Hey folks. Just bought an '08 Mazda 3 a few weeks ago. I'm hoping to put some money into the car over the next couple years and was wondering if any of you have an aftermarket turbo.

Also, I'm not exactly what you'd call a car junky so I'm not very familiar with what exactly a turbo does.

How much would a Turbo typically cost? What benefits do you get from a Turbo? How much horse would a Turbo add?

Thanks for putting up with a newb!

 

First off, if your car has an automatic transmission then you can forget about modding it, the tranny won't be able to handle the extra load.

Now, if you have a manual transmission and you want to breath on the engine, then the more you spend the more power you're likely to get. I've heard of a few folks who've been able to coax over 200hp out of their engines for an investment of somewhere in the three to four thousand dollar range.

 

Part of what shipo said is true, the auto trans is not going to cut it, there is no way around it (w/o getting a race spec like a 2spd power glide).

As for the second part (at this point it dont matter) 200whp @ $3-4k is the money pent by someone who bought a kit and had someone tune it, 200whp+ is still obtainable (safely) in the 1.5k price range if you know what your doing and what to buy

 

That's a negative on the Automatic. She's a 5speed

Thanks for the heads up, fellas. Do you guys have any reliable sites you've ordered from that I could browse?

 

I was assuming the former.

 

Does anyone have a ballpark number what a turbo + exhaust might add up for me?

Been trying Google magic, but to no avail

 

lol @ google, anyway its all about what your trying to do, you can get a 3in now or later but u need to get atleast a 2.5in when going boost. A turbo kit ranges from 2.5k cheapest, or you can take your chances with an 1k ebay kit but it would be highly advised to have the turbo checked, and trash the wastegate.

Its a sticky for a reason
https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/mazda3-26/aftermarket-performance-websites-8120/

Also
https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/mazda3-26/build-list-mazda-3-a-19814/