MX-3.com

you know what sucks? i bought my mx3 with 170 thousand miles on it BUT it has a new k8 engine... boo. I dont wanna do a klze or kl swap because this engine is just to new :/ i mean it has the normal head tick and the valve cover gaskets. Altough when i drive it it never burns oil or anything..oddly..when my brother drives it..it does. he probably revs it all the way up but even still when i drive it harsh.it wont lose oil. Anywho.. on thet fidenza flywheel..shaving it..wouldnt wanna risk breaking it. U guys this a fidenza would work well with the k8? since theres no way im doing engine swap at the moment. even if i have the funds to do so

headers, full exhaust, MSD ignition, air intake, short shifter, port/polish heads, nitrous 50-75shot, you should be in high 13's no problem

Originally posted by TsiMiata:
Any autoparts store will sell ground straps. Buy a couple for a few bucks and have a blast. I persoanlly think they make no difference. The only one that really counts is the one from the battery to the body. The motor is ground nine ways till sunday and ading another strap I doubt does much.

Maybe no measurable horsepower, but for as cheap as you can make one it sure does make the engine run smoothly.

Going back about 5 years Sean should have been running in the high 13's with a stock KL-ZE with a ACT clutch, slicks and 900lb rear springs. The reason I say "should" is because the night we were at Cayuga he dialed-in at 14.01 and ended you sandbagging somewhere between the 1/8 mile trap and the 800 foot mark to keep from breaking out. He ended up winning the bracket that night running a consistant 14.02 to 14.05 but the trap speed was constantly getting slower starting at 98mph on the practise passes down to about 87 mph on the final pass. If he broke out I would calculate he would he could have run 13.9x instead of coasting the last 400 to 600 feet of track.

One other thing I forgot the biggest thing that is holding back all Mazda's from running faster is the transmission gear ratios. Sean swapped front the stock 4.39 final MX-3 tranny to the 4.10 final from a 626 to gain a couple tenths but still neede some taller. I remember talking to Dave Lauzier once when he was saying he needed final drive something like 3.50 to 3.70 to get out of the 11's and 12's. Also the steps between gear are to close together for drag racing. Once you hit the low 14's high 13's you are fighting a losing battle against the tranny not the lack of power.

Originally posted by Yoda:
One other thing I forgot the biggest thing that is holding back all Mazda's from running faster is the transmission gear ratios. Sean swapped front the stock 4.39 final MX-3 tranny to the 4.10 final from a 626 to gain a couple tenths but still neede some taller. I remember talking to Dave Lauzier once when he was saying he needed final drive something like 3.50 to 3.70 to get out of the 11's and 12's. Also the steps between gear are to close together for drag racing. Once you hit the low 14's high 13's you are fighting a losing battle against the tranny not the lack of power.

thank you...one person agrees with me. I always thought the gearing was way too short.

Well there are a lot more that the 4 of us. Why do you think there is no one seriously competing in Import drags with a FWD Mazda. You spend more time out of gear than your competition plus you have to make an extra gear change. Now if the OE ATX could hold the torque like the new Ford ATX used with the L3-VE and 2.3 Duratec then you have the gearing to put the car into the 12s.

Originally posted by Gro Harlem:

Originally posted by Yoda:
One other thing I forgot the biggest thing that is holding back all Mazda's from running faster is the transmission gear ratios. Sean swapped front the stock 4.39 final MX-3 tranny to the 4.10 final from a 626 to gain a couple tenths but still neede some taller. I remember talking to Dave Lauzier once when he was saying he needed final drive something like 3.50 to 3.70 to get out of the 11's and 12's. Also the steps between gear are to close together for drag racing. Once you hit the low 14's high 13's you are fighting a losing battle against the tranny not the lack of power.

thank you...one person agrees with me. I always thought the gearing was way too short.

even with the k8 motor, i ask myself "when i get the swap how the hell am i going to run this thing w/o shifting every 2 seconds?"

we lack serious aftermarket support!

Originally posted by ZEmadman:
even with the k8 motor, i ask myself "when i get the swap how the hell am i going to run this thing w/o shifting every 2 seconds?"

we lack serious aftermarket support!

Just shift 1 - 3 - 5 , or would 1 - 2 - 4 be better

<small>[ October 04, 2004, 03:42 AM: Message edited by: IanL ]</small>

Funny that you should say this I'm missing 3rd gear (broken synro). 90% of the time you would never know that it was missing. I have a friend running a high/mid 13sec (A4)Golf and was still pulling way from him shifting 2-4,5 when we decided to have a go at each other. Afterwards another friend ask I if I had 3rd gear fixed. The friend with the Golf was surprised when I said no and got pissed off at his car. The big mistake everybody makes it to take the revs to redline. Big mistake once you hit the rpm that the engine makes peak HP you are actually slowing down no matter how high you take the rpms. To improve your 1/4 mile times it is better to shift short. If your peak hp is say 6800rpm starting your shift at 6500rpm should gain you a tenth or two and the traps.

Originally posted by IanL:

Originally posted by ZEmadman:
even with the k8 motor, i ask myself "when i get the swap how the hell am i going to run this thing w/o shifting every 2 seconds?"

we lack serious aftermarket support!

Just shift 1 - 3 - 5 , or would 1 - 2 - 4 be better