By Dominic Turner
I'm actually going to be doing the same with my 18 GT Hatch. It's currently my daily, but as soon as warranties run out and a second vehicle pops up in my driveway it's getting a light street rally spec set of mods. I've chosen polyurethane motor mounts, front strut tower bar, LSD, as well as plans for swapping the CX5 AWD subframe into the 3. I need it to be able to handle off road situations and I frequently take the car at very high speeds on the highway, as well as back roads. They're surprisingly inexpensive wrecks and the engines themselves are surprisingly well balanced and powerful.Build budget will be about $20k over the course of 5 years.
Mazda's Touring Car Racing version of the Mazda 3 hatchback was developed by Long Road Racing for TCR competition. Mazda hasn't announced pricing yet, but the car will make its race debut in January. Brands like Audi, Honda, Hyundai, and Volkswagen have been some of the most relevant Touring Car Racing (TCR) brands since the series' inaugural season in 2015. Now, finally, Mazda has joined the club with a new customer race car based on the Mazda 3 hatchback. Compared with the standard Mazda 3 hatchback, the Mazda 3 TCR features enlarged fenders, an aggressive aero package with a massive rear wing, a slightly lowered stance, and it sits on Volk Racing wheels.
In fact, our 2.5 Turbo sedan cracked off a 5.6-second zero-to-60-mph time, 0.2 seconds quicker than we could manage with the 263-horsepower Mazdaspeed 3 we tested back in 2006. The 2.5 Turbo has a much more grownup mien, both in its overall presentation and the way it drives. If you're looking for visual cues to signify the turbocharged Mazda 3's power, the 2.5 Turbo has slightly larger tailpipes than the naturally aspirated version. The 3 2.5 Turbo wants to be an Audi but not an S3. The way the 3 2.5 Turbo drives belies its $33,395 starting price.
What does it take to move a car in SCCA Rallycross from Stock to Prepared? Just follow along with forum user gszczyrbak’s 2004 Mazda3 project car. And yes, there’s a little more to it than mounting a set of dirt-gripping tires. Check out the entire build at the "RallyX MZ3" thread in the Builds and Project Cars forumJoin Free Join Free Join our community to easily find more Mazda 3 and Your Projects news. More like thisCommentsYou'll need to log in to post.
Lol[/quote]idk what your talking about[quote author=RexSeven link=topic=187421.msg3957873#msg3957873 date=1299707731]Definitely get an upgraded metal skid plate before you go rally-xing. The stock skid plate is notoriously flimsy. If you decide to graduate to stage rally, you will need a skid plate that is at least 3/16" thick and that does not have any access holes. Currently, no one makes an off-the-shelf 3/16" skid plate for the 3, so you will need to have a custom part made by a racing shop (preferably one with rally experience).If you've never attended a stage rally, I would suggest volunteering to be a worker. I volunteered at last year's New England Forest Rally and it was a blast!
I had a chance to attend the aptly named Sno-Drift Rally the on Jan 28th and 29th in Michigan. Thayer Mazda supplied the green light car for the for Rally America to use. Thayer took a 2011 Mazdaspeed 3 which is sponsored by CorkSport and Mazda and built it from the ground up. The Mazdaspeed 3 is equipped with the CorkSport Mazdaspeed 3 SRI, CorkSport SRI Airbox w/ Carbon Lid, CorkSport 80mm Catback Exhaust, CorkSport Skid Plate, CorkSport Urethane Exhaust Hangars, and CorkSport Motor Mount Inserts. I would like to give a big thanks to Thayer Mazda for bringing a massive tent with power to the super special stage.
