Am I ready for a Nitrous Kit?

[onlytrueromeo]

2.5" Exhaust will hurt your performance unless you actually do get the ZE.

I run 2.25" on my ZE which is 70 more hp and .7 more liters.

Any article that talks about a car needing or not needing back pressure is most likely written by an idiot.


Now for the news you won't like:

You WILL need a new clutch. Not ebay junk, they won't hold up. And OEM exedy from ebay for the 2.5L Probe GT should be adequate, but not for KLZE + Nitrous. You will need to spend $150-$300 here.

Fluids: Oil / Gear Oil / Coolant / Power steering / Brake - Expect to spend about $100 or more here depending if you go synthetic or not.

Timing belt - While the motor is out of the car, it is a good idea to replace the timing belt. If it goes while in the car, it normally won't damage anything, but it will be 1) Much more difficult to do and 2) Much more time consuming and expensive (if you choose not to do it yourself). Again budget about $100, though you can probably get a timing belt for about $70

After this, you will likely want to get a chipped ECU to take advantage of the ZE. Expect another $50.

How are your axles? (CV joints ripped?) $70 each NEW w/ Lifetime warranty at Napa.

Overall, swapping a ZE should cost you about $400-$500 PLUS the cost of the engine.

[dexxin]

The exhaust is already decided upon. I guess I will just be a step ahead of the game for the ZE swap.

Now when you are talking about clutches, do you mean something like a Stage 2 clutch? or can I really get away with buying a clutch off of Ebay? In all honesty, will it really be COMPLETELY necessary to replace it? I'm not trying to get around this, I was actually going to replace my clutch sometime soon anyways... Perfect! Anyways, I'll keep in mind the 2.5l Probe clutch, but if there are any brand-specific performance clutches you name off for me, that would be great.

Also, could you please enlighten me on the "chipped ECU"? Do you mean chipping my stock ECU or getting a new one? I am really clueless as to what you mean by this.

[solo_ryder]

The exhaust is already decided upon. I guess I will just be a step ahead of the game for the ZE swap.

Now when you are talking about clutches, do you mean something like a Stage 2 clutch? or can I really get away with buying a clutch off of Ebay? In all honesty, will it really be COMPLETELY necessary to replace it? I'm not trying to get around this, I was actually going to replace my clutch sometime soon anyways... Perfect! Anyways, I'll keep in mind the 2.5l Probe clutch, but if there are any brand-specific performance clutches you name off for me, that would be great.

Also, could you please enlighten me on the "chipped ECU"? Do you mean chipping my stock ECU or getting a new one? I am really clueless as to what you mean by this.

READ his post again, eBay clutches are pure garbage. Dont be a cheapskate and get a decent clutch like a ACT, Clutchmasters or Centerforce. ACT being the best from what I have read. You will want a stage 2-3 full organic or semi kevlar disk. You do not need nor want a pucked clutch for daily driving. If you use a OEM clutch and you are adding power adders like nitrous or boost then you will fry the current clutch alot faster and be left with a slipping peice of crap. Might as well do the right thing and get a proper one.

As for ecu's, you get your stock one chipped for KLZE specs. Maybe you should get a KLZE and drive with it for a year and do more research before deciding to go nitrous. Have you even driving a ZE mx3? For someone that is new to the game just adding a ZE into the car makes it 10x better.. N2O can wait IMO.

[Mi|<E]

Id take their advice and begin with the KLZE. Replace the clutch and don't cheap out
or you will just have to replace it again, its not fun when the engine is in the car.
After the swap relearn to drive the car, it will be totally different. You may find your
suspension and brakes need to be replaced before thinking of adding more power.

[dexxin]

Woah woah woah, you guys all talk like the KL-ZE swap is super easy, but there are all these trap doors! I understand now how I would need a new clutch (and a new one before either of the mods wouldn't be a bad idea either) and why after reading the posts and doing some research. I'm positive and confident that I could do the actual swap part myself, but after you guys all said "KL-ZE! KL-ZE!" and I caved, you then began saying "oh yeah, and then there's this..." All that is really adding up to more than twice what a NOS kit would cost.

It doesn't really matter what I do to my car, because in a year and a half I'm getting the MS3 and my baby is going to (hopefully) go into storage or, if I can't, I will sell it to someone who will take good care of it. I hate letting go of things that really mean a lot to me, and this car has meant so much to me and has a lot of memories in only 6 months of driving. I know that this probably makes me sound like a spoiled/selfish/self-centered/stupid teenager, but it's just the truth. The "stupid" part is mostly attributed to how I have only been driving for 6 months and all of you MX-3ers just said "OMGZ NO KLZE OR NOS FOR U!!!11!" Trust me, I'm not a stupid driver.

ANYWAYS, another question, where does one get there ECU chipped for a ZE? The ZE is hard enough to find itself, so I'm just wondering. If it is something that is simple that any mechanic can do, awesome, just tell me. If it's a little bit more specific, I need to know.

[onlytrueromeo]

Easiest way is to buy it from one of the members here or from probetalk.com. The guy that does it is kinda slow, so buying used is the way to go.

Stuff like timing belts is not a necessity, but it's a good idea. Clutches are pretty much mandatory for nitrous or an engine swap.

The stuff I described in my post is what you SHOULD do, not what you have to do.



Oh, and I don't consider myself a stupid driver either but when I got a ZE the car completely changed and it certainly made it hard not to show friends "Hey look what I can do". Just saying

[dexxin]

Well, this thread is now obsolete. Crashed the MX-3 today when the gravel on an old country road took me into a ditch. I was going the speed limit, swear to God... Honestly, I don't even care about the car; my best friend was in the passenger seat and went to the hospital. I hate to say it, but I'm getting rid of the MX-3. I cannot drive a car without airbags in it after what I experienced today. The MX-3 still runs perfectly fine, but the windshield cracked from the passenger seat airbag deployment and the front bumper is jacked from running into the ground. Other than that, the car is in perfect condition. Is this a car that someone on here would want to buy? If so, where would I post?

I hate to say it, but I'm most likely going to have to go away from Mazdas for awhile until I get my Speed3. I know this is the MX-3 forum, but does anyone know any other cars that I could buy in the $2500 range that are easily tunable and have a good safety system? :/ I was looking into Sentra Spec Vs, but those are a little bit out of my range unless you get lucky. I am seriously devastated about selling the MX-3, but I can't handle it. Too much guilt in the car.

[Ryan]

Huh. I found my MX to be especially steady on gravel. My moms car (Sentra SE) loses it at around 90 kph, MX is solid upto 140. All the rest of our vehicles are trucks.

Sucks about your car man How is your friend? anything internal or long term?

I know crashes suck balls: http://www.mx-3.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.ph ... &start=195" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I encourage you to stay in the scene... sometimes s--- happens, but my mentality is to never let something like that get the better of me.

[dexxin]

Ryan, I can understand the MX being very stable, but 1. This was some BAD gravel and it gave no time to react. and 2. My tires weren't in the best condition.

My best friend is fine. He went to the hospital and had his cuts washed out, had some MRIs taken and had his eye washed out. He walked out of there with some cuts and bruises and a scratched cornea. He is staying home from school another day to stay out of sunlight for his cornea to heal. We are all thankful to be alive and that we were saved by a ditch and some airbags.

So, I'm keeping the MX-3 for now. It is sitting under my carport and is very lonely It is not going to be my primary car anymore. I used to be a percussionist, and for my 14th birthday my grandma bought me an amazing marimba; they're worth TONS, especially the one I have. Since I quit band and don't play percussion anymore (but I am still a mean, mean drum set player) I'm selling my marimba. I'll be able to pull enough off of that sale to get me a new car. But the MX will live on. I decided I will slowly rebuild it, seeing as the car I'm going to buy already has full exhaust and CAI (all it needs is some nitrous ;]) which is cool and all, but I would rather tune a car myself :/