Freaking Finally: 16vPete's Mazda2

Hi guys!

I'm Pete, and I've been scoping out/posting here and there on the 2 forum for a while now. Since the 2 debuted I've been itching to pick one up for myself! I knew pretty well all along that it was going to be my next car due to the fact that it's essentially a late 80's hatch with airbags. I was also considering a 2011ish Mazda 3 (had a new Skyactiv as a rental car in Los Angeles back in the Spring and it was a great car!) or a cheaper RX-8 (the fuel economy is what ultimately deterred me, otherwise I'm infatuated with rotaries). Well I finally pulled the trigger last Friday and put down a deposit on a new 2014 Sport in Blue Reflex.


I used up a decent amount of comp time and picked it up yesterday afternoon at Pugi Mazda in Downers Grove, IL!!!

Here she is as soon as I brought her home with 95 miles on the clock:

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I've been affectionately referring to it as "an 80s hatch with airbags" and "the budget-minded-man's Mini" to my friends.


A little background about me: my previous car was an auto 2003 Protege ES that was a great car to get around with in stock form, before that a 1990 VW Jetta 8v that I had a ton of fun with in high school and college and between the cones during the Summer. I never got super competitive with it, but did alright locally in Chicagoland non-SCCA club solo (Chicago VW, Windy City Miata, Salt Creek Sports Car Club, etc).

I compromised a bit going from the 5-speed VW to the autotragic Protege; the Protege was geared terribly for autocross (to me at least), and therefore I went on a solo hiatus for a while, co-driving my buddy's old STS prep'd CRX here and there.

Well I'm sooo relieved to be back in a small, light, 5-speed vehicle - and one that is pretty well established as a cone killer to boot!

Quick points I gotta say about this car:

- After testing a 5-speed 3i and chirping the tires in 2nd gear on the test drive, I still had way more fun pulling through 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear with the 2
- Which brings me to my next point: WHY DO PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS CAR BEING SLOW? It's not a fast car, but its quick and has ample speed to get into a little trouble in an urban and suburban setting!
- The gear shift is fun and surprisingly notchy - in fact I mess up going into 3rd occasionally
- Holy s*** the gas mileage! I was forced to use my A/C last night driving around (raining outside) and it still pulled decently and got great gas mileage
- The stock tires are better than I anticipated, however I was still able to find their limits pretty quickly in the wet - speaking of, traction control isn't that bad on this car either!
- It passes the scare-the-s***-out-of-the-girlfriend test! Result: SCARED!

Anyway, I plan to put it together as a fun daily/autocrosser. I've got plenty of ideas in mind, I just need to recoup my funds for a little while.

Regarding the build, here's what I have in mind:


- Some kind of lightweight 15" wheels (Konig Feather is at the top)
- 205/50/15 BFGoodrich Rivals
- Space those wheels out and make the little fella look meaner
- Corksport adjustable shocks
- Racing Beat muffler (really just for sound)
- Corksport intake
- Racing beat front and rear sway bars
- Either Racing Beat, Eibach or H&R springs, still not sure... or possibly Bilstein coilovers - I actually enjoy riding a little high as Chicagoland curbs and roads are pretty brutal

These of course will come over time, my first goal is to get well acquainted in stock form and maybe start with wheels/tires and rear bar in a month or 2.


If I get deep into it, I'll go the stiff-ass coilovers route next year sometime.

I look forward to becoming more active in this community! I really like the amount of people who are as stoked about cheap, light, fun cars as I am!

I think that is a good color, but then I have the same car. I picked up a set of Konig Heliums with 205/50/15 RE11A shipped for $780. The rims are not my first choice and I would have preferred a 7" vs 6'5" width, but they were so dirt cheap. The Bilsteins and CS rear bar made a big difference in the handling. The Racingbeat exhaust sounds good, but I am not sure it added much if any power. The next mod will be some seats, but that's just because I have them left over from my 09 MX5. Enjoy!

Cool man! Yeah Im really happy I went with blue reflex, itll go great with black wheels. That's a hell of a deal, I can dig RE-11s. Where did you find that price?

Looks great. Love that color!

Thanks! Your car is definitely swaying me towards H&R springs, and maybe 16" wheels sometime in the future for daily wheels.

Looks cute, ultra racing has some sway bars and chassis bars for the 2 as well. Black/dark grey wheels looks good on that color.

16vPete said:

Cool man! Yeah Im really happy I went with blue reflex, itll go great with black wheels. That's a hell of a deal, I can dig RE-11s. Where did you find that price?

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Probably DiscountTireDirect. They don't show the RE-11a on the website, but you can special order them if you call your order in. I think I spent about the same price for the same setup.

utmorpheus said:

Probably DiscountTireDirect. They don't show the RE-11a on the website, but you can special order them if you call your order in. I think I spent about the same price for the same setup.

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That is the place. Yes they had to special order the tires, it took a couple days even though they quoted me 2 weeks and there was a $50 discount on four rims when I ordered. Try to catch them with a $100 discount on tires or rims sale.

Hello & welcome....

Nice looking M2 you got there....


Shaun......

Thanks!

DanR said:

That is the place. Yes they had to special order the tires, it took a couple days even though they quoted me 2 weeks and there was a $50 discount on four rims when I ordered. Try to catch them with a $100 discount on tires or rims sale.

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I'm gonna have to pay a visit to them sometime soon...

I contemplated black, but a few friends advised against it. I think the silver colors pop against the reflex blue. I am still looking for another set of rims, but no hurry.

Welcome! That reflex blue looks really nice. You should consider the new cheaper flow formed wheels over the feathers. Check out the Advanti Storm and Konig Dial-in. I just put a set of 15x8 dial-ins on my miata, they are incredibly light (and much stronger than the gravity cast wheels). Discount tire can get them if you call or go into your local store (at least the konigs, not sure about the advantis). Also I'd recommend the bilsteins if you will be autocrossing with regularity. I have the corksport adjustables and love them, but if I didn't have the miata for a track/auto-x car I'd be on the bilsteins.

Thanks!

I was looking at the flow formed wheels, they're not much more expensive! I'm still unsure of how much I'll be autocrossing for the rest of the year... however 2015, watch out. I might save up and go with Bilsteins. I can hang in H-Street for a while until I really get to know the car.

Agree on the flow formed wheels. I should have waited for them to arrive before I purchased the Heliums, but I might still get a set and use them as a dedicated track tires with R-comps.

Thanks for the info!

Just a follow-up, I was going to put 195/50/15 on the stock wheels, but the local DT was quoting me around $650 for tires only. For only $130 more I was able to get the Konig Heliums and since it was a 6 1/2" wide rim, I went with the 205 width. Money is money, but it was too good a deal to pass up. I would still go with the flow formed wheels. Happy motoring

Cool, that is quite a deal!

Spent the weekend out on a friend's land out towards Galena, IL and had to snap a few pics!

It's been a fun Summer with the 2! I just got back from a trip to Asheville, NC with my lady to visit her family. The 2 exceeded my expectations in fuel economy and mountain driving. Not having cruise control wasn't much of an issue either, even when the trip back to Chicago was 13 hours (due to construction, traffic, etc) instead of 10 on the way down.

Holy s*** the stock setup was lots of fun on tight mountain roads! Though, the entire time I was wishing I had better tires. I never knew there were roads out there that are pretty much an autocross course. We don't get that kind of fun here in Chicagoland.


I've been pinching my pennies harder than ever, and have accrued this rousing pile of parts:




It feels so good to have a pile of NEW parts, I can't wait to install it all this weekend or the following. I'm reeaally looking forward turning brand new bolts/nuts and not dealing with a ton of road grime/rust.

I also pulled the trigger on some 205/50/15 Dunlop DZ102s, and will be buying some new wheels from Rodrigo soon too. (dance)


I didn't go with sticky autocross tires just yet, I figured it would be best practice to hold off until next Spring when I can pick up a dedicated tire/wheel set for solo and trackdays only. The DZ102s were insanely cheap with a rebate on Tirerack and will probably be worlds better than the crappy stock Yokos. I'll be sure to share my thoughts on them too, as they seem to be a strong competitor to the popular Yoko S.Drive.

nice buggy bro, dont forget to post your m2 after you install eibach