Hi all,
I'm fairly new around here, but I've had my Speed3 for a while.
As she's about to roll over 300k, I wanted to rebuild the car and bring it back to its prime - but I also want to improve things along the way. The car has been OEM, bone-stock, all of its life, so this will be a fresh start.
Those of you have been tinkering with these cars over the years, what are some things you wish you knew about this car, the ownership and maintenance, that may lead to helping others along the way?
I don't necessarily mean things like "install HPFP internals before mods", as this has been very well documented and is fairly well known. I'm more referring to smaller, incremental changes that you've made over the years, perhaps trying out different intakes and noticing distinct differences between them (what made you stick with one vs the other?), seeing the direct effects of having an OCC and how it relates to the carbon build-up in these cars, etc.
I know one could search for things and find them, but if you're new to the platform - or even if you're not - you might not always know what information you're missing out on. Perhaps this thread can act as a wishing well, where one man's penny is another man's treasure. You never know; you might just learn something new.
Cheers everyone, and thank you for your wisdom!
Things I wish I knew....
I'm fairly new around here, but I've had my Speed3 for a while.
As she's about to roll over 300k, I wanted to rebuild the car and bring it back to its prime - but I also want to improve things along the way. The car has been OEM, bone-stock, all of its life, so this will be a fresh start.
Those of you have been tinkering with these cars over the years, what are some things you wish you knew about this car, the ownership and maintenance, that may lead to helping others along the way?
I don't necessarily mean things like "install HPFP internals before mods", as this has been very well documented and is fairly well known. I'm more referring to smaller, incremental changes that you've made over the years, perhaps trying out different intakes and noticing distinct differences between them (what made you stick with one vs the other?), seeing the direct effects of having an OCC and how it relates to the carbon build-up in these cars, etc.
I know one could search for things and find them, but if you're new to the platform - or even if you're not - you might not always know what information you're missing out on. Perhaps this thread can act as a wishing well, where one man's penny is another man's treasure. You never know; you might just learn something new.
Cheers everyone, and thank you for your wisdom!
Things I wish I knew....
- Take better care of your motor, and that K04 will appreciate it. First unit went out under 80k miles. I'm around 228k now and I'm still running the replacement unit without issue. I clean the valves couple of times a year and (with age) have been doing my oil changes a bit more frequently (between 3,000 - 4,000 miles). Haven't had any smoke out the pipe for nearly 200k miles!
- Don't ignore your tranny fluid! I prefer TriboDyn 75W-90, but there are other good options also. I've driven MS3's with similar miles as mine and (perhaps with some degree of bias) I think my tranny shifts a lot nicer, despite the OEM mounts still (somehow) holding the ship intact underneath. So if you've never explored this area of maintenance, I highly recommend it.
- Don't ignore your tranny fluid! I prefer TriboDyn 75W-90, but there are other good options also. I've driven MS3's with similar miles as mine and (perhaps with some degree of bias) I think my tranny shifts a lot nicer, despite the OEM mounts still (somehow) holding the ship intact underneath. So if you've never explored this area of maintenance, I highly recommend it.
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