Looking for advice for autocross mx-3

[Jdmtunedmx3]

Hey guys,


I drive a 92 Mazda MX-3 GS. I run SM class autocross. I have KYB struts, dropzone struts , Front & Rear Strut bars and a few other misc mods and upgrades. Anyways, I am looking for advice on what to do next.

I want to swap the KLZE this winter but I am not sure on where to find a motor , is the KLZE out of the probe gt a good motor or no? my next question is how much would I be looking to spend? is the sensors the same ? If I decide not to swap , is the K8 a good power plant ? Can it make power ? If so what would it take ? My town is full of Honda heads and I want to prove to them that Honda's and there B series aren't the only cars
that can tear up the asphalt. I want to bulid up my K8 kinda cause its still a strong motor but who makes stuff for it and where do I start? I am newbie when it comes to motors.Here is some of the things I want to do to my K8 until winter but I am not sure who makes the stuff or where to begin:

Upgrade fuel system ( Fuel Rail, Injectors, Filter, Fuel Pump, Pressure Regulator)

Ignition system (I have denso irdium plugs & wires (sponsored by Denso) but I want to upgrade it more, any suggestions)

I want to make a intake system but one of the vaccum hose nipples on the stock intake box on the little adapter thingy on the side broke off so now I have a small vaccum leak and I cant seem to find another one. any ideas where I can get this, also how would I go about making a intake that will work with the GAY MAF ?

Is 2.5" Piping for the exhaust safe ? Or should I stay 2.25" ?



My next question is suspension/brakes: as mentioned above I have the lowering springs,struts,strut bars. I want to have a fully built street/autocross setup that handles like butter, any suggestions or advice? I cant seem to find any companies for the following:

poly bushings
poly motor mounts
lower H bar
Harness Bar
Sway Bars
Rear Tie Bar
Lower & upper A braces
Floor Brace

Anyone know where I can find these?


I will doing a autopower roll bar eventually.

Last but not least is exterior: I want a CF hood but they seem outrageously priced, anyone know where I can get one for a hood price , I want vented.

I want some clean looking side skirts and rear lip. Any suggestions? I am thinking about Honda Accord Rear Lip Fabricated to fit & Honda Accord Side Skirts. any advice to give my car interior and exterior wise a taste of JDM look would be appericated.

Thanks alot guys in advance for my newbie like questions but I want to gain advice from only the best the people who have been in my shoes. I will probally be adding more as I come across ideas.


Help me put these Honda Freaks to shame at shows, performance wise on the street, and out handle them on the track.

[Jdmtunedmx3]

This is similar to how I want mine to look when its done minus the bumpers.

[Nd4SpdSe]

I want to swap the KLZE this winter but I am not sure on where to find a motor , is the KLZE out of the probe gt a good motor or no? my next question is how much would I be looking to spend? is the sensors the same ?.

Not really, the KLZE is the high-output version of the KLDE you would find in teh Probe, Mx-6, 626 and Millenia. It's tuned from 164hp (170 in the Millenia) to 198hp (or 200 as we call it )

Spend; depends on milleage, warranty, quality, can spend anywhere between $500 to $2500 on one.

Sensors are basically swappable between the all K-series motors, except the KJ, of course, for OBDI anyway. Not sure on the OBDII varients, but you can put the ODBI sensors into a motor with ODBII sensors no problem

If I decide not to swap , is the K8 a good power plant ? Can it make power ? If so what would it take ? My town is full of Honda heads and I want to prove to them that Honda's and there B series aren't the only cars
that can tear up the asphalt. I want to bulid up my K8 kinda cause its still a strong motor but who makes stuff for it and where do I start? I am newbie when it comes to motors.Here is some of the things I want to do to my K8 until winter but I am not sure who makes the stuff or where to begin:

Not really, you can turbo it, made around 200whp, but you can get close to that with just a ZE swap to begin with. Should have more torque tho, but your adding the weight of the turbo system, and that being in front of the axles, so adding more front weight, which will encourage understeer, and will suck for autocross. A KL is about the same weight of a K8, maybe withing a few lbs. For building it up, there is pretty much nothing aftermarket, no demand. That motor was only available in the Mx-3, and it wasn't a high selling car to begin with. You'll have to go out and sourse some parts and get them custom done. The KL's (DE and ZE are almost identical with only changes to the intake runners, cam profiles and different pistons compression), there's a significant amount of aftermarket, because of their abundance, and thanks to the Probe/Mx-6 owners.

The K8 is a weak motor compared to the KL, has less potential, and more expensive to upgrade. As for cost, you should easilly be able to swap to a KLZE for significantly less than turboing the K8

Upgrade fuel system ( Fuel Rail, Injectors, Filter, Fuel Pump, Pressure Regulator)

Ignition system (I have denso irdium plugs & wires (sponsored by Denso) but I want to upgrade it more, any suggestions)

Upgrading the fuel system is not necessary on an N/A level, the stock system is more than sufficient, but an FPR is usable. The igniition system is a good upgrade too; search about the HEI module upgrade and the external coil mod while your at it

I want to make a intake system but one of the vaccum hose nipples on the stock intake box on the little adapter thingy on the side broke off so now I have a small vaccum leak and I cant seem to find another one. any ideas where I can get this, also how would I go about making a intake that will work with the GAY MAF ?

Actually it's a VAF, but if your putting on a CAI, yoru replacing the airbox anyway, so who cares? Intakes are designed to accept a VAF, they should have the couplers to do so. Search about CAI's, you'll find plenty of information and options

Is 2.5" Piping for the exhaust safe ? Or should I stay 2.25" ?

Depends, 2.5" is common, some people like 2.25 for more low end torque. 2.5-3" if you want a turbo.

My next question is suspension/brakes: as mentioned above I have the lowering springs,struts,strut bars. I want to have a fully built street/autocross setup that handles like butter, any suggestions or advice? I cant seem to find any companies for the following:

SRD is no londer in buisness (:() so there's no main source for bushings anymore, I think there *is* an alternative, but I dont know it. They used to make a front crossmember and rear lower tie car too. The rest, i dont know.

One thing you may want if your runing autocross and want it stiffer is to use stiffer springs and struts.

Last but not least is exterior: I want a CF hood but they seem outrageously priced, anyone know where I can get one for a hood price , I want vented.

eBay, but you get what you pay for, shitty quality. Honestly tho, since when is carbon fiber cheap? It is carbon fiber...

I want some clean looking side skirts and rear lip. Any suggestions? I am thinking about Honda Accord Rear Lip Fabricated to fit & Honda Accord Side Skirts. any advice to give my car interior and exterior wise a taste of JDM look would be appericated.

Anything other than what's deisnged for an Mx-3 will have to be customly modified. If you can or someone can modify them, the only way to find out is to try or to pay someone to try, cause we dont know. Custom is exactly that, custom.

For JDM stuff, there's the JDM front bumper and side skirts. The front bumper is farily common and somewhat easy to get ahold of. JDM side skirts, good luck, I dont think i've ever seen them on another car in North America other than my own, and I lucked out, I didn't know what they were, i though they were normal OEM's. That's what they were advertised as but they needed some repair, previous owner's car was in an accident and written off, so good luck on those. There is the regular North American OEM side skirts, but those are sought after and very hard to find as well. There's also the MazdaSpeed components, the MazdaSpeed front bumper, which is similar to the JDM bumper, some of the small side skirts, and even a spoiler option, Corksport.com lists them all.

The pics you posted, that's Tom's car, the kit on there is the JDM front bumper with the JDM bumper lip (you can get it without the lip, and even use the regular GS lip as well) and the JDM fog lights, regular OEM side skirts, the Pakfeifer rear lip and since your in the US, that's the JDM/Canadian 94-96 GS spoiler.

[PATDIESEL]

Those are pretty good answers so I won't go over all that again. However, why are you in Street Mod class? You pretty much need a motor swap or some power mods like a turbo, super charger to be in SM class. You run SCCA I assume?
I would say the most improvement you can get for your dollar are upper strut bars, new suspension bushings, new ball joints, outer tie rod ends, a good alignment with maybe a tad more camber than stock (may require camber bolts to get what you want)(stock upper strut mounts will not have much camber adjustment), light weight wheels and if in SM class some good race tires (you can usually find some for sale on your local racing boards, I buy mine slightly used from a SCCA pro driver- he uses a set to qualify then sells them b/c they do not have enough tread for the race). The rest is practice, practice, practice. You are the biggest difference in whether the car goes fast or slow. The better you get at driving the faster you will go. Get one of the other drivers to ride with you and critique your driving. His info will be invaluable.

[Jdmtunedmx3]

Thanks for all the info guys!