NightRunner's 2017 Mazda 3 Build

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NightRunner

Resident Junkman
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
Messages
514
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Location
DFW, TX
So I daily a 2017 Mazda 3, which is 100 percent a little econobox. But much like what everyone else who owns a Gen3 will tell you, these thing handle amazingly and are an absolute blast to drive. Sure, the engine is a snail and isn't worth it in the long run to build for performance, but every other aspect of the vehicle wants to be toyed with. So, here's my build pretty much copied over from Mazda3Revolution's forum.

April 10th, 2017 (The day I brought it home):

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So now let's go a little further. Once I got it home I decided to do a few cosmetic mods. Wasn't a big fan of the stock front license plate location so I ordered a relocator from Corksport, and also decided to get some stickers for the back as well (No, I'm not in high school still, just love me some stickers :grin2: ) Not pictured but I used the Corksport LED kit and my interior/plate lights are amazing. 10/10 on that one.

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July 12th, 2017:

I decided to get some window visors partly for cosmetics but mostly because of how easily window washer fluid gets on my window when I use it. :tongue_smilie 1:

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The same day, I also got new badges for the rear of my car as well. I was able to cover the stock holes with the Evil M and the 3M tape behind it, and most of the former Mazda logo as well by using the same method. I plan to pull the bottom part of the hatch plastics out and seal all the holes though just to be safe.

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September 8th, 2017:

Finally got the 17's installed! Plan is to knock out the front lip, rally flaps, and spoiler install all tomorrow morning as well. Hoping for the best and of course, will update when finished.

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September 14th, 2017:


Finally got around to installing my front lip and rally flaps. Here's some pictures of it all on. Really makes me realize how much I need more low. :(

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September 18th, 2017:

Spoiler is test fitted and coated in the temporary "go-fast stickers" while I take the next two weeks to look at it and decide if I wanna run it permanently and get it paint matched or ditch it and look for another style spoiler. Don't worry, the stickers aren't permanent. I just didn't like the idea of an ugly ass primer grey on the back but also wanted to take this oppurtunity to mess around with $20 worth of stickers :p

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October 14th, 2017:

Well, it was a long night. We actually missed a car meet we were going to head out to and ended up staying in to finish the mods. But here's the rally light idea come to full fruition. We ended up running a separate harness for the lights instead of going with my plan to incorporate them into the car's wiring harness using the factory fog light harnesses due to the amount of power they pull. So they're ran to a switch that's installed in the blank area beside my traction control and TPMS buttons. The control box behind it actually has a PCB board on it so we had to run the wires out of the side of the box. It was pretty complex but I had the guys at High Low Customs fix me up.

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So, here's how it sits as of October 14th, 2017:

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November 3rd, 2017:

Finally got around to getting my custom exhaust installed. This is a bit of a "dry run" as I'm trying to tinker with the sound. However, this attempt is basically using some no name eBay muffler/tip and it came out great. Aside from a low-end rumble and a more defined tone, there's not much difference from stock and I love it. Not only does it give me the exact look I wanted (dual to single exit), it gives me a sound that isn't obnoxiously loud or raspy. Going to buy an actual brand name muffler/tip and run that sometime after Thanksgiving. So next two mods (hopefully) will be my new window tint and revisiting the exhaust.

Here's an exhaust clip:

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November 18th, 2017:

Finally got the James Barone Racing Rear Wiper Delete kit on today, was really easy, had more trouble pulling my plastics than putting this thing on.

Here's the before:
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And here's the after:
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December 1st, 2017:

Got the 5mm spacers on the front and rear wheels. Pretty happy with the front wheel spacers, the rear could probably use an 8mm-10mm with extended lug nuts so may look into that in the future but for now it works great.

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January 24th, 2018:

The mod bug is biting me hard so I decided to go ahead and tinker with the one thing that's cheap, easy and always fun to do which is stickers. I went back to the drawing board and planned it out (I know, sounds lame for stickers) and decided to run it with a single vertical row down the middle, but also decided to keep a couple stickers on the driver's side as well. I might strip the stickers off my spoiler this weekend and paint it flat black in another attempt to quell my need to mod my car.

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March 15th, 2018:

One of my experimental ideas is coming to fruition. I'm currently waiting to get some time to get the gauges installed correctly so it may take a few weeks to get them in, but I'll definitely update when I do. It's an Ortiz Custom Pods gauge pod made specifically for my vehicle. The pods were fabricated on an OEM pillar, allowing it to retain it's safety aspects of being able to fold away from the driver in the event of a crash. I'm very happy with the design and finish of this product. Well worth the money. However, if I had a chance to buy again I'd check out the block8 gauge pods as well. The gauges going in the gauge pod are ProSport gauges. Oil pressure and water temperature will finally be reliably monitored instead of waiting for a dummy light to tell me it's too late. Since I have a third spot, I opted for a voltmeter temporarily. In the future, this may change (Corksport get that turbo kit out soon please).

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March 21st, 2018:

RIP stickers 2017-2018, waiting for a more financially responsible moment to buy my new MS-Style spoiler and send it straight to the paint booth. Soon.

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Future Plans as of now:

Interior:
- Kenstyle Steering Wheel
- Pro-Clip Phone Mount (Definitely need this as I bought a new iPhone 7 Plus and it barely fits in my cup holders or under my radio area, so this mount should alleviate that issue)
- Window Tint (TBD, possible 5 percent all around including brow)
- Something to cover the piano black plastics, it's killing me.
- Mazda Alloy Pedals (a little mod that goes a long way in looks IMO)
- Aftermarket Sport Reclining seat (debating between the Sparco R100, the Recaro SR3, OMP Design 2 or some other similar seat. Will have to find a way to have it act friendly with the SRS system, this is a WIP).
- Schroth 4 Point Rallye 4 ASM Racing Harness for Driver's Seat. (This harness will only be used during Auto-X runs and parked at car shows/meets. Yes I am aware using a 4 point harness during daily use without a proper roll bar/cage is dangerous, hence the previous sentence).

Exterior:
- Paint the damn spoiler.
- BaysonR Mazdaspeed Spoiler lip extension. I have pretty good reason to believe the lip extension will fit on my MS-Style spoiler. I'm gonna buy one and give it a shot. Worst case Ontario I'm out $65 so.
- ZestJDM Paint Matched MP-Style Side Skirts (I still need to verify fitment and compatibility with the RokBlokz rally flaps I have installed on there now, as it seems they share a few mounting points).
- Upgrading to 18" wheels with a more aggressive fitment. Would prefer to get the wheels flush.
- Hella 500 Rally Lights removal. I'm really happy with the lights and like the way they look, but they are currently underutilized and since I'm planning to redo the grille at some point, they're gonna find their way out of the picture.
- ZestJDM MS-Style CF Hood (I love the look of it and can't stand my flat hood. I think the CF hood would be the icing on top to finish the exterior of my car)

"Performance":
- Eibach Pro-Plus Kit (Springs and Sway Bars)
- Megan Racing Front Strut Bar
- AutoExe Lower Arm Bars
- AutoExe Member Brace Set
- AutoExe Center Floor Bar
- AutoExe Floor Cross Bar
- MST Performance Air Intake System
- More exhaust adjustments (possible dual exit exhaust using two Vibrant resonators tipped off at the valence)
- Corksport Lightweight Crank Pulley
- JBR Rear Motor Mount
- E85 Tune (possibly from OVTune or DRtuned, not too sure yet. E85 is readily available here in the city so no problems there. Might have a 93 Tune on reserve however)

And that's about it for now. Be sure to check out my C1500 build I'm in the process of. The Mazda 3 build will slow down now as well but it's starting to become an expensive hobby since it's such a newer car.
 
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