After countless, meticulous hours studying all the posts on here, I've finally decided on all the upgrades I will be getting in the next few years. As a pre-med, I know very little about actually installing all this stuff so I called the local performance shop and got quotes on the more expensive things. Surprisingly (for me anyway) what I thought would be the cheapest is most expensive and vice-versa. Any input before I start buying this stuff or get them installed would be nice, especially on how competitive the labor costs are (more for the coilovers than the others since those are going on in the next few weeks) and whether I've chosen a brand that is not as good as I thought:

Summer '07: Coilovers (Megan Racing, $913 including shipping-purchased) --- $589 ($1,502 total)

Winter/Spring '08: Clutch and flywheel (ACT, $725) --- $475 labor ($1,200 total)

Summer '9 (or whenever current tires wear out): Wheels and tires (Enkei RPF1s 18x9.5; Toyo T1-R 275/35/18) --- didn't check labor, have a friend that can probably put them on +$89 for the rotation ($2100 minus whatever I sell OEM rims for)

Final drive and LSD (4.78 or 5.1, a little more time to decide and hoping to see a taller 6th gear before I do) --- $300 labor + parts ($arm and leg total)

Sweet asian vinyls and racing stripes and blue flames and a huge tribal spider vinyl to add some REAL hp to my car. --- total price: who cares!! it will look fast. O yeah, and a sweet wide body body kit and huge airplane wing to weigh me down and cancel out the weight I will lose in the wheels. Any other cosmetic recommendations welcome.

Back on a serious note, I will probably do pulleys (Agency Power) before the clutch and flywheel and a canzoomer next summer when I have time to tune it. Haven't yet decided if I'll need sways, I'll have to give the coilovers a few runs first. As far as intake and exaust go, however, I'd rather be fast before I'm loud so for now I think I'm going to wait on those. $1,500 for a whopping 15 hp and alot of noise (that I can't back up yet) just doesn't seem like the smartest investment.

Total investment: roughly $7,500 over the next 3-4 years
Goal: seeing the surprised look on the drivers of American powered V8s (still stock of course; other than that, yeah right) when my little import beats them.

Also, forgot to ask, are there any other overlooked items (such as the K&N filter, which I plan to buy on monday) that I may have overlooked in my search for big performance increase.

 

I would hold off on the CZ and just wait for the cobb tuner. Then you can update your ECU directly without messing with piggybacks.

 

whats so bad about the handling that you need coil-overs as your first mod?

I would forget the clutch and just do flywheel as your first mod. (and combine it with AP pulley maybe?)

 

might as well do the clutch with the flywheel since it changes the feel and catch. also it is a labor extensive task.

the coilover install is pretty expensive.

 

Hadn't read much about the cobb, decided canzoomer over the interceptor only because I don't plan on getting a turbo.

As far as the coilovers go, I decided it'd be nice to lose the wheelhop first and go from there. Plus there are a lot of curvy roads on the way to Tulsa from Oklahoma City (I'll have to make that trip several times a month as I start college) and thought coil-overs would thus be the most fun upgrade. Regarding the flywheel and not the clutch, I decided to do both simply because the part is less than the install, and I'll have the tranny dropped anyway for flywheel. I'd rather not decide later on that I want a new clutch and have to pay another $450 to get it installed when I could have got it for maybe $20 at the time of the flywheel.

 

canzoomer is outdated now that mazda has reflashed these cars.

 

Wow... I'm not sure how I missed that surfing through the posts and comparisons between the two; knew it wouldn't work with forced induction but wasn't aware Mazda's reflash killed it. Thanks. Also, you said that the coilover installation was a little pricey, that's what I was thinking but like I said all of what I know is from reading, never actually done more than change a tire myself. Are all coilover systems with adjustable dampers going to be expensive or do you think they are asking too much? After hearing prices for the others I decided perhaps the price was reasonable, and that I was just ignorant of the labor required. I looked all over but couldn't find any other installation prices to compare to.

 

I'm not familiar with the Megan coilovers (I do know the brand). Do they come with top mounts or are the stock mounts reused? I *think* that determines whether you need to work with a spring compressor or not (added labor).

When I went to 275s, the first thing I thought after 5 minutes of driving was "damn, I need sways now." I'm running softer tires though and have the stock suspension. I like my stock ride quality. The added grip of actually having good tires kicked the body roll up a couple notches.

 

canzoomer is obsolete.

 

so does the interceptor still work, or is it obsolete, as well?? I had read a lot about the canzoomer and hadn't seen that it was obsolete anywhere, must have missed a thread.

 

interceptor is too expensive to be using with NA.

like others said earlier, just wait for cobb's accessport to come out. or you might consider a Racing Beat flash. really, i dont think you need to rush into a new tune anyway

 

I'll probably just wait on the cobb's, looks interesting and hadn't plan on tuning until next summer anyway. Thanks for the info.

 

Interceptor works great with n/a as I used it waiting for the s/c. Expense is relative - do want some control? You will have it with the interceptor but none with RB flash. Accessport is an unknown - concept sounds great - who really knows when it will be released?

 

...as far as your suspension, what are you trying to achieve? are you going to be tuning your suspension often (adjusting ride height and dampening)? are you planning to take your car to the trck in the future? not sure about megan's quality, it seems like they are somewhat similar to OBX. although I have never tried them and have nothing against them, I would rather spend my money on parts that I have seen/heard (reported) that people actually used and had good results with. keep in mind that 80% of the time, you get what you paid for.
don't forget stabilizer bars too (sway bars), I have a set of Tanabe; they are non adjustable but I don't feel the need for it for the type of application I'm using it for. PT sway bars are pretty good from what I've heard. They are adjustable and stiffer than the Tanabe sways. but I think it weighs a little more.

 

Absolutely no need for a new aftermarket clutch with the hp that you will be running. If you want to change it when you do a lightweight flywheel then go for it, but it is not necessary. For NA hp this is the route I would go.

1. Cat back exhaust - For better sound as well as a little bit of hp
2. RP Supercat - high flow catalytic
3. Intake - AEM or Racing Beat
4. Racing Beat ECU Flash
5. Agency Power pulley

That's about the only NA power mods that have been shown to work. Even then most of the power gain is on the top end (6500 RPM+).

 

 

Go with AFE short shifter and sway bars

 

I looked into the sways, will decide on whether I need them or not after I get the coilovers in and ride a little on them. And regarding the track, I do intend on taking it occasionally for now and a whole lot more in a couple of years. This is a long term project and I'm mostly getting the stuff I will appreciate the most early on, spending a little over $2K a year (thanks to scholarship money).

Someone else mentioned the intake/exhaust. I do plan to get these but I don't want a whole lot of noise just yet and they still seem a little pricey for the little hp they get when I'd appreciate other mods more. My hope is that some brand will come out with something better before I choose to get those, but if not I've decided on the RP supercat, RB catback, and Revi + ram duct.

 

exhaust system, coilovers. then a turbo or nitrous is best for your money.

 

That will probably be your best bet if you the closest to stock sound. It is still about 2 levels above stock, but the AEM/Mazdaspeed intake is quite a bit louder than the RB unit & the Borla or Greddy exhuasts are quite a bit louder than the RB unit.

Sorry but the exhaust is more about great sound & a few hp. Nobody has gotten substantial gains from a cat back.

If it's just for the street with the rare track use, the best mod I got was the RB springs & sways. About 10% stiffer but made the handling so much better. But if you are anticipating to track quite a bit more in a few years the Mazdaspeed setup is really nice. HKS makes a really nice set of coilovers.

 

O I'll be getting nitrous, just waiting on the warranty. I'm hesitant to go turbo, though, because I'm really leaning towards an engine swap in about 8 years, at which point all the pain that comes with working out the kinks in the turbo would've been in vain.