[Zeffer]

Hello everyone! I picked up the car this past Monday, on the 22nd.

Modifications:

Interior:
-JDM AutoExe Shift Knob
-JDM Kenstyle Steering Wheel, with matching paddles
-JDM Mazda Overhead Console LED Unit
-Modified OEM infotainment system
-Black wood grain hydrodipped pieces
-Full interior LEDs
-Full six-point sound system w/ two 12" subs

Exterior:
-JDM RE-Amemiya Blue Tinted Mirrors
-MV-Tuning Kit, eyelids, diffuser
-Morimoto XB LED fogs
-30% tint and windshield strip
-Gloss-black vinyl-wrapped roof
-Custom third tail light lettering
-Appropriate LED exterior lighting
-Debadged rear emblems
-Front fenders rolled and pulled
-OEM accessories

Underhood:
-JDM AutoExe Hood Shocks, vinyl wrapped blue
-Corksport GEN2 Polyurethane LMM and Exhaust Hangers
-Hydrodipped plastics and pieces, and other engine dressup
-Quad Hella Sharptones
-Tanabe Medallion Touring Axle-back Exhaust

Suspension:
-JDM AutoExe F/R Strut Braces, powdercoated blue
-JDM AutoExe Adjustable Front and Rear End Links
-JDM Beatrush Front and Rear Member Support Bars
-D2Racing Air Struts w/ AirLift V2 management
-Corksport Big Brake Kit
-Corksport Rear Sway Bar
-James Barone Racing Front Sway Bar
-Ultra Racing Middle Brace

Wheels and tires:
-TSW Bathurst in Silver, 19x8.0 ET35
-Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 225/45R19

Awards:
-Best in Class Mazda - Lights Out 2 2016
-Top 20 - MMJax 2016
-Best in Class Mazda - Gainesville Import Faceoff 2017
-Best in Show Sound - Hastings Boulevard 2017
-Top 25 - Kruisin 4 Kids 2017
-Top 20 - Pistons for Paws 2017
-Best Stance - Illicit Stance 2017
-Best Import - 2nd Annual HVMF Show 2017
-1st Place Import - Lukas Strong Car Show 2017
-Judge's Choice - Rev it Up 2017
-Best in Class Mazda - Lights Out 3 2017
-Honorable Mention (Top 10) - 3rd Annual Autobahn Speedway Show 2017
-Best in Class Mazda - OIAC 2nd Apraxia Show 2017
-Best Import - Hair & Body Mechanix Car Show 2017
-Top 20 - Hilliard High 1st Annual Car Show 2017
-Judge's Choice - 2017 Bozard Q4 Car Show 2017
-Top 20 - 7th Annual Relay for Life Car Show 2017
-6 of the Month - forum.mazda6club.com (x2)

 

[Zeffer]

Repository of Cool Shit in this Thread

Every link here will take you to a post or discussion with valuable information. These will help you weed through conversations, trophy posts, and other thread fluff. Everything is in chronological order.

H&R lowering spring install results with photos.
Rear deck dynamat, seatbelt retractor, and related information.
Tanabe Medallion Touring Axleback Exhaust install and thoughts, with photos.
Modification regrets after ten months of ownership.
Third brake light Kanji vinyl download and install notes, with link to manual.
HID lighting and information.
Driver's door removal and vibration healing information.
Notes on drag racing from BrianU.
Quarter mile time slips.
Air ride install pics.
Things for sale!

 

[GerryB]

Welcome aboard. Looooove blue.

Sent from the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[Zeffer]

Thanks GerryB! It was this or black, and the black is much more of a commitment to keep nice.

2-29-16 Update:
To note, while the cap fits great without the engine cover, some trimming and/or force is necessary due to the rubber in the engine cover hole.

Street Unit Oil Cap:

 

[Byakuya]

Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on your purchase, looks nice so far.

Yay, someone else painted their engine cover like I did.

 

[Zeffer]

Thanks Byakuya! I hadn't seen your engine cover before, so I apologize for biting. But I knew I wanted some blue but not too much blue. Wait until you see what I do to the cover next to the battery

 

[Byakuya]

Thanks Byakuya! I hadn't seen your engine cover before, so I apologize for biting. But I knew I wanted some blue but not too much blue. Wait until you see what I do to the cover next to the battery

No worries - I'm generally happy that someone else likes what I thought looked good. That was one of the first "mods" I did to the car.

Yeah the engine bay needs a little bit more splash of color, but I can't decide what I want to do yet (and haven't had the time). Good luck and be sure to post pictures.

 

[Zeffer]

Underhood lights, interior lights, and audio install completed!

 

[Donkey Grundle]

Here's another touch of blue for your engine bay yo

Shock Absorber Screw Metal Cap Fit For Mazda Mazda 2 3 5 6 CX 5 CX 7 CX 9 Atenza Mitsubishi Lancer EX Mitsubishi ASX outlander-in Stickers from Automobiles & Motorcycles on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[Zeffer]

4-4-2016 Update:

I know it's been a while, but I've been fairly busy. H&R Springs were installed, along with the Corksport FSTB.

Here's the drop after two weeks with the springs in, and alignment. Be mindful that the subs make the rear sag a little bit.

Here are the fender gaps post alignment.

 

[JC79G35]

I love that color, reminds me of my G35's twilight blue.

 

[Zeffer]

It's really a gorgeous color, and lucky for me lots of the aftermarket have blue alternatives! If I'd've went with the soul red I'd be broke due to wanting to color scheme AutoExe into everything.

 

[Zeffer]

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last month and a half. I've had some parts laying around the house waiting for install, but no sense jacking the car up multiple times or wasting time RnR'ing things. I'm currently waiting on another shipment of parts, so hopefully I'll have something about the car to post up!

For those who have kept up on the mods so far, car's been great. The HnR springs, stiffest corksport RSB, and the corksport FSTB have made for an improvement in handling. Recall that I have two 12" DD subs and a fully dynamat'd trunk, so the ass end is a little heavy. Either way, handling is nice but not where I want it to be. The front could be a little tighter, so I'm looking into further reinforcements in that region. The tires are the stock dunlops, so I'm stuck on economy traction until they wear down.

I swear, sport mode really makes a difference. Butt dyno tells me my pulls in sport mode are always faster than similar shifts when flooring it in drive, and shifting on my own. Curious if anyone else has seen similar.

 

[Zeffer]

Over the past weekend and week I worked on laying down dynamat completely under the rear package assembly (parcel shelf, rear deck, etc). Huge improvement in sound quality from the subs themselves, and definitely helps with the rear deck itself falling apart. It's glued onto brackets that slide into pins, and that glue separates after enough bass. Else it clips in. Super easy to do, and really only requires a tape-wrapped screwdriver, and a 14mm socket to take off the seatbelt mounts up top.

Pro tip: if your seatbelts get stuck retracted, pull them vertically up to 12:00ish. Go slow, wiggle around, and they'll come loose. It's the only angle they'll really loosen.

As far as the dynamat job itself, I picked up material that both insulates sound and dampens. If you buy some, make sure it does what you need as they have a few different styles.

Elsewhere I completed the wiring for my custom third brake light, and did a cheap-o third brake light delete. With how tinted the window is, I'm not worried anyone's gonna see my black sheet of felt covering the dynamat hole in the rear deck. Saturday I should be able to get plenty done, so there should be some cool updates coming along soon.

 

[Zeffer]

Time for some updates!

Spent all day yesterday working on the car. Started with just getting it jacked up, wheels off, and helping my girlfriend learn more at her request. From there, I did the urethane injections in the back of the front control arm bushings, guided along by one of the threads on here.

This wasn't at all hard to do. I did take the wheels off, but that was part of another project to be touched on later. This is what I used to get the job done. Not too messy, not too bad. Cured completely in about nine hours for me in Florida heat.

Next up, was the rear Beatrush brace and Tanabe Medallion axle-back. Also both super easy installs. Car was in the air, unbolted the stock exhaust easy. WD-40'd the hangers, slipped a flathead in, and pried the hangers off. Easiest way I found to do it. Dropped old exhaust down, and installed the bar.

Didn't have to wrestle it on at all. When the two nuts are removed the subframe sags, but no need to fear. Not the end of the world, and if you're unsure, you can jack up one side of the subframe at a time. Easy.

After the subframe, it was time for the exhaust. No fitment issues, perfectly lined up, even tips, hangs right, and no contact with the bar. Very impressed with the product. Nice rumble that I can hear through the house on startup (when it sits itself at 1500 rpms). Driving down the road I don't hear it drone at all from 0-2500 rpm, but I also have a fully dynamat'd trunk and rear deck. It does have a tone that you can sense is backing up the K&N SRI tone. My dad was standing behind me as I took off down the street and said it sounded excellent. No rasp, no tin can sound, just a nice, subtle growl. Visually it looks incredible, and really helps bring out the rear end of the car.

Elsewhere I installed LED turn signals, but the front driver's side still hyperblinks with properly installed resistors on all four corners. Strange, but calling Diode Dynamics Tuesday to have them help sort it out, as it's all their product. So right now it's only LEDs in the back, which is really a shame as the fronts were going to look stellar.

Beyond all that, I did a little cleanup around the vehicle. Removed the black plastic housings around the trunk arms, so if anyone wants to cop a pair of arms for their car if it didn't come with any, let me know. Cleaned up some engine bay nonsense, organized receipts, and finished dynamat'ing my Weathertech covers. Reasoning there is that people don't feel the car vibrate under their feet as bad, especially in the rear, and it probably helps with road noise. Can't tell though, with two 12's beatin' down the block. :grin2:

 

[Donkey Grundle]

Big day! The Tanabe exhaust really is that quiet when cruising. Even with the OE intake, the engine noise drowns it out on the highway.

Definitely post your results with the front turn signals. I have been fighting with them for a year now and can't find a setup that works. No amount of resistors has made a difference.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[GerryB]

The JDMtoy signal bulbs with the "corrector boxes" have worked flawlessly on my 3 since installation. All plug and play and foolproof.

Sent from the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[Donkey Grundle]

The JDMtoy signal bulbs with the "corrector boxes" have worked flawlessly on my 3 since installation. All plug and play and foolproof.

Sent from the wrong side of the tracks.

Link?

 

[GerryB]

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/No-Hyper-Flash-7440-LED-Turn-Signal-Light-Bulbs-p/20-001.htm

Sent from the wrong side of the tracks.

 

[Zeffer]

Actually ended up getting in touch with DD about the lights. Their theory is similar to my dad's: not enough resistance on that circuit, so they suggested another resistor in parallel. Going to try that soon and see what happens. Nice link on the JDMToy stuff, by the way. Might have to try it if this doesn't work.