Installed DC Sports header, RS midpipe, and aluminum flywhee

ronbauer · Post by **ronbauer** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:05 am

Well, I got it all installed. I have to admit that I'm quite surprised out how loud this new setup is!

For reference, I now have the AEM intake, DC Sports header, (yes, through Mazda Motorsports,) RS midpipe, and RS muffler. I ran my '06 with the stock header and midpipe along with the RS muffler (as well as the '07,) but also ran the '06 with a straight pipe replacing the muffler. This new setup seems to be as loud as the straight pipe, but is actually a bit different sound. I'm not sure I like the sound as much as with the straight pipe. Of course, for competition I'll likely put the straight pipe on with the header and RS midpipe. Should be VERY loud then!

The header install was a bit more difficult than anticipated. Actually, let me rephrase, getting the stock header out was a bit more difficult than anticipated. There is a fair amount of heat shielding on the stock one, and I took most of it off. The width of all of this made it difficult to get the header to move up and out. Add to that one of the heater core hoses being in the way. I ended up putting vice grips on the hose and pulled it off the tube. This helped a fair amount. Once the old header was out, the new one went in pretty easily.

The midpipe was quite easy in and of itself to install. Connect the front portion to the header (stock or race,) slide the rear half over it and connect the rear portion to the muffler, along with connecting the hanger and then tighten the clamp down once it's all lined up. All in all pretty simple. If only it ended there..... As Brian noted, he has two bungs to allow connecting the oxygen sensors to the midpipe if the stock header is replaced. It's really quite cool to have all this "race" stuff on the car and not have to worry about codes. That said, it does require cutting the wires on the sensors and adding wire to extend the length. I'd estimate that I had to lengthen the rear sensor wiring by about 18" and the front by 12". The sensors are 4 wire, so it does require the addition of quite a bit of wire. It's pretty straight forward, but a bit of extra work.

As for the flywheel install, I've got to hand it to the Mazda engineers. They made this car easier to work on than the older cars. Whereas the PPF (powerplant frame) was a pain in the butt to disconnect on the old cars, the shape is more like a "Z" now, so just undo the 4 nuts at each end and it just falls down! The slave cylinder is now on the other side of the transmission and very easy to get at. In general, the center tunnel is more open to allow for easier access, including the bolts at the top of the transmission. The only kink I ran into was that there were two additional bolts that went through the engine and bolted to the transmission (all the others went through the tranny and bolted to the engine.) Probably due to everything being aluminum now instead of steel for the engine block previously.

The new flywheel is definitely significantly lighter than the stock one. One other nice design change is that the pilot bearing is not part of the flywheel now. It has nice roller bearings, so I'd imagine that it won't need to be replaced each time the clutch is changed as the old one did. Lastly, the engine in the NC doesn't rock back and forth the way the older ones did, so it's much easier to line everything up.

As you may know, I traded in my '06 with a 6 speed to get a '07 with a 5 speed. The reason behind this is that I'll be autocrossing the car in CSP, and the 6 speed gearing is just too short to be competitive. A lot of fun to drive, but I needed to shift to 3rd way too often on course. The extra 10 mph in 2nd for the 5 speed makes all the difference.

In any case, the new car feels like it'll get to the end of each gear at about the same time as the old car now that I've installed all this stuff, and that's with the 10 mph difference. I'm sure it's probably not this drastic, but the add on's made a noticeable difference. Note also, that I already had the AEM intake and RS muffler on prior to installing the new items.

Next up is installing the Mazdaspeed LSD and new fenders. My 285/30/18 (yes, you read that right....) Kumho V710s showed up today, so I'll get those mounted on my 18x9.5 Enkei RPF1s and see how much "massaging" needs to be done to these new front fenders to make them fit.

Ron

miataman · Post by **miataman** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 8:20 am

Nice work Ron!!
How much time did the flywheel take to install? Do you reckon it offers a significant benefit?

ronbauer · Post by **ronbauer** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 10:32 am

It's hard to say how long it really took as there were some breaks here and there.

I'd say it probably took me about 6 hours of actual work, but to do it over again could probably knock it out in about 2.

The car certainly seems to rev quicker in 1st and 2nd gear, and reving the car up for matching revs is also a lot quicker.

I think it's definitely worth the price of admission!

Ron

Post by **Brian** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:33 pm

Thanks for the great report Ron....best of luck as the season starts.

ronbauer · Post by **ronbauer** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:47 am

Just a quick FYI that I put the baffles in the RS muffler and the sound is much more tolerable now for daily driving duties. Probably still too loud for most people, but I love the sound now!

Ron

ronbauer · Post by **ronbauer** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:46 pm

Added some pics at www.bauerspeedracing.com/autocross/cspbuildup.htm

Ron

Gripper · Post by **Gripper** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:16 pm

Hey Ron, do you have any pictures of your car with the new flares?

ronbauer · Post by **ronbauer** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:12 pm

I'll try to get some at the San Diego Tour. I'm away from home for the next few weeks so can't do anything right now.

Ron