Chris311

Hello everyone!


I purchased a used 2005 Nordic Green Mica Grand Touring (Minus Sat Nav) with the 6 speed manual with it having 25K miles for $18,995 back in November. I went from a V6 f150 with too many miles to count, so I felt that my car was the fastest thing on earth after driving a truck for several years.


Now, lately, I have noticed that my car really isn't that fast.

At the San Antonio speedway, my 1/4 mile time was 17.86 seconds. My 0-60 was 7.95. I was beat by a 1996 stock V6 Toyota Avalon, and a new Scion TC in a drag race. You would think my car is an automatic.


I also did a top speed run going out towards El Paso one weekend on IH10 and couldn't get above 125mph. (You can flame me for breaking the law)


Now, I told World Car Mazda that I felt my car was lacking power. So they did the recall for the ECU reflash and said that my car feels like new. The Technician said he drove it around the block and it accelerated fine. The recall did fix my rough idle and hesitation with the gas, but did not fix the power problems. I still do 0-60 in almost 8 seconds!


My car is completely stock, no heavy sound systems or anything else in the car, running on a brand new set of very sticky g-force TDKs NT.


I setup an appointment with IPAC Mazda in San Antonio to have them take a look at my car and see if they can figure out why it is so slow.


Does anyone know if an engine cleaning may fix this problem? At World Car they tried to stay away from engine cleaning as much as they could. Whenever I brought it up I would get ignored or have the subject changed on me. Once I was told that an engine cleaning does nothing.


Thanks,
-Chris

RatedX8

A fast zero to 60 time has more to do with the driver than the car. Top speed too can be affected by outside conditions and not the car. Does your car pull to redline cleanly without hiccups/hesitation? Keep in mind this is a quick car, not a fast one.

Chris311

When I lauch it from 5K rpms, they will drop down to 3K rpms, even if I ease onto the clutch and not just drop it. Like as if the engine struggles just to get the car moving.


However, the RPMs do climb as a steady rate.


Also, highway passing is slow as well. Passing in 4th at 70mph feels like I am going nowhere, and I have to redline it in 3rd if I need to quickly get in front of someone.


Once I figure out a way to get a video into a post, I will post a video of a 0-60 run for reference.

paulmasoner

iTrader: (1)

Stay far away from the dealer that told you the 'engine cleaning' does nothing. Seafoam is GREAT stuff.

far as your power, the things to look into typically are: the cat, coils, plugs, wires. it only takes flooding the car once or twice to clog the cat. coils are notoriously crap. plugs get fouled easily, esp when flooded.

also get a compression check...

mysql

I don't see any reason why he couldn't go over 125 mph on a flat road unless there was something wrong with the vehicle (Or it's an automatic).

I would start with the coils, spark plugs, and spark plug wires, plus seafoam application. If that doesn't work, then get an engine compression test done and see if the engine is losing compression. If it's bad enough, Mazda will give you a new engine.

Chris311

I had World Car Mazda check all of those things and even did a compression check. But if you read my post under the thread about Bad Dealerships, you will see how I do not trust World Car Mazda anymore. They could have lied to me about checking all of that stuff.


I will bring up checking all of those parts with IPAC Mazda. Hopefully they will be a better service department.


Also, for as long as I have owned the car, it has never flooded. But since it is used, I do not know how the car was treated before. It starts fine, has a steady idle, and has never stalled on me, even during the last few days with it being extremely hot. Its just the fact that I was beat by a Scion is what is bothering me.

Chris311

I don't really know what the best conditions are, but I was on a completely flat streatch of highway and the temperature was 85F on my dash display. I was way past all of the giant rolling hills that you have all the way past Fredericksburg.

Chris311

Here is a video I took yesterday of a 0-60 run. On my computer I timed it at 7.85 seconds to hit 60.


I get barely any wheel spin for doing a launch at 5K rpms and notice how it drops to 3K and seems to struggle to get the car moving?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eskmrees88

paulmasoner

iTrader: (1)

agree with mysql....

the car isnt fast, its gonna get whooped by a LOT of cars esp with a good driver.

but not beaing able to break 125 is wrong... i fairly easily hit 153 with worn plugs, wires, coils prolly not running best performance

Chris311

Oh, btw, I havn't said thanks yet for all the help.

I will give an update once I go to IPAC Mazda on thursday.

Socket7

I can. It's called 6th gear.

I agree though, check coils, plugs, wires. The car is not going to out-drag people, it excels in maintaining speed in corners, rather then accelerating.

bryanl

just watching your second gear hurts. what i did when i bought mine with 16k on it, i replaced the plugs wires and coils. buy yourself some zoom cleaner and coils at finishlineperformance, wires from mazsport or other reputable rx site, and spark plugs. you're looking around $300ish for parts but your car SHOULD run a lot better. those high rpms seem like they are moving slow

nycgps did a DIY for the zoom cleaner with pics see it in the DIY section

zoom cleaner
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...cat=338&page=1

coilsx4
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...cat=338&page=1

spark plugs
www.sparkplugs.com

spark plug wires
www.mazsport.net

Old Rotor

Don't forget a new air filter and clean sensors too.

Chris311

I did two more 0-60 runs today with a hard launch. I did these two on a newly paved road and had absolutely no wheel spin, which my clutch hated. (My car stunk for a good while)


This time both launchs were at around 6500-7000rpm and I had to feather the clutch because of the huge amount of traction I had. I was unable to spin my wheels on this new road.


The first video I messed up on my 1st to 2nd shift and hit the rev limiter.

The second video was the fastest. I timed the run in virtual dub and it was 7.45 seconds. The RPMs dropped almost to 4000 from 7000, even with me feathering the clutch.


First video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWk6d2ljYpo

Second video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3FIohrf_UE




Also, this was with a half tank of gas versus a full tank in the video I posted earlier, don't know how much of a difference that makes.


I want my car to go faster Hopefully everyone's suggestions can help me

xsnipersgox

my recommendation, pay for a set of 3 dyno pull and post the result.

Chris311

Any recommendations for the San Antonio area?

Old Rotor

You need to red line it in first gear too.

daisuke

sounds like you actually do have problems if you have to drop into 3rd to pass someone when you're doing 70. I can reach 90 pretty damn fast from about 60 using 6th gear without flooring it (bone stock engine), there is a service buletin for cleaning out the engine that mazda will do, it's the first step towards trying to improve performance.

Myriad

iTrader: (2)

This seems like the biggest red-light to me. I just got in to work from driving I-95, and I can tell you that you should be able to pass in 4th, much less 5th, at 70 MPH.

On the way home today, I'll confirm what I just said, and repost in this thread.

Chris311

Maybe a little test I did this morning coming back from work can illustrate the speed of acceleration.


It was 77F and I was on a flat part of IH10. I was in 6th gear and timed how long it took to accelerate from 60mph to 70mph (A normal passing senario). I did the test multiple times and counted 10 seconds to reach 70mph from 60mph. I used my second hand on my analog watch, so it may not be the most accurate, but it should be close enough.


Maybe a comparision with your car under similar conditions may show how big of a difference there is? If you do not mind that is.


BTW, I have an appointment at IPAC Mazda tomorrow morning to have them replace a part in my steering wheel under warranty and to have them diagnose and tell me their opinions on what needs to be done on my car maintenance wise.


I have read over the DIY guides on how to clean the engine and replace the spark plugs and wires. I was in a motorcycle accident at a younger age and broke my hip. That has caused severe degeneration of my hip joint which hinders my mobility. I believe I may be able to do the engine cleaning on my own, but I think I will have to leave it up to the dealership to do the rest.



This would be of great help, thank you Myriad.

Falken

I do 60-70 in 6th in a hair under half that. You definitely have something wrong.

Plugs, coils, cat, wires, compression. We should really just have an acronym but you can't really make a good one out of that.

If it's not any of that, make sure your speedo is working right

Chris311

It takes your car half the amount of time? I feel bad that I am missing so much


I went to the dealer this morning and setup an appointment for them to do all of the things that have been recommended here. Plugs, coils, engine cleaning, compression test, and the cats.

I setup the appoint for next week as I will be out of town so they can have my car for an entire week to give them plenty of time to do the maintenance.


I want to thank everyone for their help. I will let you know how this turns out in about two weeks when I get back from my trip.

There are speed radar signs all over Boerne and I have "tested" my speedometer many times. My speedo shows 1-2mph over what the sign says.

Falken

Well, not only that, but my car dynoes 30-40hp lower than it's supposed to, so I'm doing it twice as fast with an engine already very low on power.

I can't imagine what numbers your getting. Don't dyno it, just 30hp off basically gave ME an ulcer.

Trust me, you don't want to know. You just want to get it fixed.

Nubo

PluCoCaWiC.

Myriad

iTrader: (2)

Sorry about forgetting to post yesterday, had a busy day at work.

I tested yesterday and this morning on I-95...I have a 2004 Nordic Green GT with 22k miles on it.

In 4th gear at 70 mph, I was able to gain 5-6 miles per hour in a very short period. Jumping lanes and passing other cars should not be a problem at this speed, especially as I'm at about 5500 RPM (from memory) during this time. I even tried doing it in 6th, and if I use WOT, I can still gain the speed pretty easily

I'd say do the coils, plugs, wires, etc. recommendation, but it sounds to me like you're deffinately making too little power.

Hope this helps, and let me know if you'd like me to check anything else out.

EDIT: I'll do the 60 to 70 MPH test you did on my way home today, and let you know the results.