Rescued a Genwon speed3

[Modality14]

glad to see you still rockin your speed..i miss mine wah..but you should come to md and get my volks

[akurma]

Originally Posted by Modality14 glad to see you still rockin your speed..i miss mine wah..but you should come to md and get my volks

Daily driving it and man i wish i could be dont have the funds unfortunately

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[07SilverBack]

What volks do you have? I'm in Bowie as well.

[akurma]

Originally Posted by 07SilverBack What volks do you have? I'm in Bowie as well.

He has TE37's

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[akurma]

Had a blast at the Philly autoX event at the Wells Fargo center. Didn't do as well as i hoped i just couldn't get the hang of the track, but still more then happy with the car. killed my first cone this time I really need a set of stickier tires! While the conti DWS are great they just don't have the grip. I have a video of my fastest run that i will upload later tomorrow. Also hit 39,000 miles the other night. only 611 miles from reaching 10,000 miles since i bought her

[akurma]

been a month since my last post, finally hit 10,000 miles under my ownership! only took me a little over 2 years..... besides that i noticed that my drivers side CV boot has torn and is slinging grease all over the place. i have ordered a DTA axle as it has had some good feedback on here and i couldn't justify spending $370 for an OEM Mazda one that the stealership wanted. Also ordered some of that magical ford trans fluid (shits expensive!!!) since the oil is going to come out when i change the axle, and i have been wanting to change it at 40,000 miles which i am quickly coming up on. Anyways the axle should be here Tuesday and the trans fluid should be here Saturday so i can compete in my third AutoX event on the 26th!

[akurma]

So this happened two weeks ago.... one of the wash kids at my work backed into my car while they were pulling out of the wash bay It's worse in person the paint is all scratched and gouged up, my work is paying to have my families shop fix it so at least its getting taken care of up still WTF man.

In brighter news, i might be buying an NA miata soon

[Bob-o]

Ah man sorry to hear about your bumper!

On the plus side, when does your hair salon open!?

[akurma]

WOW its been longer than i thought since i last updated this thread! I haven't been driving the speed much in the past few months, but the other day i put it up in the air for some maintenance, oil change, inspection blah blah blah. while it was up in the air i noticed one of the boost tubes for the FMIC was rubbing against the radiator fan connector, slowly wearing away at it. luckily i caught it or it would have eventually tore a hole in the tube. also while it was up in the air i was poking around, i noticed my passenger side rear sway bar end link (i think that's what it is) the boot is torn wide open, any recommendations? stay stock replacements or go with Whiteline? i do plan to eventually purchase a rear say bar. Also my rear driver side shock is starting to leak, going to replace them with koni yellows soon

[sharksinspace]

You're correct, that is the endlink. I just put in a pair of Moogs when I upgraded to CS RSB over the weekend, they seem to be a popular choice; beefier than stock, zerk fittings for easy re-greasing, and straight forward install (crow's foot wrench required, though). They were also cheaper than OEM from rockauto.com, and arrived about two days after ordering.

[akurma]

Originally Posted by sharksinspace You're correct, that is the endlink. I just put in a pair of Moogs when I upgraded to CS RSB over the weekend, they seem to be a popular choice; beefier than stock, zerk fittings for easy re-greasing, and straight forward install (crow's foot wrench required, though). They were also cheaper than OEM from rockauto.com, and arrived about two days after ordering.

Just did a quick google search and wow those things are much beefier than stock! thanks for the feedback!

[sharksinspace]

For sure! You will definitely need a crows foot to be able to tighten down the top bolt where the links connect to the control arm, the thinner the better bc it's a bit of a tight fit, but it's otherwise a terribly easy install.

[MikeBavaro]

For rear shocks, id go with Bilstiens. My cousin ran through a set of Koni yellow rears in 20K. His bilstiens have lasted over 80K. Hes running the B6's

[akurma]

Originally Posted by MikeBavaro For rear shocks, id go with Bilstiens. My cousin ran through a set of Koni yellow rears in 20K. His bilstiens have lasted over 80K. Hes running the B6's

i was actually just looking at rear shocks, and found that the B8 Bilstines are much cheaper then the koni yellows, so i think i'll give them a shot

[impossible]

For the endlinks go with Moogs.

[akurma]

Been awhile since my last post, things haven't changed much but i've been driving the speed3 a lot for work which is quickly putting on the miles and i've been auto-xing it. Only issue i've had recently is one of the clamps for the FMIC broke and left me with a boost leak on I-95 in philly, that was fun. Besides that the rear shocks finally gave out, the driver side rear is leaking and the passenger side bump stop or "bellows" is falling apart. So as some of you may remember i've had an issue with the EVO X wheels rubbing, since i have to replace the shocks i want to fix this issue if possible. now i don't want to go coilovers so i ordered new Bilstein B8 shocks, and am considering purchasing Ground Control "coilover" kit and just using the rear adjustable spring perch. I'd love to purchase just the rear Ground Control kit but i can't do that. So before i pull the trigger and buy the kit does anyone have any suggestions?

[PlatinumCore16]

Looking at B8s myself, I also have a set of BBS, but I have no rubbing. Stock shocks/springs.

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[akurma]

Originally Posted by PlatinumCore16 Looking at B8s myself, I also have a set of BBS, but I have no rubbing. Stock shocks/springs. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Ahh I'm on H&R springs it only rubs on deep bumps in the road but it's enough that it needs to get fixed. As for the B8's while I don't have them installed obviously they looks like a really nice quality unit

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[daafisch]

Originally Posted by akurma Been awhile since my last post, things haven't changed much but i've been driving the speed3 a lot for work which is quickly putting on the miles and i've been auto-xing it. Only issue i've had recently is one of the clamps for the FMIC broke and left me with a boost leak on I-95 in philly, that was fun. Besides that the rear shocks finally gave out, the driver side rear is leaking and the passenger side bump stop or "bellows" is falling apart. So as some of you may remember i've had an issue with the EVO X wheels rubbing, since i have to replace the shocks i want to fix this issue if possible. now i don't want to go coilovers so i ordered new Bilstein B8 shocks, and am considering purchasing Ground Control "coilover" kit and just using the rear adjustable spring perch. I'd love to purchase just the rear Ground Control kit but i can't do that. So before i pull the trigger and buy the kit does anyone have any suggestions?

You still looking at getting the GC kit? I pulled mine off my car since I'm not really racing as much anymore and I blew my Konis. The fronts are still on the Konis but i should be able to get them off. If you're interested I'll post pics and do all the other stuff I need to do to sell on here again.

[akurma]

Finally got around to replacing the rear shocks and endlinks, pretty straight forward install. the Moog endlinks are much beefier than the OEM ones. the Bilstein B8's made a huge difference over the worn out and leaking stockers the one was completely shot wouldn't even rebound completely. I also ended up replacing the shock bellows, and mounts. Probably could have reused the mounts but they are cheap enough you might as well. I broke them in by taking a trip down to the beach and then some autocross, absolutely love them. They almost got rid of the tires rubbing not perfect but much better. I also found exactly where the tires are rubbing and it's a small spot on the inner fender where the bumper meets the quarter, i'll grind it away and paint it so it doesn't rust. once concern i do have however is where the serpentine belt is I noticed a red-ish power/dust? i have no idea where it's coming from i know it's not the motor mount because that looks like baby diarrhea, soooo anyone have any ideas?

Besides that i'll be cruising down to H2Oi this weekend, so if anyone see the speed feel free to say hi lol

[mituc]

Originally Posted by akurma once concern i do have however is where the serpentine belt is I noticed a red-ish power/dust? i have no idea where it's coming from i know it's not the motor mount because that looks like baby diarrhea, soooo anyone have any ideas?

It's either rust the belt picks up from the pulleys OR the metal powder resulted from the AC clutch rusts and it's spread across the entire section of the belt.

[akurma]

It's been a very long time since I updated this, not much has changed. I havent been driving the speed as much since i have a company car. However the weather is starting to get warmer and autocross season is upon us so i hope to get out there a few times this year. Below are a few pictures of the past few months. H2Oi this year was.. crazy but a great time and so many nice cars. The blue R32 is my buddies car who just finished a big turbo build on it the week before we headed down, definitely makes my speed3 feel slow. im also going to try and go through my thread and fix the pictures from photobucket

[greg08]

Good work man. Proud of you

[LuiLui914]

Your mazdaspeed 3 looks clean. Keep it up man, keep modding it!!

[akurma]

figured i'd update this

Don't have much to update, since I don't get to drive my speed3 that often because I have a company car, And yet I have bought another car See second picture below. Spoiler alert: it's a 1965 Mustang with a 289 V8 Anyway I have done a few things since my last post. Most notably is I got a set of summer tires, I went with Firestone Firehawk 500's for two reasons.

1)They're cheap, plain and simple. got them for $98 a tire shipped. the fronts are 225/40/18 & 215/40/18 in the rears.
2)I barely drive the car as is but I wanted something with a little more grip for auto X but still a street tire.

Now i probably didn't *need* to get an entire set however the Cooper tires that were on the rear of my speed3 since I first got it from the salvage yard were cupped SO BADLY that i couldn't take the constant bumping any more. plus they were a good 8 years old so i figured it's time. Can't say enough good things about the Firestone's though! low noise and great dry traction, I definitely have A LOT more grip around corners and this shows in auto X. the car just feels a lot more planted. Although i'll miss the ocasional "drifting" action I would get in auto-X when the coopers lost grip. The firestones are also great in the rain. Not as good as my Continental DWS tires but still great.

I went with a 40 side wall because I knew a 45, like the Cooper's would rub in the rear and i didnt want that issue. I think a 45 looks much better but i'll sacrifice the looks for not chewed up tires or rear quarters.

I also put new rear brake rotors and pads on however i can't seem to find any pictures. I went with Power Stop Z26 kit. nice and easy install and the rotors are zinc coated so they don't look all nasty. I will also ditching the 4-piston Wilwood calipers soon. I can't use the stock wheels with those calipers and i want to use them for a winter set up so i can stop mounting and unmounting tires every 6 months.

The only other update I have for the fine people that still look at this thread is that the rear Bilstein B8's that i installed last september seem to be leaking I don't notice any "bounce" or typical signs of a failed shock but i know they aren't support to leak. I contacted Bilstein customer support and they told me that some leaking is normal but I could contact the original place or purchase and file a warranty claim. However i need to take them off and then ship them out before they'll ship me new ones... Soooo i need to not need the car for i'd assume at least two weeks. I'd also have to find a place to safely keep the car without rear suspension installed for however long it takes to get the replacements. Either way i'm disappointed, they were installed last September and have about 3,000 miles on them. Meanwhile the Koni yellows up front are still perfect.

What do you guys think? is this amount of leakage normal or should i file a warranty claim?|

[ChevyCruizer]

Are both sides about the same (leakage)? I don't have a reference as t how much is normal.

I've read your entire build thread and it seems like you like to have things nice...so I think it will bug you in the long run if you leave them on the car and let the warranty expire. Even more so if one blows out completely. Plus you just said that you have not been driving it very much.

[akurma]

Bump for update

Did a little maintenance on the speed, I ditched the 4 pot Wilwoods and went back to the stock calipers for two reasons

1) the damn noise, I couldnt take the squealing any more
2) I got tired of having tires mounted ever winter and the stock wheels wouldn't fit with the Wilwoods.

I don't know what to do with the Wilwoods, so if anybody wants them or knows someone PM me, I'll sell them.

I went with Powerstops Z23 kit and some stainless steel lines, i've used them before on my other cars and liked them alot and they resist rust VERY well. they are also cheap. I wanted just regular slotted rotors because I personally like the look better and drilled rotors are prone to cracking, but we'll see, i doubt my auto-x days will heat these up that much.

Getting these front brakes was more of a hassle than it should have been. I ordered the brakes from Pepboys Ebay page because they were significantly cheaper than my normal vendors for the same exact kit. However they sent me the wrong rotors and pads, even though the outside of the box had the correct part number on it. the rotors & pads were for a dodge caravan, not even close. So I had to send them back to pep boys because they wouldn't let me return them in store for some reason. It took them about three weeks to send me the correct parts Of course when they did the driver side rotor already have corrosion on it but i was to annoyed and put them on anyway. First picture is the dodge caravan rotor, its wayyy smaller and who the fuck puts drilled and slotted rotors on a damn caravan?!?

I don't really notice a difference in how the brakes feel on the street, maybe a different pedal feel, time will tell next season in auto-x. With the stock calipers back on I am able to rock the stock wheels again so the speed is back on the stock wheels for the first times in years. I have Firestone 500's on the EVO-X wheels for a summer tire. I honestly hate how they look compared to the EVO-X wheels, the fitment is awful to me, but hopefully it grows on me this winter.

Side note, I DID NOT get another set of TPMS sensors for the stock wheels, is there a way to tune out the TPMS light with the AP? or am i just gonna have to get use to the light being on lol