Modifications for a V6 Astina

[Ball_08]

Hi all

This is my first post on this forum and im sure some of the questions im about to ask have been asked (and answered) before. Please bare with me.

For starters i do not own an Astina, however my girlfriend does (a red 1995 BA V6 323 Astina hatch - 110,000 km). As im a bit more technically minded than her, she has asked if i can find out about a few future mods for her zoom zoom.

Mods. to date (over the last 12 months):
- Cat. back exhaust - 2.25" pipe, resonator about a foot back from the cat, 1 in 2 out sports muffler ending with 2 oval tips (one each side).
- Falken ST-115 tyres (205/50/16) on the stock mags.
- Cruise control.
- Full suspension upgrade as specified in Hot 4s #39. All Whiteline gear supplied and fitted by Chris at Inline Suspension (Quenbeyan). Included front and rear shocks, front and rear springs - lowered the car 40mm, front and rear camber kits, rear sway bar, front and rear H/D swaybar links and bushes.

Now as most of you guys would know the car handles like a dream and grips like glue, even if the ride is a little firm. It also possesses a nice unique exhaust note.

Now basically my question is where to from here?? My girlfriend complains that the car seems to be lagging a little and, even though the V6 is reknown to be a little sluggish off the mark, rekons that its not running as smooth or as quick as when she first bought the car. The car seems to misfire a little (more so when the engine is cold) and i believe new leads will fix this - however will this improve the performance?
Also, airfilters - what can be done here? and will oiled filters have any negative effects on the Airflow sensor/meter?...what brands are good??
I have read a few of the threads on this forum and they mention advancing the timing? is this an option and how many degrees?? (do note that the car is run on PULP 100% of the time)
Basically, in a nutshell, were looking for mods that dont require engine or turbo conversions (as much as she would love to add the turbo) that will provide some improvment on the way the car performs at present.

Also can anyone recommend a good service mechanic in the ACT for this model vehicle (as we have had the dick with the Mazda dealer!!!). We are considering John at Reliance Automotive as he has helped us out before and seems to have a good knowledge of Mazda's in general...are there any others?

Your advice and information is much appreciated.

Thanks

Ball_08

[BigMal]

Hey Ball_08 welcome to the board.
A K&N panel filer into the stock airbox with the resonator that feeds into the
bottom removed and replaced with some piping going round to the front
guard. Jynx may have a modified airbox bottom and piping for sale worth
an ask. Only advance the timing 2-4 degree's from base timing on 10 using
a timing light and if you hear any light clunking noises when accelerating
back it off a bit. The leads wont be a performance increase but the old ones
may be not passing on all the charge to the spark plugs so a new set will
bring it back to where it was meant to be.

Hope this helps

Regards

Mal
p.s That Astina with the ugly spotlights is Mine

[Rupewrecht]

some things to try:

• a K&N filter panel filter. i dont think anyone has had any problem with an oiled filter - it's only if it is over-oiled that problems start.
• a rising-rate fuel pressure regulator. makes *quite* a difference to a V6, but your fuel bill will go up accordingly (check out out the thread at the top of this section)
• some cold-air induction piping, and removal of the resonator in the passenger side guard. the resonator serves no useful purpose - it draws air from the engine bay! CAI is hard to do on a V6 as you'd normally direct it to where the driving lights sit...
• use 98RON petrol
• reset the ECU to take into account the new mods
• increase the timing

thats all i can think of offhand!

[ABC]

CAI and K&N Panel Filter.
http://www.astinagt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1693
Though the pictures don't seem to be working for some reason.

I actually have all the bits for a second CAI if you want them (Tony doesn't need them any more :wink: )

Absolutely must have an AstinaGT.com sticker on it somewhere as well. That's a huge performance boost right there! :mrgreen:

Changing the timing on the V6 I've been told is not going to do anything. You can move the dizzy around willy-nilly (I've done it) and it doesn't make squat of difference because the timing is all computer controlled by the ECU.
There are some companies out there that make piggy-back chips for the ECU which is supposed to add around 13-15kW but they're pretty exxy and you'd need a CAI and filter to get the maximum benefit anyway.

oh... welcome to the forum!!! Any pics of the car?

[Pernod]

I'm sure some of the guys here can offer some great help, but to get the ball rolling...

I have done a cold air intake (CAI) and a K&N oiled filter on my 4cyl and I love it!

There were no problems with the air flow meter (Just disconnect your battery and sit with your foot on the brake for 15-30 sec to discharge the circuits to reset the onboard computer when you make the change - it will reset the computer which tracks the settings).

You may also find a slight change in your exhaust note :-)

Not sure on timing (made the call not to do it as NZ's petrol is dodgy at the best of times - not nearly as consistant as yours!

[Ball_08]

Wow...Thanks heaps for the quick response and info guys. My girlfriend will be wrapped to hear about the mods.

ABC - I may take you up on the CAI offer. Also i may need some 'how to' hints on how to get the stock air intake out...maybe we could meet for a chat at some stage (as I note that you too are in the ACT)?

Ball_08

[Cosmo Dude]

Welcome to AGT ball 08, we are having a dyno day/national get together in Canberra on Q/B weekend. Hope you the GF and 'stina can come along.

[ABC]

No worries Ball_08, I have to clean out my garage to move anyway so consider it yours!
Link to some pics showing piping

The drain piping in the third photo is what I currently have on my car and it works a treat

KittyKatSmack, aaron, JJ024, myself, sometimes Lantis and our respective partners often do a Tight Ass Tuesday meal somewhere in Civic (often City Club) so we'll give you a pm when its next on if you like.

Q/B long weekend would be a great opportunity for you to come and say hi to the whole gang and show off the 'stina 8) Check out the Dyno Day thread in the Cruises page.

[Ball_08]

First things first...we'll need one of those Astina GT stickers...i hope they'll be available at the dyno day? (otherwise please let me know how i can get one).

The Q/B long weekend dyno day/national sounds like a good induction for us. It will also give us an opprotunity to put faces and names to many of the 'nice' Astinas we see around town. We'll see you there!!!

ABC - Hold onto the CAI piping for us and bring it to the dyno day (if you'll be there?). Save the 'how to' fitting run down til then too. Also the Tuesday $$$ saver outings sound good...definately keep us posted.

Ive just purchased a new digital camera so i'll get some pics and post a link to them asap. (as I have to do the same on another forum for my Liberty too).

Thanks heaps for the welcome and info and we'll be sure to see you at the dyno day

Ball_08 (Matt and Simone)

[red-zoom-zoom]

OK, for want of a better place to put this.........

As some of you may be aware (especially after talking to folks who attended the Dyno Day in Canberra in June) I've been experiencing some performance problems with my BA V6.

I'd been having it serviced at an authorised Mazda dealer but aftre much frustration switched to Reliance Automotive - mazda performance specialists. On a routine oil and filter change I told them about the lack of get up and go. They picked the problem up - something I had pointed out to the Mazda dealer some time ago and had asked for them to fix. The broken bit was part of the vacuum system which I believe was part of the system that operates the throttle (all a bit beyond my technical capabilities). Needless to say I was not impressed, so I worte to the GM of the Mazda dealership and copied it to the Customer Service Manager, Mazda Australia.

Cutting a long story short. I now have had all of the vacuum components that sit behind the manifold replaced and a full set of leads (they did try to replace just one - couldn't believe it) free of charge. In addition after the dealership had it I've founf the PCV valve just hanging about not really connected to anything well. So last Monday I bought myself a new grommet for the PCV and its now connected properly.

And now my baby is running like a super smooth rocket again! JUST LOVE IT. Running like it was meant to be - just a pity she had to suffer through poor servicing. My car will never go back to that Mazda dealership again - Reliance Automotive will look after her from now on. It would be interesting to take it back across the dyno again.

I'm glad I have some understanding of how my car works and performs or it might never have been fixed. When those Mazda guys thought they might get away with fobbing me off as a 'dumb woman' they picked on the wrong bunny!

Now, I just have to catch up with Andy about the CAI!

[Oracle_SOD]

i dont know much about the K series engins but just wondering, would it be possible to strap the supercharger and intake stuff from the eunos 800 engine onto the V6 ? even if u ran lower boost ?

just and idea anyways

[Cosmo Dude]

Originally Posted by Oracle_SOD

i dont know much about the K series engins but just wondering, would it be possible to strap the supercharger and intake stuff from the eunos 800 engine onto the V6 ? even if u ran lower boost ?

just and idea anyways

I don't realy know the exact measurements but if you were to put an Mx-6 2.5 litre engine in place of the 2.0 then you need to retain the Astina intake manifold or put a bulge in the hood. As for the height of the 2.3 miller, I don't know.

[ABC]

Woopsie! Been meaning to get onto that ops:

I'm up in Thursday island at the moment but I'll drop you a line about the CAI when I get back in a few days. 8)

[Aaron]

Yeah ABC and his tough jet setting lifestyle

*laughs* The 2.5L conversion is pretty much a bolt in as far as conversions go. A stack more toque and a bit more power....

There there's 'tweaking' all the US Ford Probe parts to fit, etc etc etc

A.

[skippy]

Where is Sydney do you people get services, etc?
I live in north shore/hills area and need my first service after purchase and I want to go to someone who has serviced the same cars before,

I have 96 V6 Hardtop,

Also Big Mal not sure if I understood but are you saying I will need to make Mods to fit a panel air filter I thought their advantage was you chuck the bastard in and she be done??????

Been looking at that Spitfire Package = Leads + sparkies and Air Filter (Pod), has anyone
A. Installed one?
B. Seen one for the V6?

Please help the technically challenged.
Well maybe not technically, terminogically challeneged, yeah thats the one,

[Rupewrecht]

Originally Posted by skippy

Also Big Mal not sure if I understood but are you saying I will need to make Mods to fit a panel air filter I thought their advantage was you chuck the bastard in and she be done??????

About time you joined up

the panel filter will drop straight in, Mal meant that with a bit of ducting from your front bar to the bottom of the airbox (after removal of the white resonator in your left guard) you wiill notice a greater difference in performance as compared to just putting the panel filter in.

cheers
Dan

[skippy]

Been Busy getting caught in hail storms and such, :evil:

not to bad but over excess amount
not what your looking for on week three of ownership.

now on to happier topics,
Ah cool, was hoping there was nothing to it, K and N the best brand?

Am I right in thinking that the last photo of three sorts of piping is,
From Left to Right,

Cheap custom Option, Factory option (standard) and the little harder probably best option?

Is that right?

Has anyone written a how to on this?

[skippy]

Found the how to on this twas all hidden away on the front page,
Dunno how I missed it,