My brother's car.

My brother purchased a 2004 Mazda 3s earlier this year. He loves it. I have driven it, and it is quite a nice little car, particularly for the price. I would be hard-pressed to pick a different car in that price range. This is actually about a couple aftermarket items that interest me.

First, AEM offers a cold air intake (CAI) for his car now. This component adds 5.5 peak whp and 6.6 wheel lb-ft of torque. The largest gains for it are 6.5 whp (at 4700 rpms) and 10.1 wheel lb-ft of torque (at 1500 rpms). That last number would make the car a lot more tractable and easy to drive around town--negating the need to shift as often and keep it in the upper rev range. FYI, these numbers translate to 166 flywheel horsepower (up from 160 stock) and 157 flywheel lb-ft of torque (up from 150 stock). Not a bad little bolt-on for $215 (plus S&H).

Second would be a wheel and tire package. As you will come to know, I would like to put SSR Competitions (wheels) on every car that they will fit. But, believe it or not, I actually looked at a "value" wheel for his car. The Kazera KZ-Us are pretty new to the wheel market. The size I looked at (18X7) weigh only 18.5 lbs, and are amazingly cheap--only $149 per wheel. I added Pirelli PZero Assimetricos (all four corners) to these wheels in 215/45 size, and came up with a wheel and tire package for only $1400. I added H&R springs for $200, bringing the total to less than $1700 (including taxes and shipping). I really think the wheels, tires, and springs would improve the performance of the Mazda 3 a great deal. I would probably prefer some Eibach Pro-Kit (springs) instead of the H&Rs, but as of yet, Eibach has not come out with a set for my brother's car. That is actually a recurring issue for the Mazda 3. It is new enough to the market that the aftermarket manufacturers are still working on parts for it. In particular I am interested in anti-roll bars for this car, which the aftermarket has not provided yet. Just for reference sake, the 18" SSRs would weigh only 16.3 lbs. Granted the reduction in unsprung weight would be nice (the 2.2 lbs per wheel difference translates into the equivalent of taking over 60 pounds off the car itself (which equals a better power to weight ratio)), however, I am not sure that I could justify (strike that--I am not sure that MY BROTHER would justify) spending nearly three times as much for the rims.

Well there you have it. For right around $2000 you could add a little power (including a significant amount of low-end torque), and significantly improve the handling of an already stellar little car.