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- RDX Aspec Adv.
Especially considering that it's in the back, and these vehicles are nose heavy, and it's what, 20-35#? LOL! It won't matter a hill of beans in the acceleration dept.
Are there compelling performance mods for the 2.5??
- Thread starter davefr
- Start date
Especially considering that it's in the back, and these vehicles are nose heavy, and it's what, 20-35#? LOL! It won't matter a hill of beans in the acceleration dept.
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- RDX Aspec Adv.
I'm still a fan of a used 2008+ C6 if you want performance on the cheap.
I weighed my spare yesterday because it felt shockingly heavy. It's 38.8 lbs.! Just the OEM spare. Add in another 10 pounds (estimated) for the jack and lug wrench and you are to almost 50 lbs. so it is considerable. The only consolation is all this weight is carried low to the chassis and near the rear axle. If I used my car exclusively for commuting in populous areas with cell reception I would consider deleting the spare to save weight (even though it would un-balance the fine handling qualities) but I am often in remote areas without cell service and a puncture could require a very long walk indeed. Leaving the spare at home is not an option for me.
With no budget constraints a lightweight forged aluminum spare would be a trick addition. Then, the weight saved could be used to carry a nice set of tools. More function, same weight.
I wonder if the AWD with 2.0L engine is the best handling CX-5 of them all (when not loaded with luggage) due to the extra weight down low and rearward of the rear differential and slightly heavier fuel tank? Not to mention the rear wheels which are driven when exiting a corner hard. I do notice that a lot of 2.5L FWD owners seem to have a less enthusiastic appraisal of handling qualities compared to 2.0L AWD owners.
It's apparent Mazda spent considerable time getting the suspension just right because they specify different front suspension springs based upon sunroof/no sunroof.
BigBuckNasty1
Member
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- Mazda CX-5 GT 2015
What about a 50 or 75 shot? I'm not really into nitrous but it makes a logical case when you don't have many mods available and the car is tuned well to begin with. If you blow your engine just take it off. Bang for the buck it's always been the best. Not my style for sure but again it doesn't appear there are many options
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
Ovtuning announced they are ordering a 2.5 sky block, to convert to race trim. - They already decided on the 2.5 first.
copied and pasted
hey folks, Orangevirus tuning is ordering a skyactiv engine today for further development in power and performance, naturally aspirated and turbocharged.
We are ready to make our engine order, and are planning on having lightweight Billet rods, pistons, cams and valve springs soon.
However we need your help to decide which engine gets R&D first, the 2.0L sky or 2.5L sky, what's the interest like out there for folks with these engines?
copied and pasted
hey folks, Orangevirus tuning is ordering a skyactiv engine today for further development in power and performance, naturally aspirated and turbocharged.
We are ready to make our engine order, and are planning on having lightweight Billet rods, pistons, cams and valve springs soon.
However we need your help to decide which engine gets R&D first, the 2.0L sky or 2.5L sky, what's the interest like out there for folks with these engines?
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
I think they key there is lightweight. If they can get lighter billet rods that are durable enough for their application, which will be higher output than OEM, it won't make a negative impact. However, they will make that determination as they rebuild the engine. I will be following this.
Billet and Forged means nothing as far as the ultimate strength of a part is concerned. Billet just means a "block" of something, and billet steel can actually be stronger than forged steel depending on the material used. I'm assuming the OV folks will be using billet Aluminum instead of steel, which will yield much lighter parts, less rotating mass and in theory a faster spooling motor. I'd love to see what they come up with.
I don't agree.
Forged parts are 'beat' into a near-net shape by the process which leaves the metal denser, more tightly compacted, usually in the areas where you want the greatest strength: in the radiuses. Final machining is designed to preserve the inherent strength imparted by forging.
A billet is machined into it's useful shape and that removes large volumes of metal that were compacted by the processes (rolling, forging) that left it in the billet shape. Also, machining can leave stress risers that weaken the part, especially in radiuses, so there have to be secondary processes to preserve strength there.
Not to say either one is worse or better, it all depends on ultimate strength and load paths, but generally you can get a lighter weight, more reliably strong part by starting from a proper forging vs. a hog-out.
Hog-outs are easy because CNC machines shops all over accept IGES files that any engineering student can generate from their CAD designs with very little investment. Making the dies for a proper forging can be very expensive and time consuming. Aerospace makes both hog-outs and expensive forgings for one-off parts all the time, but to maintain highest fatigue design life margins with the lightest possible part they use a forging. They totally would not do that if there was no advantage to doing so.
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I agree that the forging process can add strength to a part (due to grain flow), but the primary factor in the failure of that part would be the material choice (alloy type). The thing with forging is you need an alloy that is "capable" of being forged. An alloy that has a yield strength / ultimate strength that is too high will be difficult /too costly/or impossible to forge. With billet, you don't need to worry about that. That same part can be made from billet, using that same high strength alloy (it'll be VERY expensive though). For that reason, a part made from an ultra high strength alloy can be made from billet, where it would not be feasible to forge that part from the same alloy.
To clarify, I'm talking about like for like materials. I.e. billet steel and forged steel.
To clarify, I'm talking about like for like materials. I.e. billet steel and forged steel.
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I agree, the material and alloy has to be appropriate for both the process and the application. There are fewer choices for forging, but the fact that a hog-out may be made from any of a number of alloys means what you get may not be what you expected.
With that in mind, I can see where your statement that 'billet and forged are the same from a strength standpoint' may be true but really only in a theoretical sense. How many people know what an appropriate ultra-high-strength alloy good for the application even is? I know I wouldn't!
Other, very practical, things to consider: forged parts are made on a committed manufacturing line that generally has well-established process controls and is itself a process that inherently results in more uniform parts. Hog outs, while performed on a nice CNC, have magnified problems of tool wear and need to undergo several secondary processes to preserve the strength: machining leaves stress risers that requires surface finishing in critical areas, there will be annealing and hardening heat treatments. Forgings will need secondary processes too, but being performed on a process-controlled production line provides a much more uniform guarantee of outcome. Hogouts, an the other hand, because of the low volume may or may not be as carefully controlled so therefore what do you really know about the part(s) you get? If you're purpose-building a race engine you pay dearly for an aerospace-like quality control process; does the average joe off the street get that same assurance? In both cases a smart designer would make some allowances for manufacturing variability: in the case of a forging fewer should be required than a hog-out.
All else equal, for high-stress cycle parts I see a clear advantage for forging but I do recognize that the NRE costs associated with it means there are usually compromises that means 'billet' will have to do. One clear advantage billet parts may have over forged is they can be lighter: the cost of forgings mean they're made for multiple engines and therefore there's usually compromises in it's weight/shape needed to form it into the other applications.
BigBuckNasty1
Member
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- Mazda CX-5 GT 2015
For all its worth assuming you could get better rods I doubt you'd see much of a gain vs the stock ones. If you are going to tear it down put forged rods in and lower compression and use a power adder. Serous you'll spend 3000 $ and get 15 hp.
You would be lucky to get 2 HP even if you went with custom titanium rods. And they would last a lot longer than any Al-alloy billet rods. The OEM forged steel rods are not only the most durable choice, they are pretty trick in their own right.
It's easier to wait until a Mazda Speed turbo motor comes out and use that factory designed turbo motor to start with if one must really have a turbocharged CX5. Still don't get why someone would buy a brand new 25+ thousand dollar family recreational vehicle and spend a ridiculous amount of money modifying its 4 cylinder engine that for its class already tops it.
It's about the customizing. It's very personal so if you don't have the bug, you'll never understand.
You can't buy customizing as an option package, that kinda defeats the purpose of it.
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I guess everyone has different ideals.
It reminds me of a hot 40 year old woman with beautiful and shapely B cup breasts that decides to "upgrade" to silicone D cups. To me it's a downgrade with significant disadvantages, ruining the performance, handling and responsiveness, but to others it's a hot upgrade. (boobs2)
(dunno)
Yeah I've been there when I was younger and built plenty of cars and motors but they were in my opinion better fits for that kind of thing. It's like modifying a Toyota RAV 4 or Honda CRV to be something it's never going to be. Wouldn't you rather take a vehicle like the Mazda Speed 3 or a Volkswagen GTI and customize that instead? Hell, even an old Mazda 6 wagon would be cool, but an economy SUV is just weird. I knew someone who had one of those boxy eighties model Dodge minivans and he put a wing on it with spinners for wheels. He thought it was the best thing ever because he was emotionally attached to it and I think he was blinded by the reality that to everyone else it was so ugly it was hilarious to look at.
Just like dogs, cars take on the personality of their owners. (lol2)
