Mazda 3 MPS Mk2
Discussion
Firstly i have been a member on here for years, even before I signed myself up i was an active lurker. I just don’t post as much as i should maybe...
Anyway vie never had a car i have personally deemed worth of putting up on here so now i do here is my 6 month old ( to me ) mk2 3 MPS .
Firstly this is what i came from , it served me well 40k miles in 3 years including being at uni . Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end. I needed boost in my life.
Let’s start with the day i bought it .The week before on the test drive i noticed the steering pulling heavily to the kerb, it was awful .Anyway i agreed with the dealer (franchise Mercedes) that this issue would be sorted before i collected .So i haggled a bit of the price as the car wasn't perfect (new tyres needed) and the normal stone chips.
A week passes and i take half a day off work, travel the 60+ miles with a big grin on my face even though vie ripped all the audio out of my old car .By the time i sign all the paperwork its 2.15 and i need to wait until 3 for my insurance kicks in, this soon passes as i try to pair my phone with the cars Bluetooth.
So I am on my way and within 100m i notice the steering hasn’t been sorted to my horror , i try to fob it off to the roads and go on a long test drive ,by this point it’s 4 on a Friday and imp fuming . I ring the salesman and ask was the tracking really sorted (I have the paperwork in front of me) and he assures me it was ok. I take the car back and get one of their techies to drive it and confirm what is happening.
So I now have the option of a refund or letting them fix it. Now considering the salesman had never heard of an MPS before it came in from auction, it didn’t fill me with confidence. So I said what about I take it to my local Mazda on Monday and you guys pay for it. He agreed and off I went, fast forward to Monday Mazda’s solution was 3 new Avon zv5s, so I thought great.
This didn’t fix it they said change the other new tyre for a matching Avon so I did, after much arguing it was found the steering wheel itself needed re aligning. So 3 new tyres for free wasn’t to be sniffed at 
Anyway enough of the boring stuff, my original plan was to stay standard as it was a massive jump from the T-sport already.
Here is my mod list haha :
Corksport stage 2 intake
Autotech hpfp (fuel pump)
Total mps tmic
Forge v2 bpv
Mij catback with 4" cannons
Total mps downpipe
BNR stage 3 turbo
Cobb 3 port EBCS
Heko wind deflectors
Cobb Accessport
Throttle body coolant delete
Upgraded charge hoses
I blew my old turbo (ko4) “trying“ to keep up with a silly power Subaru the other week so had to get the BNR to get back on road . It took me 2 weekends and a week of after work time but it’s done now .
I am not chasing silly power but I will upload a virtual dyno report after the tune is complete .
These are seriously underrated cars, in the eyes of Joe public and really fickle but I love it even though it’s leading me to financial ruin I won’t keep it much longer….
Anyway vie never had a car i have personally deemed worth of putting up on here so now i do here is my 6 month old ( to me ) mk2 3 MPS .
Firstly this is what i came from , it served me well 40k miles in 3 years including being at uni . Unfortunately all good things have to come to an end. I needed boost in my life.
Let’s start with the day i bought it .The week before on the test drive i noticed the steering pulling heavily to the kerb, it was awful .Anyway i agreed with the dealer (franchise Mercedes) that this issue would be sorted before i collected .So i haggled a bit of the price as the car wasn't perfect (new tyres needed) and the normal stone chips.
A week passes and i take half a day off work, travel the 60+ miles with a big grin on my face even though vie ripped all the audio out of my old car .By the time i sign all the paperwork its 2.15 and i need to wait until 3 for my insurance kicks in, this soon passes as i try to pair my phone with the cars Bluetooth.
So I am on my way and within 100m i notice the steering hasn’t been sorted to my horror , i try to fob it off to the roads and go on a long test drive ,by this point it’s 4 on a Friday and imp fuming . I ring the salesman and ask was the tracking really sorted (I have the paperwork in front of me) and he assures me it was ok. I take the car back and get one of their techies to drive it and confirm what is happening.
So I now have the option of a refund or letting them fix it. Now considering the salesman had never heard of an MPS before it came in from auction, it didn’t fill me with confidence. So I said what about I take it to my local Mazda on Monday and you guys pay for it. He agreed and off I went, fast forward to Monday Mazda’s solution was 3 new Avon zv5s, so I thought great.
This didn’t fix it they said change the other new tyre for a matching Avon so I did, after much arguing it was found the steering wheel itself needed re aligning. So 3 new tyres for free wasn’t to be sniffed at 
Anyway enough of the boring stuff, my original plan was to stay standard as it was a massive jump from the T-sport already.
Here is my mod list haha :
Corksport stage 2 intake
Autotech hpfp (fuel pump)
Total mps tmic
Forge v2 bpv
Mij catback with 4" cannons
Total mps downpipe
BNR stage 3 turbo
Cobb 3 port EBCS
Heko wind deflectors
Cobb Accessport
Throttle body coolant delete
Upgraded charge hoses
I blew my old turbo (ko4) “trying“ to keep up with a silly power Subaru the other week so had to get the BNR to get back on road . It took me 2 weekends and a week of after work time but it’s done now .
I am not chasing silly power but I will upload a virtual dyno report after the tune is complete .
These are seriously underrated cars, in the eyes of Joe public and really fickle but I love it even though it’s leading me to financial ruin I won’t keep it much longer….
Edited by pimpchez on Friday 11th April 09:37
I know him ,I was meant to be going to the dyno day today but I had to pull out due to the turbo going I didn't think I'd fix it in time so gave my place up .
The money he has spent is stupid ,my mate has a 600bhp 6 .
My tune isn't finished so would be no point me going on today as Im only at 330bhp 360lb ft ish
The money he has spent is stupid ,my mate has a 600bhp 6 .
My tune isn't finished so would be no point me going on today as Im only at 330bhp 360lb ft ish
bozzy101 said:
pimpchez said:
My tune isn't finished so would be no point me going on today as Im only at 330bhp 360lb ft ish
"Only..." Lol.Good news a guy with the same turbo as me and a few more mods (3 bar map sensor ,3" maf housing) made 385 on the dyno today so i think thats were il be soon
Went for a blast with some mates today ;p
Edited by pimpchez on Tuesday 22 April 15:53
Exhaust leak now fixed , with spring washers .I got it done one a ramp this time as i couldn't be bothered doing it myself on stands again .
The remap process has been suspended as i either need higher octane fuel/meth/nos to run more timing or more boost less timing.
A 3bar map sensor will be purchased and installed in a couple of weeks.
The remap process has been suspended as i either need higher octane fuel/meth/nos to run more timing or more boost less timing.
A 3bar map sensor will be purchased and installed in a couple of weeks.
Well the day has come , even though i dont want to i have but my car up for sale .
I cant justify keeping the beast anymore
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
I cant justify keeping the beast anymore
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
Update
Well the car wont sell , even though its up an reasonable price .
So i will keep it until the mileage is high.
For the last few months ive had a slight knock over pot holes and large bumps , so i thought il change the rear droplinks when i get chance .
So off i went to screwfix to invest in a angle grinder to cut the old ones off over a hour later in rain it was off and the new one in ,the knocking was reduced but not gone .
So i made sure all bolts were tight which they where until i got the shocker top mounts. Which resulted in a snapped bolt
After that was sorted , I turned my attention to the random hesitation on part throttle i was getting randomly. First port of call was to the blame the tuner , after checking for leaks between air filter and exhaust i found the MAF sensor was rocking on the housing along with air straightener falling out .
A litte bit of zip ties , glue and ducktape patched it up until i managed to source another .The original was a corksport one but i didnt want another so i bought a SURE one. This is slightly longer which results in a tight fit for my air filter.700 miles later all is well .
On friday i got my car on the ramp to install the uprated rear engine mount as the stock one was terrible and failing , while up there i noticed my front tyres were bordering slicks .
I ended up with some falken 914s as i got them at mates rates so couldn't moan there for the price fitted.
A few weeks ago the owners group had a mini meet in a country park and i took my mates VXR for the run up north.
The car is nearly where i want it now ,but i will hold off more mods until next year .
Well the car wont sell , even though its up an reasonable price .
So i will keep it until the mileage is high.
For the last few months ive had a slight knock over pot holes and large bumps , so i thought il change the rear droplinks when i get chance .
So off i went to screwfix to invest in a angle grinder to cut the old ones off over a hour later in rain it was off and the new one in ,the knocking was reduced but not gone .
So i made sure all bolts were tight which they where until i got the shocker top mounts. Which resulted in a snapped bolt
After that was sorted , I turned my attention to the random hesitation on part throttle i was getting randomly. First port of call was to the blame the tuner , after checking for leaks between air filter and exhaust i found the MAF sensor was rocking on the housing along with air straightener falling out .
A litte bit of zip ties , glue and ducktape patched it up until i managed to source another .The original was a corksport one but i didnt want another so i bought a SURE one. This is slightly longer which results in a tight fit for my air filter.700 miles later all is well .
On friday i got my car on the ramp to install the uprated rear engine mount as the stock one was terrible and failing , while up there i noticed my front tyres were bordering slicks .
I ended up with some falken 914s as i got them at mates rates so couldn't moan there for the price fitted.
A few weeks ago the owners group had a mini meet in a country park and i took my mates VXR for the run up north.
The car is nearly where i want it now ,but i will hold off more mods until next year .
A guy on the forum can make plates and stickers so i thought why not .
The end of august i upgraded my system to 3" which helped massively after 5500rpm it also fixed a slight exhaust leak i had .
I finally managed to get my 3bar map sensor on as i just couldn't stomach the price of the harness it needs i set up a GB to spread the shipping.
Tuning has started , il get a catch can on at some point then the car will make way for something more sensible early next year.
Well i have had the car a year to the day.
My experience has already been written but il break the love/hate down:
Love
MPSOC - great bunch of lads
Rarity - dont often see the mk2s
Speed (even in standard form) now with circa 250bhp/tonne it doesnt hang about
Looks - looks fast and backs it up
Ride - stiff but with the right level of damping ,long distances 150mile+ in one stint are a breeze
Noise (get back to this)
Sound system - It really is pretty good for a standard set up and i had aftermarket stuff in the t-sport previously which was obviously better.
Toys - lane depature ,sat nav, heated this and automatic that . Not that a real man needs this stuff but its nice .
Brakes - car is really light on them and they are really powerful which is nice at twice the recommended speed
MPG - 22mpg around town and 30mpg+ sat at 80 isn't to sniffed at really.
Hate
Brakes - brake fade sets in far too quick on a proper blast
Noise - Not noisy enough on full chat from the inside , apparently its a different story from the outside.
Suspension quality - shock absorbers and drop-links don't last long.
Drivers seat - doesn't go far enough back but its bearable
Spark plugs - chews through them ,good job they are cheap
Cleaning - its never clean due to my mileage
Bank balance - what did i expect ha
The 17k miles have been an event especially since most of these cars don't travel 6k a yr.
My experience has already been written but il break the love/hate down:
Love
MPSOC - great bunch of lads
Rarity - dont often see the mk2s
Speed (even in standard form) now with circa 250bhp/tonne it doesnt hang about
Looks - looks fast and backs it up
Ride - stiff but with the right level of damping ,long distances 150mile+ in one stint are a breeze
Noise (get back to this)
Sound system - It really is pretty good for a standard set up and i had aftermarket stuff in the t-sport previously which was obviously better.
Toys - lane depature ,sat nav, heated this and automatic that . Not that a real man needs this stuff but its nice .
Brakes - car is really light on them and they are really powerful which is nice at twice the recommended speed
MPG - 22mpg around town and 30mpg+ sat at 80 isn't to sniffed at really.
Hate
Brakes - brake fade sets in far too quick on a proper blast
Noise - Not noisy enough on full chat from the inside , apparently its a different story from the outside.
Suspension quality - shock absorbers and drop-links don't last long.
Drivers seat - doesn't go far enough back but its bearable
Spark plugs - chews through them ,good job they are cheap
Cleaning - its never clean due to my mileage
Bank balance - what did i expect ha
The 17k miles have been an event especially since most of these cars don't travel 6k a yr.
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