The flywheel is a good idea and a heavier clutch would not hurt either, get that acceleration up a bit. The other mods could increase HP somewhat but your best bet is decreasing the flywheel weight.

 

I say High Flow Cat and Cat-Back, at least that's route I'm going to take, after that, near everything else in the powertrain will be affected by an FI kit so you'd be wasting your money.

I'm wary of changing the flywheel because of questions of the strength of the transmission. No need buying a part when the tranny may need to be swapped to handle the extra torque that FI will provide.

 

A lighter flywheel should help your transmission's synchros and help your transmission last longer. The transmission has less weight for the synchros to overcome when preparing to engage.

Read up on this about the cat converter from racing beat:
http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm

about 1/2 way down the page.....

Max HP with the above set gain you mentioned above would be (my guess) ~6HP maybe, plus the sound...if you do not lose HP with the aftermarket exhaust system...which Racing Beat has found to be the case before. The flywheel mod should easily outperform a car with a loud exhaust....and if you do it put in the redline MT-90 at the sametime.

 

I'm talking about durability of the transmission under heavy loads from forced induction. If my plan was to keep the car NA, or if I see that the transmission can in fact capably handle the extra power, then I'll get a flywheel. Until then, that's why I'm wary of making the change to a part that I won't need. If we end up having to switch to FD transmissions or such, it would just be wasted money and energy.

 

Technically with things like the lightened pulleys, lightened flywheel, and even lighter wheels (goes along the same grain), your not actually "adding" power, your just reducing the loss those stock components originally had on the overall drivetrain....this "Generally" means your also increasing the longevity of the other stock components connected.

In the case of lighter rims/tires, the entire suspension has to work less...

 

with all these mods listed you're not changing the way the motor makes power, your'e just (suppost) to be making things more efficient and using up less power from the motor to do the same stuff.

lighter pullies, and flywheels, and wheels don't change power at all, as you said, and are really just like taking weight off of the body (less energy is taken up by the car to move it forward). whp gains are an illusion, you're really just reducing mass of the car.

 

Except that its more then just taking weight off the car...your reducing rotational mass. Bunch more formulas to figure all that much mess out .

Aka dropping
1 lb off a wheel
1 lb off a tire
1 lb off a flywheel
1 lb off a pulley

has a much larger effect on the overall vehicle dynamics then you taking a dump and dropping a lb off the driver weight.

 

Turbo system needs those man!

You don't expect putting a turbo in without the exhaust and intake do you :p

I think you need to tune the car to get anywhere near 20ps atw.

 

Now that I am all confused and discombobulated!

Seriously everyone’s knowledge and opinions are greatly appreciated.

I guess I will start with a new exhaust (I think Racing Beat), to give it a throatier sound, I also hope to gain 2 to 3 hp (I think).

Do I want a High Flow Catalytic Converter? Will that mess with the ECU or emissions?

I have no idea; I would also like to get a Mazdaspeed Spoiler.

But performance enhancements are 1st on my list.

There were so many options and opinions they actually made me unclear in what to do.

 

Well, it seems we all have our own ideas doesn't it. Try using this info to pick and choose your mods for performance:

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=317

Happy Shopping!

 

What a silly comment!

A pounds on the moving parts worth more than a pound on the seat!

This is just simple Physics. If you have a push bike, try to add a pound on your wheel or crank, ride it for 10km. And shift the weight to behind your saddle and try 10km again. You will know what I mean - in fact after 200m you will put the pound back to your saddle back.

sportscar, there is no magic solution to your answer and a lot of money can either spend on the bodykit or performance parts. I think most performance parts are at their limit and I won't expect any magic catback exhaust

Tell you want, I am a trackie and go track days 4 times a year. I still like to improve the suspension set up of the car. Power is relative you know how to use it. Coz if I aint coming out of the corner at 6k rpm, the hi flow cat and exhaust will not do a lot. OK?!

EDIT: I just thought of a magic solution .... GET THEM ALL :D

 

oh yes, i know, but it's still just taking weight off the car, not adding power (all i was saying).

 

basically if i'm not mistaken, you're freeing up unnessecary weight (which is good) and this frees up the lost hp from the heavier counterpart. You're not really adding hp you're just freeing up what was already restricted from the extra weight. Either way with all those mods you be lucky enough to hit the stock claim 238 hp.

 

Hey "freeing up unnessecary weight" dont do jack! In SCC mag they did that to a 350Z and I mean bone stock 350Z and it was no faster off the quarter mile. But the stoping was better.

 

That only works if you start with a loaded car...THEN strip it. Otherwise your bringing factory tolerance differences into play. For all the mag knew, the 350Z they tested stripped had a different power output from the loaded Z. It happens, thats why everyones car dyno's differently. The Mazda 6s ATX's have almost a 15 WHP spread between car's. Some cars with intake AND exhaust, still dyno less then other car's stock. Here's an article which tests a car THEN strips it down. And a second article on wheel sizing and its effect on track times.

Finding Free Power
http://www.nerocam.com/SCC_TAPnew.asp

Size Matters
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~greghess/sizematters.pdf

 

Yea I know. And "wheel sizing and its effect on track times" is on thing,
but when you test a loaded Z then stripp it down and test it once more and dont get much of a difference? that can only mean one thing? It dont work. IE: I had a stock 3G stripped it down and still I ran 15'S. To make a dramatic difference You would have to build your car like they do in NASCAR to get some real numbers.

 

The "Finding Free Power" article is pretty funny...who wants to volunteer their 8 for that experiment?

 

OK

Here is a question, how good is the Mazdaspeed exhaust compared to the other names out there?

And if this posted somewhere please do not shoot.

 

Dominon,

Every article I've read completely contradicts your statements.

Your saying you removed a sizable amount of weight off a vehicle...and it made absolutely zero difference in your performance?

That type of statement is disproved in two words "lotus elise".

Now I could see you stripping your car, and running down the strip on a DIFFERENT DAY, under DIFFERENT CONDITIONS...resulting in a change of power which countered the effect of the lesser weight.

Aka if you ran the 1/4 one day and it was 60F and low humidty, dropped 200 lbs off the car, and ran the next day when it was 90F and 80% humidity...that would definitely explain your results.

General formula is 100 lbs, or 10-15 hp (depending on who you ask) will decrease your quarter mile time by 0.1 seconds. The sportscarcompact article uses that formula and proves it with evidence. I can dig up a few hundred thousand other examples if need be.

Your argument is basically saying that increasing the power to weight ratio has absolutely no effect on a car's performance...which pretty much means I now have grounds for getting partial credit on my last physics exam.

Or maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding your statements.

 

So why do the F1 have such a small wheel then.... try to explain it to me. The tyre is hardly low profile - and they have to make the sidewall extremely strong. Why not make a bigger wheel? Coz they are lighter!

 

BTW: I do think that you have to do a lot to make an effect.

But it is relatively easy for me to get rid of a 100 pound, just kick my wife out of the car :p

 

Real simple reason - because the rules limit the F1 wheels to 13" diameter, in an attempt to prevent huge brakes from being used. That doesn't make a difference since they went to carbon disks and pads, but the rules remain. IF they were permitted to run larger diameter wheels, they would. They would still be incredibly light, however.

Regards,
Gordon

 

its one of the more quiet exhausts available. It's a conservative approach but if you're looking for something not obnoxious this is a good exhaust to pick.

 

Yea but its no big deal

 

lol i love that pic :o