2010 Mazda 3 MPS

[Dino]

After deciding last year that I wanted to keep the prelude as a weekend toy and to maintain the bodywork by keeping garaged over winter, I was now on the look-out for a daily driver.

Requirements were that it needed to be a 5 seater (with a three point rear seatbelt) and would be able to comfortably seat the miles and be bit of a hoot to drive.

I ideally wanted a 2008-2010 Focus ST3 with the 5 cylinder lump that had been lightly modified.

However after lots of searching, the right car I wanted never turned up.

Then I looked at the newer shape Focus ST and I found a 2012 one in white. I had a test drive and pretty much fell in love with it.

The day I went to buy it, the garage had sold it in the morning (Gutted)

So I had the funds and no car to drive.

However after searching a bit over the next couple of days, a car I hadn’t considered popped onto my radar. A facelift Mazda 3 MPS. 256Bhp 280lbft torque and all the other boxes ticked, it looked like a good option.

I was looking for a red one with black wheels. The nearest one I wanted was over 200 miles away.

Then by chance a black one turned up almost on my doorstep. Not my first choice, but after reading the advert and seeing its location, was too good an opportunity to pass-up.

This was a Black 2010 Faclift, with 28K miles, Full Mazda service history and a few subtle mods.
Original Advert Pics:






I had a look at the car and she was in very good condition interior and exterior.
The alloys were unmarked, but the car was fitted with mismatched tyres,
I went for a drive and just loved the way the car drove. Plenty of torque, felt really tight, covered ground pretty rapidly, cornered well and was comfortable.
Standard Spec from factory is pretty impressive:
But my favourite bit is the factory BOSE sound system with the Subwoofer in the boot
It also comes with an LSD as standard

The low mileage was due to the fact that the car was from Gurnsey (a very small island) that only has a 30mph speed limit, so knew the car was in good condition and had been looked after.
The car was imported to mainland UK in the MAY and took the 3 months to get registered, hence coming for sale when it did.
I decided then to buy the car and put a deposit down.
The garage agreed to sort a few chips, and I agreed to pick the car up the following week.

[Dino]

So I bought the car, got it home and gave it a full detail.



Next she needed a service, and did the Oil, Plugs, cleaned the air filter, new panel filter and oil filter




While working around the car, I found a few additional bits that weren’t listed in the sale add.
Eibach Lowering springs and a Forge Re-circ valve

I did notice that one of the boost pipes fom the re-circ was starting to split, so went and bought a silicon upgrade by ‘SURE’.
So the car came with the following upgrades:
Corksport Cat-back exhaust
Cork Sport Intake
Corksport Turbo-inlet pipe
Forge Re-circ valve
And Eibach Lowering springs
As the car was not mapped, I know that Turbo motors require mapping to make sure that everything runs smoothly and safely.
After a little research I went and bought a Mazda Specific COBB V3 hand unit.
https://www.cobbtuning.com/products/maz ... p3-maz-002


This plugs into the ECU, reads codes, data logs, resets the ECU has access to off the shelf maps for cars with specific modifications and is also used to flash maps onto the ECU
After I took delivery of the COBB unit I uploaded an off the shelf map to match the mods I had on the car.
The Mazdas run a low pressure fuel pump and a High pressure fuel pump.

If the car is modified, one of the first mods recommended is a High Pressure fuel pump upgrade.
So an Autotech HPFP fuel pump upgrade was purchased and the pump internals switched over by PerformanceAutoworks.


The car was now running safely, so I thought I’d go for a Dyno run, to see how she was performing.
I took the car to circuit motors in Castle Combe and got a dyno printout.
Result was 259 whp & 283 ftlb flywheel torque

Pretty good seeing as she had basic breathing mods and an Off-the-shelf map.
While data logging (using the COBB unit) on the dyno, my Long-term-fuel-trim values were off a bit.
After talking to the dyno tuner, he said this was due to me using a generic map and advised getting the car mapped specifically.
Through the MPS owners club, I was pointed to a guy named Justin who specialises in mapping mazdas.
I needed to purchase additional software and had to take a mapping course before the software is released. The software is specific to the serial number on the COBB unit I had purchased.
Justin wanted to know what engine mods on the car, and I had to record a range of logs for different driving.
1) Generic driving for 5 mins.
2) 4th gear pulls from 2000rpm to 6000rpm
3) & Idling
Each range of log data would be sent to Justin, he would then send me a revised map and I would flash the ECU with this. This was done for about 10 maps/logs and the result is now a pretty cheeky motor that puts a massive smile on my face. 268whp & 303 wheel torque

I even get an average of 34mpg!!!!! and on the motorway Ive seen 41mpg average:P

One of the things I like about the car is that you dont see many on the road and its not too in your face with its looks.

I think it surprises a lot of cars when coming off roundabouts, in-gear acceleration on motorways.

Having owned the car now for 9 moths, she has been absolutely faultless, has passed her 1st MOT easily and puts a smile on my face everytime i drive her....

I Love my Spazda!!!

[toadster]

Lo
Great buy matey
Looks in super condition too
Enjoy
Toadster

[nitin_s1]

Nice one Dino looks evil in black

[tom023]

Looks awesome! sweet dyno tuning!

[sol-lude]

I do like the rear end *ahem*
in all seriousness it looks mean from the rear and as you say not in your face. Do have a small soft spot for these.

[wurlycorner]

Mazda > Ford

[Dino]

Funny thing is it should read Mazda= Ford.
Mazda and focus share a lot of similar suspension and brake components.
Also, the latest Focus RS uses the mazda 2.3 Turbo lump

[wurlycorner]

I know, but still...
Mazda > Ford

(key thing being it's not built in Ford factories)

[norks27]

(key thing being it's not built in Ford factories)

Definitely.

Nice buy Dino, quite some power on offer there, nice