ETS 3.25" impressions

[red07]

Got that ETS installed the past weekend.

For all you guys that are considering this as an upgrade, mechanically it's like 2.5-3 out of 10. I'm pretty much a noob, and got it done by myself in under 2 hours.

A couple of hints for installation: get some cardboard and cover both sides of the ETS before you install, that way it's protected from bumps, tools, and plain bad luck. I would use those same pieces to cover up the stocker TMIC as well, for storage, and tape up the hot/cold side ports. I would also consider doing any intake mods at the same time, and if you're looking to upgrade the driver side trans mount, do that too, since you'll be in the same general area as the TMIC. I would lastly check ALL of your clamps. Mine were tight, but I was lucky, there are some stories floating around of guys w/ weird underboosting, stutter, knock retard etc etc because their clamps weren't tight.

If people want an install writeup, I can do one, but sorry no pics, didn't want to grease up my camera.

Driving: well, I crudely datalogged, and the ETS definitely takes longer to heatsoak. However, heatsoak it does.

Once you get driving though, the boost air temps drop dramatically, and in a hurry, only a couple of seconds to lose 25+ degrees of BAT. The stocker doesn't cool off as much. The drop is even more dramatic at full throttle.

AFR's seem stable: 14.7 at idle, 11/12's at full throttle. LTFT's are steady for me, in the 8 range.

I recommend this, especially for guys that are starting to fully bolt up.

[Addikted To Boost]

sweet i have been eyeballin one of the polished ones on SU but i think they are on backorder... dammit

[bova]

odd you had to take the battery out, but yeah i felt the same about mine.

[red07]

In retrospect I didn't have to, but I wanted a bit more room to get at the boost tube clamps. I also checked and tightened all the clamps as a precaution, so I pulled it.

I had better go edit my first post, now that I think about this more.

[bnoon]

Damn dude, under 2 hour install??? Were you not able to reach the bolts on the clamps or what? I installed a used ETS before I built my air/water setup and it's a 20-30 minute job at most to swap out to another TMIC. Where did you spend most of your time??? I'm not trying to make fun, I'm genuinely shocked...

[red07]

I know that's damned slow, but at least I'm honest. I was moving slow, and due to this being my first turbocar, I was paranoid about missing steps, so I took care to pull everything off and organize them along the garage wall in order of removal. I also spent time putting away the stocker TMIC, locktited all the bolts, cleaned hardware, looking for sockets, etc. At a guess, total time from walking out to washing hands was 1.5 hours, which is <2.

Wait till I try the sway bars, that ought to be a 2-month job based on my (lack of ) skills!

[gsrtype1]

yeah its a good tmic! you loose less boost vs stock too...

[red07]

Oh nuts, you just reminded me of datalogging boost on stocker vs ETS...

Seems to me that I gained ~1# of max boost, which is fine w/ me, the car pulls hard, especially in 3rd/4th.

[Hectik1]

I will say it again.....I NEED ME ONE OF THESE!

Thanks for the impressions.

[red07]

I got lucky timing-wise, John @ PTP had a couple for sale at a very good price new. I believe he's out of them, so I won't post a price, but suffice it to say that it was <$80 shipped over the price of some of the used ones on this board.

If you don't *need* one right now, I believe that SU and Protege garage are both working on upgraded TMIC's. When theirs come out, prices may drop on the ETS and/or people will sell theirs off to get the next latest'n'greatest.

One of my biggest reasons for getting this vs a FMIC is that it will be a lot easier to return to stock for the dealership visits.

[CWPspeed3]

ETS is selling the 3.25" for $499 currently on their website, seems like a pretty good price and way lower than the TRZ one thats coming out, who knows how long that sale will last though.

[red07]

499? That's a good price. The last few used ETS TMIC's were 400-450 IIRC, although in all fairness at least one of them had the powdercoating option.

Is that shipped, or is shipping extra?

[booya620]

I ordered the street unit 3.25 TMIC that's replacing the ETS on their website. It's selling for the old price of the ETS, but I also got the 7% thanksgiving discount. I'm hoping that it will be a quality piece and live up to what I've seen from the company so far.

[CWPspeed3]

Originally Posted by red07 499? That's a good price. The last few used ETS TMIC's were 400-450 IIRC, although in all fairness at least one of them had the powdercoating option. Is that shipped, or is shipping extra?

Sorry, that must have only been a black friday price only its back up to $595 on their website.

[red07]

Ah, well, sorry to hear that for all of you still looking to get this.

[desperado callado]

What are your other mods?

[red07]

ETS, MSCAI run as a shorty, AP flash V103B stage 1 + MSCAI, RPMC turbo inlet, TRZ motor mount.

[LBV]

... just a heads-up for ya: Leaking Intercooler at Cold Pipe - Mazda6 / Atenza

[tbone]

how does it ride?

[red07]

LBV, I'll have to keep an eye out for that. So far I think it's fine. I did a visual check before install, to make sure I didn't see any pinholes or incomplete welds, and it looked good there. The welds aren't the best, but then again they covered all the seams, so good enough for me. Keeping an eye on the boost shows me steady #'s during idle/cruise, and appropriate boost #'s during WOT.

How does it ride? Very well, no fuel cut so far. The coldest I've done a hard run so far was @ 48 degrees in 3rd gear, no cut of any sort, the car pulled hard all the way to 5800, when I ran out of room. Keep in mind I'm running my MSCAI as a shorty, so the underhood temps may very well be keeping the air from being too dense due to the cold.

The total combo of my mods gives me boost as low as ~2600-2700 RPM's, although I'm never foot-to-the-floor below 3000, I "squeeze" into the throttle as opposed to violently mashing it straight down. So far max boost I've seen is 17.2 around 4000RPM's. No weird boost spikes (yet).

I have to download that datalogging upgrade on my AcessPort and get some hard #'s: boost, AFR, knock retard, boost air temp, fuel pressure.