Whats up.

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Just joined, can probably tell by the n00b status. Well I drive a Mazda Familia(Protege5) but used to own a Nissan Altima and a Nissan 200sx. Always had a soft spot for Nissan 

[chr1S]

welcome and very nice 

mazda version of gtir eh .

got any pictures ?

where you from ?

[Budgie]

I'm going to guess from the US chris... 'altima'

[chr1S]

yeh but then he said 200sx u goose.

they are 240's over there, arse 

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Well this is the 200SX that we got here in the states:



But this is my Mazda that I drive:




and what the engine bay looked like last week:



and I just added this strut bar this past weekend:



but its blue.

[chr1S]

very nice sp20,

hehe is that awd ?

i thought u meant the little awd turbo familia's.

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Your thinking about the 1st gen 323/Familia. This is the last gen made for the Familia. Now I believe they have the Attenza/Atteza(not too sure the JSpec name) or how we know it here the Mazda 3. Zoom zoom, lol.

[Jono]

The only Familias we hear about here are the AWD Turbo 1st gen. Everything else is known as a 323

SP20 is a sports spec 323.

Did Australia get an AWD Mazda 3?

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Not sure but we have it here. Its the MazdaSpeed Axela(where the heck did I get Attenza?)

I believe the 323 your thinking of is this one:

[Jono]

Yeah that's the one we know as the Familia in Australia.

And we didn't get an AWD Mazda 3.

Re: the Mazda3 MPS

The good people at Mazda noticed that strapping a turbo charged engine to a Front Wheel Drive car isn’t the smartest idea in the world if you don’t have all the gadgets that will insure the car’s safety. So they strapped the gadgets along as well, so you get limited slip differential and electronic control of engine torque, as well as stability and traction control. You also get steering angle sensors to reduce torque steer in tight cornering, alongside the torque-sensing limited slip differential (also found in the Mazda RX8 and Mazda MX5) to send power to the inside wheel while cornering.

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Do any of you have any phenolic spacers installed on any of your cars? Or maybe you guys know them as thermoblock spacers for the intake manifold and the throttle body and intake. I have been looking at buying one for a while now, but have heard that sometimes they might cause problems with leaks in the intake manifold. Any ideas guys?

[eurisko]

Well, depending on the phenolic material used (typically a heavy weave, for minimum thermal conductivity) its properties are comparable to a gasket. It is still a plastic, which can be slightly crushed to form a perfect seal along the edge.

The paper variants are cheaper, but i dont know about their chemical resistivity, particularly if used as a intake spacer (affected by gasoline and heat).

If you are extremely worried, id use a gasket sealant of some sort (not a gasket, but a silicone equivalent) to help bond with the metal.

And no, noone that i am aware of has made a phenolic spacer for their pintara.

Yet.

*cough*

[chr1S]

 

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Lol. I don't know, I have just read up on it and many, I mean MANY people have said that the hp difference was almost equivalent to putting headers on my car.....that's kind of hard to swallow for just some spacers. I mean I know they make the engine alot cooler(about 20 degrees Fahrenheit cooler) but I didnt think they added that much power also....I'm just very skeptical about the spacers and what power they can add.

[eurisko]

I wouldnt be that doubtfull of the power they add. Air intake temps define the air density. More dense air, means more fuel, means more power. Since the intake manifold is no longer directly connected to the head, the manifold temp will drop from 60-70 degrees to less than 30 (almost ambient). That means a hell of a lot cooler intake stream.

Its used in almost all forms of drag racing (use extensively in carbies) and in nascar im led to believe. I dont know if rally use them, but im pretty sure they would.

But for an average price of less than a hundred bucks, its not that much of an investment... and there are only benifits to be had.

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

So in short...it would be a pretty good idea to get the phenolic/thermoblock spacers?

[eurisko]

Definately. 

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Woot! My wife just told me she would buy it for me as part of my wedding gift!

[eurisko]

Hahahah nice!

Here, ive found an autospeed article showing you the results... on a Mazda 1.8L-2.0L-2.5L K Series V-6 Engine

http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_0401/article.html

If you dont have access, just give me a hollar and ill send u the page.

here is a pic of the manifold temps.



Summary:

Having seen many people shell out hundreds of dollars for performance mods of dubious value, I wanted as much data as possible to show that this intake manifold insulator thing really worked. I was able to show that:

    * The intake ran 30 degrees F (17 degrees C) cooler at cruise and at least 50 degrees F (28 degrees C) cooler at idle;
    * According to my dyno plots, I gained up to 7 horsepower and 11 ft-lbs of torque over the major portion of the power curve.
    * My best time at the track was ~0.1 seconds quicker and ~1 mph faster.

This article is reproduced by arrangement with the author. For the original version go to http://home.san.rr.com/scmorgan/spacers or visit http://www.outlawengineering.com

[mazda_pro5_2nr]

Holy shitake mushrooms! Dang I need that asap. I can probably get that after this weekend as I get married on Sunday. Yipee!