lol, some people think #'s make a car superior then another. by the way welcome to this forum on here we don't down talk other cars its just childish

 

Hey guys. New Here. I have a Black Mica S3 that I picked up a couple weeks ago. I've been a member of msprotege.com for a few years as well as a moderator of club3g.com for the past 6. I'm pretty well learned about the upgrades available for the S3. The intercooler that was posted earlier is actually from www.protegegarage.com. Ken, the owner is a great guy, and makes very good, street tested parts. With that new breather you get 20 extra horses, dyno proven, for 500 bucks. That's actually pretty damn good value for that much power. They tested it with multiple runs and it sees very little (a 1 or 2 hp loss) heat soak loss, despite it being on a dyno. The stock TMIC lost 10hp after its first run. No, I don't have any affiliation with the guys. Other than the TMIC, you can get a FMIC of course, but that will run you over a grand. I plan on going TMIC for that stealthy appearance. The ducting is great anyhow.

Now, as for the CAI - AEM makes one that has a dyno gain of about 28hp. and costs around $350. So, the chance Mazda has to make 30 or more with an exhaust/CAI combo is almost guaranteed - however, the rumor is that it will be 1300 dollars. Thanks, I'll put on the AEM. Now, these parts won't add together to 50hp, but they'll broaden the curve a bit, I'm sure.

Last thing - the only things I dislike about the car are the shifter, as others have said. It's just not a very good gearbox. It has a joystick like return to center, and a notchy feel. Some have said that replacing the rubber bushings with aluminum should help. We'll see. That will be the first thing I'll want to correct. The second thing is the audio system. I've never been much of a fan of Bose, and this system proves why. It just isn't a full range system. But hell - I'll turn it off and listen to the car's underhood audio system. Cheers guys.

 

the shifter like automatically returns to center, as for the bose system i didnt care much for, and the xenon lights I said Im sure I can add on later thats why I went right for the sport model instead since it was avail so fast to me. Yeah I am very interested in that cai exhaust combo wonder how much it will be for labor

 

it shouldn't cost too much for labor, being it isn't all that difficult to install the upgrades

 

Hello Damion! Got a link to the AEM intake? I'll be looking myself but at last glance i could'nt find anything for our cars.

 

I have about 600 miles on mine now, and the shifter is getting better (either that, or I am getting used to it). It doesn't feel as stiff and clunky in 1-2-3, as it did before.

Yeah they cleared my purge valve and CEI light, but they ordered a new purge valve as well. Basically, the valve is just sticking. They told me if the light comes on again, just ignore it.

No other problems to report, and it is still a blast to drive.

 

hey , thanks for having me. I got mine back and it turned out to be a o2 sensor. I still have this clicking sound from under the passenger seat. sounds like a loud relay. I too would like a link to this aem CAI

mike

 

Just put my deposit down and will be zoom-zooming in about 3 weeks. I test drove one yesterday and fell in love. coming from a civic this is a rocket. Hopefully i don't have the problems that have been going around

 

nice, have they been selling these over msrp?

 

Yea msrp does'nt seem to be something people pay attention too. Alot of peeps will pay what the dealer say's it costs. Sad really. I tried to use Mazda's S-Plan and my local dealer told me to run along that they could get MSRP. I looked around for two weeks calling every Speed dealer within 500 miles. I was dissapointed to find no one would. Then i go a dealer an hour away to do it. Got there and all and they wanted to take the deposit on a car and the wait would be like two months. As i'm about to leave and think about it, my local dealer calls and says they'll do S-Plan +500 on the car that i had test drove there which happened to be exactly what i wanted. I could take delivery immediatly and they offered 1500 more on trade-in WOOHOO lol. Signed and sealed 3 hours later. To anyone looking at aquiring one there are two things you'll personally have to balance. One, the limited number and rick of not getting one or what you want without much travle and such, and Two, the fact that the dealer wants money but when they sit on something too long knowing they can get another if they scoot the ofirst off the lot, they will call you back. They will deal, but they will never let on in the beggining. You have hand.

As for markup yes one dealer in baltimore told me that they had a TrueRed GT with nave for 28,500 and they would'nt budge. I all but laughed and politley got off the phone, but according to the inventory thing it's goone and now replaced with two silver gt's. Not sure what the sale price was but you can bet it was'nt a 'deal'