drive, but... well... how long have there been rumors about a diesel? I'm ready to move now.
So then came the battle of finding an S, Hatch, Grand Touring, Manual. The first one I test drove ended up selling to someone else 2 hours before I showed up to buy it. 2 weeks later I finally sourced another one.
I picked it up the last day of February 2015.
Meteor grey with black leather. It is an S version, which means it comes with the larger 2.5 liter 4 cylinder, pushing around 184 horsepower and 185 Ft/Lb or Torque through the 6-speed manual transmission. The Grand Touring package comes with a large touchscreen infotainment system, heads-up display, Bose stereo, real leather seats, navigation, active HID lights, and a ton more features.
I have some small plans for modifications, but I won't be altering it to much.
I had the A4 for 9 years, and it began to nickel and dime me to death. It would have a small (often insignificant) issue, once a month. After a year or more of this, it was time to go car shopping.
Really long story short:
I required a manual transmission and a fun-to-drive car, doesn't really need to be fast, but it needs to be an enjoyable drive.
The 'wanted' list:
Hatchback or wagon
Leather
Bluetooth
All Wheel Drive
Cars I looked at and test drove, and their leading reason I kept looking;
2012 Audi S4 (too pricey, and wasn't as 'fun' as expected)
2013 Audi A4 (too similar to what I've had for 9 years)
2012 VW Golf R (This was my #1 choice for a long time, but the more I researched, the more fearful I became of some common reliability issues)
2015 VW GTI (too pricey with leather)
2015 VW Golf TDI (too pricey with leather and the motor lacked fun-factor)
2015 Mazda 6 Touring (Liked the Mazda3 grand touring package/price more)
2015 Elantra Sport (0-60 in 12 minutes)
2013 Subaru WRX STI (too pricey, and lacking in features)
I couldn't find a newer Subaru WRX hatchback with the features I wanted, but it was on my list.
In any case, I abandoned the all wheel drive, and found the Mazda 3 hatchback. The features of the S Grand Touring blew me away, and the pricing was coming in less than the 2012-2013 VW's I was first looking at. Needless to say, it was hard to justify anything else. A new and comparable VW (Golf/GTI) was coming in every bit of 6 grand more expensive. I do wish it was all wheel drive (and perhaps a bit faster) but it's a solid compromise, and I'm very happy with it. I know there are rumors of a new MazdaSpeed 3 that could be all wheel drive, but... well... how long have there been rumors about a diesel? I'm ready to move now.
So then came the battle of finding an S, Hatch, Grand Touring, Manual. The first one I test drove ended up selling to someone else 2 hours before I showed up to buy it. 2 weeks later I finally sourced another one.
I picked it up the last day of February 2015.
Meteor grey with black leather. It is an S version, which means it comes with the larger 2.5 liter 4 cylinder, pushing around 184 horsepower and 185 Ft/Lb or Torque through the 6-speed manual transmission. The Grand Touring package comes with a large touchscreen infotainment system, heads-up display, Bose stereo, real leather seats, navigation, active HID lights, and a ton more features.
I have some small plans for modifications, but I won't be altering it to much.
2015 Mazda 3 S Grand Touring Hatchback - Lowered and Tinted
Appearance: I tinted the windows immediately (with 35% all around, minus the windshield); I could argue it's to keep less sunshine from cooking the black leather, but the reality is, it just looks so much better [35% Suntek Carbon Tint from TintWorks in Powell, OH].
I also replaced all the interior (yellowish) lights with brighter whiter LEDs (a $10 upgrade, just because) [4 generic 31mm Festoon LED Bulbs].
I am planning on tinting the lenses of all the lights as well, just barely. I want them to blend more with the dark color car, without standing out or reducing light output. I attempted Lamin-X already, but would highly recommend against it. Both the headlights and tailights are far too curved for the thick material. My window tint company has a much thinner material, that works significantly better for these curved surfaces. I'll provide details once it's done.
I am also planning on upgrading the fog lights to match the Bi-Xenon HID headlights. In stock form, the headlights are so great, the Halogen fog lights are completely unnoticeable. I will either be converting the fogs to HID's to match the headlights, or installing aftermarket LED lights.
I also replaced all the interior (yellowish) lights with brighter whiter LEDs (a $10 upgrade, just because) [4 generic 31mm Festoon LED Bulbs].
I am planning on tinting the lenses of all the lights as well, just barely. I want them to blend more with the dark color car, without standing out or reducing light output. I attempted Lamin-X already, but would highly recommend against it. Both the headlights and tailights are far too curved for the thick material. My window tint company has a much thinner material, that works significantly better for these curved surfaces. I'll provide details once it's done.
I am also planning on upgrading the fog lights to match the Bi-Xenon HID headlights. In stock form, the headlights are so great, the Halogen fog lights are completely unnoticeable. I will either be converting the fogs to HID's to match the headlights, or installing aftermarket LED lights.
Handling: The car comes stock with a horrendous amount of wheel gap; It's nearly criminal, the gaping openness above the tire. I went coilovers on my Audi, but wanted to keep this car simpler; I researched the options on lowering springs, and ended up with Road Magnet brand. The reviews say handling is substantially improved, while the ride quality is not significantly altered. The ~1.5" drop is enough to mitigate wheel gap, without riding so low I have to worry about every little thing (like I did for nearly 9 years with my Audi). I lucked in to finding a great deal on the exact springs I was looking for, so I snatched them up. After install, the car looks exponentially better to me, and handles just lovely. It is a hair stiffer than I was hoping for, but that's completely worth it.
While installing the springs, I also added a Progress Suspension rear sway bar.
While installing the springs, I also added a Progress Suspension rear sway bar.
Powertrain: This 'Skyactiv' motor is fairly well sorted from the factory, and there simply isn't a lot of room for 'bolt-on' improvement. Also, without much of a following, the aftermarket isn't supporting this car anything like I'm used to from my Euro car days. That being said, there isn't a significant amount of go-fast parts available. The exhaust systems available are more for sound than for performance. The factory header and intake both were very well engineered, and replacing them would only be necessary if you are building a full on track car, or simply going for more sound. That leaves us with just a few reasonable power options. I replaced the factory air filter with an AEM drop in air filter; this is more for convenience of clean-ability, rather than any sort of performance gain. And finally, there are a couple tuning options for this car. Orange Virus Tuning offers 3 options, and DRtuned Racing is recently coming out with some options. Reviews aren't stellar, which is quite disappointing, but I'll still consider it after my warranty runs out.
Wheels/Tires: This is it's own category because it affects all of the above. I'll start by saying, I love the looks of the factory wheels, but they are HEAVY! The factory tires are nothing to write home about either (road noise!). So I began toying with the idea of replacing them, and learned I can easily drop over 10 pounds per corner by swapping to different wheels and tires. That's over 40 pounds or rotating, unsprung mass... which is a fairly huge deal! Dropping 40 pounds of rotating weight will noticeably improve handling, acceleration, braking, and fuel economy. Plus, I can go one step wider tires, which will (marginally) improve handling even more... and I can upgrade to tires that are quieter, stickier, and last longer! I plan on sticking with all-season tires, and running these new wheels year round. Gone are my days of swapping wheels with the seasons. I'm currently looking at the General G-Max AS05 225-40-18 tires The reviews say they are everything I want in a tire, and they come in at a relatively low 20 pounds each.
I created this thread with several wheel and tire options. Below are Photoshops of some of my favorites. Right now I'm leaning toward the middle option, Rotary Forged TSW Interlagos, in 18x7.5", at 18 pounds each. TSW Also makes a rotary forged Nurburgring model that I like very much.
A more affordable option is to switch to some late generation Mazda Miata 17" wheels. They look very good (and have the appearance of large 18" wheels), are only 17 pounds each, and offer more tire options. They can be found used or around $250 for the set, but they do need the addition of 5 or 10mm wheel spacers.
I created this thread with several wheel and tire options. Below are Photoshops of some of my favorites. Right now I'm leaning toward the middle option, Rotary Forged TSW Interlagos, in 18x7.5", at 18 pounds each. TSW Also makes a rotary forged Nurburgring model that I like very much.
A more affordable option is to switch to some late generation Mazda Miata 17" wheels. They look very good (and have the appearance of large 18" wheels), are only 17 pounds each, and offer more tire options. They can be found used or around $250 for the set, but they do need the addition of 5 or 10mm wheel spacers.
2012 Acura TSX Sportwagon
My car by marriage (AKA the wifes car), the extremely functional and fun to drive Acrua TSX Wagon. The car is lacking a bit in technology, but after shopping all competing wagons, we picked this one as the greatest compromise. It looks and drives fairly sporty, but is giant inside. It has a very peppy four cylinder, yet still gets easily between 30 and 35 miles per gallon on the highway. We tinted it with 45% on the sides and back, which pops with the pearl white exterior. I'd love to lower in just a touch, and install nicer wheels... but priorities. Some day it may end up with my Mazda's 18" wheels; they fit just fine, and look better.
