Hey guys,

I'm a new Mazda owner and am new to these boards. Just got an '08 Speed3 and have a couple of questions--

I'm about to drive from Virginia to Connecticut, is there anything I should be careful of with this car? It's my first turbo-charged car, so I don't know a whole lot about driving them.

Will the car be alright if I drive it for 4+ hours at 70mph or will it get too over heated?

Also, I'm probably going to buy a turbo timer in the next couple of weeks. Any specific ones I should check out?

Any assistance you can guys can offer about driving/maintaining the car will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot

 

as with any turbo or "high performance" vehicle, keeping up with your oil changes is the first step into getting the most out of the engine and turbo. As far as driving long distances the only thing i can think of heat soak due to the intercooler being on top of the engine and minimal airflow going across cause noticeable drop in performance. I dont think 4 hours of highway driving will have much a negative effect.

As far as a turbo timer just go with apexi's unit, small, easy to install i can say ive NEVER heard anything bad about them

 

You're overthinking this; drive the car as you would any other, change the oil in schedule (if not a little early), and in my humble opinion, stick to high quality synthetic oil. Why? Because it is far-far less prone to coking when the encountering hot surfaces. As for your four hour drive; nothing to worry about it, even if it was forty hours or even four-hundred. The thing is, on a long highway drive, the turbocharger is barely working and is nice and cool (relatively speaking).

 

Welcome aboard and congrats on the new-to-you Speed!!

I agree with everything the others here said so far.
Regular oil changes using high quality synthetic is a must in any car. But with a turbo or supercharged car it becomes even more critical.
And I think a turbo timer is an excellent idea for anyone running a turbo. They get hot as h*ll and will burn (coke) oil in the turbo bearing if shut down too early.

In the mean time, be patient shutting the car down. Get to places a little early so you can sit there for a minute or so to let the turbo spool down, cool down a bit and circulate fresher, cooler oil. If I had a Speed, I'd be letting the car idle as long as possible before shutting down the engine.

And as always.. pictures are welcome here!!

 

As a former (and most likely future) owner of several turbocharged cars, there's absolutely zero need to do lots of idling before engine shutdown unless one of the following conditions exist:

• You've just been blasting down the highway and pull off at a service area (i.e. right next to the highway) for a quick tank of gas
• You've taken your car to a closed course track and have been racing and need a pit-stop for fuel (or have just finished the race and are shutting down)

The thing is, modern turbochargers have water cooled bearings and when you're running an engine with such a turbocharger in combination with synthetic oil, the turbocharger should outlast the rest of the car (assuming you adhere to the above two items in the list).

 

on the topic of overheating on the highway because of the turbo, not possible.

the exchanger on the intercooler system exchanges heat in more than one way. it absorbs heat from the turbo and exchanges it with atmospheric air when the turbo is spooled. if it isn't spooling (like cruising on the highway) the air charge going from the turbo and into the intake will actually cool the intercooler. that is basically like the best cold air intake you will ever have on the highway.

 

Agreed; ain't gonna happen.

 

Yes, I know that turbo cooling isn't necessary all the time, but I say better be safe than sorry.

Engines and turbos, and their repairs can add up fast. I would take every precaution to save them for as long as possible and spending a minute of cool down time wouldn't hurt anybody and it may help in the long run.

Besides, if you are in the habit of doing so, when you do come blasting off the track or the highway all spooled up, you are more likely to not forget the cool down time. Remember that most humans are habitual creatures.

As it is, I usually let my own car settle down to a normal low idle (+/-20-30 secs) before I shut it down, and I am not boosted.

 

Really? Geez, I'm often shut down well before I come to a stop.

 

Gee, if you shut it off a mile from home and coasted the rest of the way, the wind pushing through the radiator would cool off the car and you wouldn't have to worry about idling down.

This coming from a guy that thinks pushing his, unpowered 3, is normal?

(That was you that said that during one of the power steering discussions, wasn't it?)