What have you done to your car today?

iaind · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:00

Acme said:
Yours is the same as his bar a remap (inc exhaust + DPF & EGR removal) and lowering springs.

Anything else is visual and makes no difference to the points he made.

Slightly lower mileage iirc, but his was so badly abused that it needs a new clutch and DMF, the DPF was knackered and the paint doesn't match - which easily makes up for the mileage difference. It's since been modified which does not increase value on cars like this - I'd say if they were put up for sale side by side then mine would be the more appealing car to most buyers.

Mine was 5800 quid and is faultless, immaculate and was bought from the original owner with full mazda history. dealers were advertising lower mileage ones of the same age with a warranty for 7k. If there's one thing I can talk about with these, it's the value of them as I spent a decent amount of time looking around an understanding the market.

Vince · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:02

Diagro said:
Ahhhh. I meant his bad points.
It's not crashy eibach pro are fine!
Exhaust has a nice big SS silencer fitted so as loud as original.
It's Deffo faster

Well... not as such cus it's clutch is borked.

I was offered 6.9k in trade for mps. Just couldn't justify the extra. Those mps hold their value well.

Anyway I love that guy cus he feels the 2.2d love!

To conclude I would say RS6 brakes are not the correct choice for the Mazda3.

Akagi · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:08

And while your car may not make sense to some, all that matters is that you like it.

Personally I do see the appeal of a slightly sorted tuned diesel hatch, just not for the money you're spending on yours.

iaind · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:17

Acme said:
And while your car may not make sense to some, all that matters is that you like it.

Personally I do see the appeal of a slightly sorted tuned diesel hatch, just not for the money you're spending on yours.

I can see why there's an appeal, tbh if I ever do get DPF problems I'll probably do the remap thing myself but it's such a good balance as standard I wouldn't want to mess with it too much (see "bottoming out over speedbumps"). The money thing doesn't make sense in a lot of ways, the diesels exist to save money so spending so much modifying them doesn't make sense. Although that said, the petrol options on those are rubbish so the only good non-MPS one is the 2.2D, which is why I chose it

I actually think one would be a good option for you when you work out what you're doing and what you're spending. Probably faster in normal usage than your Toyotas, I think you'd enjoy them.

Vince · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:22

iaind said:
I can see why there's an appeal, tbh if I ever do get DPF problems I'll probably do the remap thing myself but it's such a good balance as standard I wouldn't want to mess with it too much (see "bottoming out over speedbumps"). The money thing doesn't make sense in a lot of ways, the diesels exist to save money so spending so much modifying them doesn't make sense. Although that said, the petrol options on those are rubbish so the only good non-MPS one is the 2.2D, which is why I chose it

I actually think one would be a good option for you when you work out what you're doing and what you're spending. Probably faster in normal usage than your Toyotas, I think you'd enjoy them.

Out of interest, what is the insurance like on them? Also in terms of visability what are they like to live with? I keep thinking about replacing our little 2011 clio but always end up back at stuff that just isn't suitable for the mrs to drive with only a few years experience and one written off car under her belt.

Akagi · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:23

I don't want a diesel as my fun car! The Skoda is here to stay while I'm working away, so any 'diesel miles' will go straight on that.

xs2man · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:26

Vita said:
Drilled it out. Next problem lost my 7mm hex bit. I swear if I had paid someone to do it, would have saved so much time. Pity I don't trust these mechanics lol.

Shame. My mechanic charged me a whopping £60 to do the complete front brake conversion on my ED30. Sure, I could have done it myself, but my time is worth more than the £60 he charged. And that included new brake fluid service.

Vince · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:29

Acme said:
I don't want a diesel as my fun car! The Skoda is here to stay while I'm working away, so any 'diesel miles' will go straight on that.

A diesel is rarely the right option when it comes to smiles per miles. All petrol heads know this.

iaind · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:32

Vince said:
Out of interest, what is the insurance like on them? Also in terms of visability what are they like to live with? I keep thinking about replacing our little 2011 clio but always end up back at stuff that just isn't suitable for the mrs to drive with only a few years experience and one written off car under her belt.

Hard to say as my insurance is so cheap anyway (first world problems) - my last car was a 300bhp saab and I was paying 320, this is just under 300. I don't think they're remarkable in insurance terms either way really.

Visibility seems good to me, good seating position, a reasonably flat rear end and decent size wing mirrors. My Mrs is happy driving it (she hated the Saab!), she has a mini dooper and just finds the controls a bit light in comparison but that's probably just familiarity. My only real criticism is that there's a reasonably amount of road noise, but that was emphasised by me coming from a big saloon and I'm used to it now. Really easy cars to live with, they're just a focus with more toys for less money really.

I spent a fair amount of time in a work pool car 1.6D which was absolutely fine. Not as much grunt as the 2.2 obviously but was perfectly acceptable at City and motorway speeds, way better than VW 1.6 diesels and would obviously be cheaper to insure.

Akagi · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:34

Vince said:
A diesel is rarely the right option when it comes to smiles per miles. All petrol heads know this.

A tuned 1.9TDI with launch control and a hardcut limiter would be good fun, but I'd rather have my Corolla back... It may have only had 187HP, but buzzing it to over 8000RPM was great! Of course, this point applies to that other Toyota I bought as well, but lets not.

To be honest, even my Polo was much more fun to drive than this Octavia, purely because you could thrash it all the time with little guilt, and it made a good noise when you did.

ianh · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:51

To get this very off topic conversation back on track i.e. "What have you done to your today" not "lets argue about an owners opinion of his car" -

Fitted a new front splitter to replace the badly battered and bruised one which the previous owner had glued 2 Laser Jammers too. During their none too subtle removal by MRC (think chisels were used) the plastic splitter was scratched to pieces and cosmetically wrecked. Simple job to replace, 5x Torx bits and some trim poppers, took about 15mins after I'd got the car jacked up after Tea.

Then I changed the license plate holder screws (rusted) & broken plastic protectors for a new set.

Tomorrow is a new engine undertray, just need 15 1/4 turn fasteners from Audi - no point fitting old rusty ones.

scrivz69 · 7 Sep 2016 at 22:53

Washed and polished the hell out of mine.

scaza · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:09

I looked at the 2.2d Mazda 3 while I was looking for an MPS. The torque was great and it did provide a decent amount of speed, it felt very breathless at the higher revs when driven back to back with an MPS.

I was always very interested in the gains BBR managed to get from the engine. Still a Diesel, but with as much power as the old astra VXR and focus ST in standard forms.
http://www.evo.co.uk/mazda/3/13391/243bhp-bbr-tuned-mazda-3-diesel-launched

Still would far prefer an MPS, but people's priorities differ.

Diagro · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:20

scaza said:
I looked at the 2.2d Mazda 3 while I was looking for an MPS. The torque was great and it did provide a decent amount of speed, it felt very breathless at the higher revs when driven back to back with an MPS.

I was always very interested in the gains BBR managed to get from the engine. Still a Diesel, but with as much power as the old astra VXR and focus ST in standard forms.
http://www.evo.co.uk/mazda/3/13391/243bhp-bbr-tuned-mazda-3-diesel-launched

Still would far prefer an MPS, but people's priorities differ.

Unfortunately BBR refused to divulge what their mods were. I dread to think what the torque was with 240bhp... prob over 400ftlb.

I did ask them as I was interested in getting it doneeds before I had it mapped. But it wasn't to be

Akagi · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:21

Its usually an FMIC, bigger turbo pipes, EGR delete, DPF delete, free flowing exhaust, cone filter, and a remap for that sort of gain. Possibly bigger injector nozzles depending on what the standard ones are capable of, but I suspect the stock ones would be fine (?)

xs2man · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:30

Diagro said:
Unfortunately BBR refused to divulge what their mods were. I dread to think what the torque was with 240bhp... prob over 400ftlb.

I did ask them as I was interested in getting it doneeds before I had it mapped. But it wasn't to be

It tells you right there in that link no?

Replacing the standard turbo with a new modified hybrid unit, as well as the addition of a free flowing air filter as well as a further ECU remap constitutes the Phase 2 upgrade, and increases power of the 2.2-litre diesel engine by 62bhp – making a total of 243bhp. The huge increase in torque, swelling to 392lb ft, eclipses that of the 280lb ft 3 MPS model. The upgrade can be supplied for £1199, or fitted by BBR at £1499.

Acme said:
Its usually an FMIC, bigger turbo pipes, EGR delete, DPF delete, free flowing exhaust, cone filter, and a remap for that sort of gain. Possibly bigger injector nozzles depending on what the standard ones are capable of, but I suspect the stock ones would be fine (?)

FMIC / Exhaust / deletes / pipes would usually come in at over £1200 total with remap. Heck, a decent exhaust can be that alone, then another half that for an intercooler. Where a hybrid turbo and an air filter sounds about right.

Diagro · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:30

Acme said:
Its usually an FMIC, bigger turbo pipes, EGR delete, DPF delete, free flowing exhaust, cone filter, and a remap for that sort of gain. Possibly bigger injector nozzles depending on what the standard ones are capable of, but I suspect the stock ones would be fine (?)

Tbh the cam chain on these is a weak point I wouldn't want 243bhp running through my engine. It's only at 8.9 and the cut off is 10.4 for replacement.

Diagro · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:32

xs2man said:
It tells you right there in that link no?

It briefly does. But its not complete. What about the clutch? That's 100ft extra! Won't last 2k miles.
No point discussing tbh lol

xs2man · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:37

Diagro said:
It briefly does. But its not complete. What about the clutch? That's 100ft extra! Won't last 2k miles.
No point discussing tbh lol

Probably not. But there is no way on this earth that they are adding in a new, uprated, clutch at that money.

Clutches can often handle a LOT more than stock. The reason so many seem to go after a remap or whatever is that by the time cars are in the hands of people who do these things, they usually have some miles on them, and the clutch isn't at it's best regardless.

I remapped my A3 2.0 TDI and replaced the clutch with a standard unit. Then did another 50-60k on that clutch without issue. Sure, it was probably only an extra 70 lbft or something, rather than 100, but a new, standard clutch would likely cope well enough after that upgrade. And the torque could be mapped to be gentle on the clutch anyway.

Akagi · 7 Sep 2016 at 23:39

Diagro said:
Tbh the cam chain on these is a weak point I wouldn't want 243bhp running through my engine. It's only at 8.9 and the cut off is 10.4 for replacement.

Youre making this car of yours sound worse and worse, cam chain nearly borked, clutch and flywheel are dead at low mileage, DPF issues, paintwork issues, etc.

Is it for sale? :eek:

I need it.