Whats the worst that can happen?
#5
01-31-2006, 12:08 PM
RE: Whats the worst that can happen?
Same goes for any power adder (Nitrous, forced induction, etc.) If you don't go crazy with it, you should be fine. I wouldn't try to exceed ~220-230 hp overall for reliability. If you set it up right, it can work great. But if you don't, it can be catastrophic.
#7
01-31-2006, 03:24 PM
RE: Whats the worst that can happen?
If you're basically a newbie to engines, I'd recommend avoiding high power adders.
With Nitrous, you want to make sure you don't go lean as you can melt valves/pistons when cylinder temps get too high. Having the proper solenoids/shutoffs to make sure your engine always has sufficient fuel (A/F ratio meters to verify you always avoid lean conditions.) and shutoffs that kill the motor in the event of fuel pressure loss. If you go too heavy with the Nitrous you will overwhelm the stock internals of your motor. You also want to never hit the Nitrous at anything less than ~3000 rpm as you will almost certainly grenade the engine (People usually use a WOT Wide Open Throttle switch to activate the nitrous when they mat the gas as well as a controller circuit that doesn't allow it to kick in below a certain rpm.)
If you want to see some killer 2.0/2.3L Mazda engines, check out Cosworth (search under yahoo) They do tons of work on Escorts/Focus, but the Zetec engine is very similar (almost identical). They have kits to build up your motor to 250-300hp without forced induction or Nitrous. These are expensive, but the engines are built to take the power.
Anytime you try to get more power out of a stock engine, you are running the risk of exceeding the ability of the stock components to hold up to the increased forces generated by that increased power. You can never do anything like this on the cheap (some people say they can, but they're the ones that blow their stuff up.)
One big problem with the Mazda3 is how the computer works, it is very difficult (almost impossible) to reprogram the ECM in the Mazda3. Without this ability, you can't tune the engine to perform with the new performance components. Just bolting parts into a car never works...
Even installing exhaust and a CAI will give you only certain gains. With the ability to re-program the fuel maps, etc. You would be able to get a lot more power out of the same modifications.
Some companies have begun offering standalone ECM's (not piggyback to the stock ECM) to allow the user to tune his/her engine. I don't know anything about the reliability/ease of use of these systems. It's definitely not recommended for the beginner.
Speed costs money son.....how fast do you want to go?????
With Nitrous, you want to make sure you don't go lean as you can melt valves/pistons when cylinder temps get too high. Having the proper solenoids/shutoffs to make sure your engine always has sufficient fuel (A/F ratio meters to verify you always avoid lean conditions.) and shutoffs that kill the motor in the event of fuel pressure loss. If you go too heavy with the Nitrous you will overwhelm the stock internals of your motor. You also want to never hit the Nitrous at anything less than ~3000 rpm as you will almost certainly grenade the engine (People usually use a WOT Wide Open Throttle switch to activate the nitrous when they mat the gas as well as a controller circuit that doesn't allow it to kick in below a certain rpm.)
If you want to see some killer 2.0/2.3L Mazda engines, check out Cosworth (search under yahoo) They do tons of work on Escorts/Focus, but the Zetec engine is very similar (almost identical). They have kits to build up your motor to 250-300hp without forced induction or Nitrous. These are expensive, but the engines are built to take the power.
Anytime you try to get more power out of a stock engine, you are running the risk of exceeding the ability of the stock components to hold up to the increased forces generated by that increased power. You can never do anything like this on the cheap (some people say they can, but they're the ones that blow their stuff up.)
One big problem with the Mazda3 is how the computer works, it is very difficult (almost impossible) to reprogram the ECM in the Mazda3. Without this ability, you can't tune the engine to perform with the new performance components. Just bolting parts into a car never works...
Even installing exhaust and a CAI will give you only certain gains. With the ability to re-program the fuel maps, etc. You would be able to get a lot more power out of the same modifications.
Some companies have begun offering standalone ECM's (not piggyback to the stock ECM) to allow the user to tune his/her engine. I don't know anything about the reliability/ease of use of these systems. It's definitely not recommended for the beginner.
Speed costs money son.....how fast do you want to go?????
#8
01-31-2006, 04:24 PM
RE: Whats the worst that can happen?
very well said, for someone who is a beginner in engines, i would not touch the high hp mods like nitro/turbo/supercharger, especially on my daily driver with my son in the car with me. if you are someone who likes to tinker with things and has another car to drive and is not financially responsible for other people's well being, i would say go for it. see what you can crank out of a 3. i have read about a turbo kit for the 3 that is supposed to push 350 whp, but i dont know if it is available yet. i think the price was about $3,800 and that was a stage 1 turbo with only 5lbs boost, if you wanted to go higher, you would need an intercooler to help cool it. also, the stock transmissions are only built to handle so much hp, i would check into that before adding anything like turbo/NOS/supercharger.
#9
01-31-2006, 05:04 PM
RE: Whats the worst that can happen?
5 lbs of boost would only net you around a 35% increase in power (160hp stock to 216hp) If 1 atmosphere of pressure is 14 lbs (rough number), than 5 lbs of boost yields roughly 5/14% more power (so you know how I got the calculation.)
The guys I have seen running ~280 hp are up in the 10-12 lb boost (some higher). Beyond 280 hp you definitely need new internals (crank will blow apart in no time.)
Bottom line is that in order to make the Mazda3 truly fast, you have to spend too much money to do it and make sense. If I want to go fast I'll buy something V8 and rear drive.
The guys I have seen running ~280 hp are up in the 10-12 lb boost (some higher). Beyond 280 hp you definitely need new internals (crank will blow apart in no time.)
Bottom line is that in order to make the Mazda3 truly fast, you have to spend too much money to do it and make sense. If I want to go fast I'll buy something V8 and rear drive.
