Treadstone Tr8 / CxRacing Piping FMIC Review (Gen 1 Speed 3)

[joshshebroe]

Since I did a ton of forum searching and reading before choosing the right FMIC setup, I would just like to add my personal experience to help others who are unsure of the FMIC setup they might want.

I went ahead and bought the following products through https://www.therpmstore.com/

CX Racing FMIC Piping (customized by RPM) for Mazdaspeed 3 #KIT-RPM-MAZDA3 - Revolution Performance Motorsports!
Treadstone TR8 Intercooler #TR8 - Revolution Performance Motorsports!
JBR Treadstone TR8 Intercooler Mounting Brackets for Gen1 Mazdaspeed 3 #TR8-MBRACKET-0709 - Revolution Performance Motorsports!
JBR DISI Bypass Valve Return Hose for Mazdaspeed 3 / 6 #MS3/6-BPV-HOSE - Revolution Performance Motorsports!

Install:
To start, if you have any type of knowledge about what your doing to your car, the installation should not be any type of problem to you. I did print out instructions through JBR's webiste in its support section, but I honestly didnt look at them once, waste of paper. The fit of everything is very tight. The hot pipe heading down the front of the car does take some time to fit the right way. A good portion of my install had been in the bending of the AC line. The more time you spend on this repositioning this, the more room you will open up for the hot pipe to fit in its correct place. Inserting the piping system throughout the car is the easiest part of the whole installation. Just remember to keep fully tighten all the clamps all at once and not just as you go. The installation of the intercooler core itself is very easy as well. I totally reccomend another set of hands to hold up one side of the intercooler as you position the other the right way. This can be done by yourself but I reccommend another person to help out on this part. The power steering lines also did take some time to wrestle around the front of the car. Be gentle and take your time here. This install was easier than a HPFP intall in my opinion. Dont have any fear of fucking up on this install, its pretty much impossible if you have mazdapseed knowledge.

Shipping and quality of parts:
All products that I recieved were in prestine condition, except the intercooler core. There was a small ding on the edge of it but it didnt matter as I faced that side towards the car. The items were shipped the right way and I was glad to see that these parts werent just thrown into a cardboard box and driven 2000 miles to my front door.

One major thing!!!!!:
As I ordered the part through https://www.therpmstore.com/ , they actually shipped the intercooler and piping kits directly from Treadstone's and CxRacing's warehouses. As the intercooler shipment had no majr flaws at all, the piping kit in fact did. Included in the kit, one of the slicone couplers was too short of piece. Below I will atatch pictures of what the coupler they included in the shimpent looked like when it was on my car. This location is at the point where the cold pipe meets the pipe that connects to the throttle body.

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So with the coupler being too short, I reached out to https://www.therpmstore.com/ and the customer support team. When I told them the issue I having, they were astonished becuase they explained that they send out theses shipments regualrly without any problems. They were extremly kind and undesrtanding of the situation that I was in. It had been by far the best customer service I've ever recieved in my whole life. They then explained to me that CxRacing shipped their product directly to my door. I then called CxRacing's customer service and they got the whole problem sorted out for me. There must have been a pacakaging error as the coupler that was supossed to be sent was much larger than the coupler I originally recieved. Below is the difference between the originally coupler sent to me and the coupler that was supossed to be sent. They sent me the intended coupler free of charged and they even overnighted it from their headquaters in California to my house in New Jersey.

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Overall Review:
The combination of the Treadstone Tr8 intercooler and CxRacing piping has been around since 2011 or so. I was hesitant in going with the cheaper more mix match approach of a FMIC at first, but after installation and through my experiences, I am very happy i went with this FMIC route instead of a full FMIC kit from one of the major Mazdaspeed comapnies, (Cobb, Ultimate Racing, CP-E). This approach is a great way to save money in efforts to building your Mazdaspeed3. Everything total incuding shipping cost me right around $620. This route saved me a good 3-500 bucks compared to if I bought a full FMIC kit previosly mentioned. Yes, there were a few tiny headaches, but at the end of the day, I'm very pleased with this FMIC steup as a whole. I totally recommend this setup to anybody who is looking to make better numbers out of their speed as this setup is capable of up to 500whp or so.

Shipping: 9 out of 10
Quality: 9 out of 10
Install: 9 out of 10
Service: 10 out of 10
My reccommendation: 9 out of 10

Thanks for reading!