Where do i start? - Advice wanted

[BigMal]

[color=#000000ost_uid1]Hey Kitty,
You know that the CAI is just ducting to your std airbox
don't you. Thats why you keep your "old airbox".

Regards

Mal[/colorost_uid1]

[JynX]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Well im only suggesting that if you dont want to cut up your airbox to fit a larger pipe then perhaps you should go buy a second hand one and keep the original under the house for safe keeping...

Up to you really.

The Ag pipe comes in a number of sizes, I wasnt sure what diameter i could order, it turns out the biggest I could get was 100mm/4" which is probably 2/3 x the standard intake hole on the airbox, so naturally it will need to be widened.[/colorost_uid0]

[Mizda_Mazda]

This is what i paid for, i'm not sure if it was a good price or not.

Extractors ------> Hurricane $400 i heard genie were better but couldn't find any
Cat Back Exh---> 2 inch with muffler and tip $250 i think $180 for no muffler
Airfilter ---------> K&N Pod $100 +
Adapter -----------> Redline $15

After i heard hurricane extractor arn't that great but i don't think it makes a great difference. All they do is make your car feel smoother but i have notice some flat spots since i changed the exhaust. A few MX5 owns suggested to get a new chip and i'm looking into that now...

[Mizda_Mazda]

And you can get cheap metal to make a box cheap from some off cuts or from some store/school if your lucky. I can't fit any ducting in but have got some tube. You can find them at auto barn or some hardware store. I've seen people just cable tie it or even duck tape it in.

You can also try out grounding wires, but they don't seem to do much unless your trying to earth a huge amp through the chasis and get static when you touch the car. That's about $10 (you make it your self).

[JynX]

Before you go spending big bucks on a chip. Disconnect your battery. Put your foot on the brake pedal for 5-10mins then reconnect the battery and go for a 30min drive.

This will reset the ecu's internal memory and allow for new base adjustments to be made in light of your recent upgrades.

It wont make a huuge difference but could iron out some irregularities. The ECU will make adjustments to timing based on inputs it receives from afm and o2 sensor in your exhaust. There is a limitation to how much it can adjust so by resetting the base settings, you may find these problems go away.

If still not satisfied, then go spend $1K on a unichip or somthing similar.

[Nate]

sweet trick dude - whats with the foot on the brake thing tho??

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by JynX

Before you go spending big bucks on a chip. Disconnect your battery. Put your foot on the brake pedal for 5-10mins then reconnect the battery and go for a 30min drive.

5-10 min :shock: their capacitors not Li-I batteries, just turn your headlights or brake lights on for 15-20 seconds with the battery disconnected that will drain any residual current in the system.
You're not going to make a lot of power with just one or two mods and if you leave the standard exhaust between the headers and the cat-back system you're robbing yourself of much of the performance potential you've already paid for. I personally wouldn't do anything to the ECU before I'd done the full exhaust, CAI and pod, a decent set of ignition leads, porting the head and a new pair of cams etc..... Then you will notice the difference and get better bang for buck.

[JynX]

Originally Posted by Cosmo Dude

5-10 min :shock: their capacitors not Li-I batteries, just turn your headlights or brake lights on for 15-20 seconds with the battery disconnected that will drain any residual current in the system.
You're not going to make a lot of power with just one or two mods and if you leave the standard exhaust between the headers and the cat-back system you're robbing yourself of much of the performance potential you've already paid for. I personally wouldn't do anything to the ECU before I'd done the full exhaust, CAI and pod, a decent set of ignition leads, porting the head and a new pair of cams etc..... Then you will notice the difference and get better bang for buck.

i was thinking seconds..... leave me alone... sucked in a quater of a tank of fuel fumes tuning the car today...

[JynX]

Originally Posted by Nate

sweet trick dude - whats with the foot on the brake thing tho??

helps drain the caps in the ecu as cosmo said.

[Cosmo Dude]

Probably a more compleate description (and I didn't say it earlier either) is that the ECU has a learn mode where it adapts it's self to 'normal' driving conditions. If you make a big change (more than 2-3kw) it is quicker to reset the ECU and begin a learn fresh than to have it adapt to the changes over time.
The memory in the ECU is 'volatile' like the RAM in your PC, when the power is turned off it will loose all the info stored in it and reset to the factory default settings. To cover for periods of low/high power the ECU is protected by capacitors that can act for a short time as a battery. To drain the capacitors you need to supply a short circuit or path of low resistance and your lights are the easiest way to do this.

Hope that helps explain

Oh yeah, the ECU doesn't run windows as it's operating system and therefore doesn't need to be reset very often :P if at all.

[Nate]

we need a tips and tricks section somewhere (on hte main page) and this is hte kind of stuff that needs to be in it!!!

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by Nate

we need a tips and tricks section somewhere (on hte main page) and this is hte kind of stuff that needs to be in it!!!

It would be good if people would browse the forums or use the search facility before posting 'Hi, I'm new to the forum. I've just bought an Astina, could you tell me how to get more power from it? or Can I put a gtx engine in my Astina?

I'm sure you've noticed the same threads coming up over and over. Many people woudn't read the Performance FAQ :?

[Mizda_Mazda]

About the idea of resetting the computer. Sounds good but the thing is the computer but I heard it stays in learn mode and averages everything you've done. So if you do reset it, then drive it hard, it will be better, but afterwards when you drive normally(if you do) it will also get that data and average that out as well.

Also the boot settings will be factory settings to start off with, before it 'learns' the driving conditions.

I guess you could make a switch to reset the computer with out disconnecting the battery.

[Cosmo Dude]

The reset the ECU proposal is more to do with performance changes not driving styles. I personaly don't do it as time/distance will do the job and a lot quicker that you've been led to believe.