jri4's 2008 Black Mica Mazdaspeed3 Sport Build Thread

[jri4]

...to keep my knob warm...and cozy...that is the intended use!
I still have the prototype if you'd like to try it. It is all red, and has been used a couple times...if you know what I mean

Spring and Early Summer 2010

Winter ended brutally:

In the spring I started hanging out with other Mazda people for the first time. It is really nice meeting these forum users in person and seeing how weird they really are! No, over this past summer I have met a lot of new people--which is weird for me because I am very shy and reserved--and (hopefully) have made some new friends. I just wanted to update this post with some pictures of the early events I went to in which my car was in the same form as it was over the winter. In the late summer, I made some purchases and modifications that would change everything! But that is for tomorrow's update! Enjoy and thank you!

In April I went to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the first time ever...over the course of the summer I spent about 5 or 6 weekends down there! This was my first contact with other Mazda cats.

A few times I went to a weekly car show (called Superfly Sunday) about 45 minutes from my house. Met even more cool people here! Then they moved locations to a shadier neighborhood I wasn't familiar with and I sort of stopped going--it wasn't worth the gas and hour long drive each way. I plan on attending more of these events next summer:

 

[Evan9999]

I went to Superfly many times. I actually like the new location. Now Eurovagens are in charge, and they do a really good job moderating Superfly. They don't want the event to snowball out of control like it eventually did at the Spaghetti warehouse location. They also have a mini auto-x course setup and anyone can run it as many times as they want for $5. It's nothing special, I consider it more of an obstacle course lol. I did it once and it was sooooo much fun, even though it wasn't very long.

Hmmm...I wonder if I should create my own build thread lol. I don't do a lot of huge mods and definitely now big turbo build lol.

 

[Domino81]

I wish there was a Mazda following like that here in Syracuse. This place is so un-kind to any tuner market or sports cars of any kind.

Got a Cavalier with a body kit?! s***, son... there's a ton you them. And ******* Honda guys, as well. Subaru's as well. In fact, There's a big CNY Subbie group.

 

[Evan9999]

Our Mazda group is growing. We have a "spotted in ohio" thread where we post sightings of Mazdas in the area. Typically modified ones. We try to tag them with a piece of paper saying, "Come to our forum, we have events and shows blah blah blah." That way we can recruit people and the community grows. There's a lot of knowledge between everyone and we help each other out. I'm glad I didn't buy a non-mazda after selling my Mazda 6

 

[jri4]

Yeah the family atmosphere in Ohio is unreal. I've met some people 6 or 7 or more times this summer and have gotten to know them real well. Others I've met once and instantly you hit it off when it comes to other things besides cars--all because you drive the same make of car. It's pretty cool. Looking forward to next summer...and getting together this winter!

 

[Domino81]

I don't think there's much of one left, but myself as well as some other from ProbeTalk spend a weekend down in Logan... used to be put on by OhioProbes. That's about as close to a Mazda scene as I get aside from the few friends I have through PT that have carried on driving them. Many have, others drive whatever they drive and we still hang out. Winter sucks!

 

[Evan9999]

I can't wait for more Fun runs, Mid-Ohio/AutoX, cookouts, etc. I've been wanting to get into motor sports racing ever since I was a kid. Ever since I got my license, driving fast was always a huge interest. Now I finally have a fast car (fast enough for me)!! Sure it's not a race car, but I think with a few minor mods, it's race capable.

I don't think I'm an amazing driver, but I think I have the potential to be really good. I've already learned a lot from talking with the ohio mazda family

 

[jri4]

Domino, come to Watkins Glen next summer for the Grand Am Series Race Weekend. The Mazda Corral offers discount ticket pricing, meet and greets with the teams & drivers, and even parade laps out on the track. I think the Glen is only gonna be 20 bucks for the weekend! Our big dog in OH, perro del sol is in charge of setting up these things and it was pretty fun at MidOhio last year. I plan on attending the Glen, VIR, New Jersey, and MidOhio with the gang next summer.

Pic from MidOhio's corral-Mazda always has the largest number of cars in attendance!

 

[ticklemepink]

subscribing....i think

 

[Domino81]

Dude... I'm all about it. Can we run the cars at all? Watkins is a few hours from here.

 

[Perro del Sol]

The New Ohio Creedo: You have my blessing my son....may you continue to honor the Flying M and the zoom, freakin' zoom lifestyle......Godfather

We do have a close knit family, we always help one another out car wise and more. Yes, we have a lot of fun at the Mazda Grand-Am Corrals and yes, for the low price of $20.00 you get to enjoy the 6 hours at The Glen, where we will have a few members entering the hot dog eating contest! Along with our raffles for mazda swag, Grand-Am swag, Mazdaspeed Motorsports swag, Piloti driving shoes, Escot Radar Detectors and more......Oh yeah, Freaking parade laps FTMFW!!!!! Please feel free to join us,

 

[jri4]

With your blessing, Godfather, I will now embody the Zoom-Freakin-Zoom philosophy in my career build I've got going on here. That means no slammed, hella, mexi-, or any type of flush other than a toilet! Car will be functional, look good, and look better on the track come Spring!

And parade laps are pretty sweet. We did two or three laps around MidOhio in a big group behind the pace car. Watkins Glen is only a few hours from us NE Ohioans as well...Looking forward to seeing you there.

 

[Perro del Sol]

With your blessing, Godfather, I will now embody the Zoom-Freakin-Zoom philosophy in my career build I've got going on here. That means no slammed, hella, mexi-, or any type of flush other than a toilet! Car will be functional, look good, and look better on the track come Spring!

And parade laps are pretty sweet. We did two or three laps around MidOhio in a big group behind the pace car. Watkins Glen is only a few hours from us NE Ohioans as well...Looking forward to seeing you there.

So it shall be written, so it shall be done! With my blessings Chippymunk!!! Hellaflush is sleeping with the fishes

 

[jri4]

getting ahead of myself a bit, but I wanted to try putting up a test video...here is my car at night from 1-4 gear. My dad was driving and said he was shifting lightly, so I'm guessing under 4000rpms. Turn up the volume and you can hear the 2-3 shift blow off of my Forge BPV and also the 3-4 shift one as the car passes...

[video]http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae262/mzspeed3/Mobile Uploads/?action=view&current=1118101916.mp4[/video]

Someday I'll finish my story and get to the present day, I swear. I gotta make you all sweat it out cause I know you are dying to hear my life story...

 

[jri4]

Over this past summer, I worked and saved money to be able to purchase new wheels while attending many car events with the Ohio cats, as described before. It took longer than I anticipated, but by the end of the summer I could afford a set of beat up OZ Racing Ultraleggeras, 18x8 +48 in black. I plan on fixing the curb rash and refinishing them early in the spring, along with buying new rubber for them. At about 19 pounds per wheel, there was definitely a difference in feel between the stock wheels and these:

New Rims002 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

New Rims005 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

PS-The tires that came with the wheels are 225/35/18 and were way too low profile for my taste. I ended up taking them off early because I hated how it looked...dropped my car a little over an inch though! I was slammed, LMAO!

My girlfriend added a little touch to the interior as well during the summer. She bought me these little rubber duckies that I just never bothered to take out of my car. They are what I call my 'good luck ducks.'


GoodLuckDucks006 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

GoodLuckDucks016 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

And lastly a cool picture:

GoodLuckDucks017 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

One more update should bring us to near current times. Thanks!

 

[Z-Indy]

Those wheels look good man. Got any shots where you can see them a little better on the car? The wider shots are dark so you can't see the wheels too well.

 

[jri4]

Thank you! I didn't take many pictures with the wheels on...I don't know why honestly! Here is one I found from a meet in the fall, but the wheels still look dark. I guess that's the point of black wheels, though!

Cookout2010_056 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

They are getting sanded and repainted this winter, and then either new rubber is going on or I will just use up whats left of the 215/45 Cooper Zeon ZPT All Seasons I am running right now for winter. Whatever my financial situation will allow, I guess!

 

[jri4]

So the tires were so bad that came on the OZs I got scared and pulled them off early before I got stranded. I drive 80 miles a day 5 days a week right now and didn't want that headache. Before I took them off, however, I painted my stockers with Grabber Green Engine Enamel Paint. The All Season tires should be good enough to get me through this winter. This has pretty much already been covered in previous posts, so I won't dwell on it here:

@Sahlens003 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

The above picture was taken at Team Sahlen Racing's facility located in Canton, Ohio. They run a couple RX-8s in Rolex Grand Am and a Mazdaspeed3 in the Continental Tire Series. It was pretty cool and one of two major events I attended this fall:

Team Sahlen Shop Tour_025 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

Team Sahlen Shop Tour_015 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

Team Sahlen Shop Tour_014 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

The other event was a fun run through the fall leaves of Mohican State Park in Ohio. We had 17 cars and over 20-25 people. Again, a great time with great people:

2010MohicanFunRun001 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

2010MohicanFunRun015 by JRI Photography, on Flickr

At this point, we are caught up to present day. I bought a Forge Motorsports Bypass Valve last week and installed it-that thing is a beast! I still have a catch can and PTP PCV pill fix to install when time allows. For my birthday, my parents bought me Luminics Hi beam headlights in Super White to at least color match my HID lo beams. I'll get pictures of those soon. Let me know what you guys think, and thanks for following this!

 

[Z-Indy]

Your black wheels are sweet, and are a ton lighter than your stokers i'm sure, but I have to admit, I prefer the green. It's a little ricer-ish, and the black wheels are classier and better, but I just like the "BAM!" factor of the green wheels.

 

[Evan9999]

The green wheels are awesome in person...if you are directly in front or behind him, he's just a black car. But the second you can see the wheels...you can spot his car from miles away HAHA

Too bad I missed the Team Sahlen event. I would have loved to sit in their race cars (drive)