Tuning the CX-30

"Thank you for reading my CX-30 tuning tips."

Based on the great Mazda3 chassis, the CX-30 is firmly aimed at the crossover compact SUV market, one which it hits well above it's weight.

Four wheel drive is an option, which is good to see here, helping the CX-30 cope well in adverse driving conditions.

The engine range is well chosen and makes the CX-30 feel quite lively and nible despite having a larger body than the mazda3 donor.

The CX-30 is a awesome tuning project to take up your weekends. We see people wasting money on their CX-30 doing the wrong mods and then having to start over. Follow our pointers to avoid making the common mistakes

We review CX-30 tuning and show the premier mods that work. CX-30s are popular tuning projects and with the ultimate modified modifications you can positively maximise your driving enjoyment.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are at the top of your mod list for the CX-30.

Putting some negative camber to the front and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe in to improve stability or toe out for better cornering, will usually improve your CX-30 in handling and cornering.

We suggest that you fit sports suspension and lower the car by 24mm - 37 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Don't just look at the peak power figures, you need to see the whole torque curve when determining if a mod is right for you CX-30.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine Tuning.

Typically these upgrades are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you get going.

Getting the right uprated upgrades for your planned usage of the car is essential. Stage 3 (competition) mods just don't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

• 2.0 L SkyActiv-G PE-VPS i4 (gasoline)
• 2.5 L SkyActiv-G PY-VPS i4 (gasoline)
• 2.0 L SkyActiv-X i4 (gasoline)
• 1.8 L SkyActiv-D i4 (diesel)

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Modifying to Stage 1:

 Remap, Suspension upgrade (drop 24mm - 37 mm.), Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Lighter flywheel.

Modifying to Stage 2:

 Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injector, Ported and polished head, Power/Sport clutch.

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Sports gearbox, Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves).

You really need to keep as much low end power as possible and aim for a wide power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power hike.

The whole aim of our guides is to give a starting base of car tuning mods and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your modified car project, the best sport kits and all aspects of modding cars.One of the best mechanical mods you can do to your NASP engine is to fit a fast road cam .

It maximises the intake and exhaust durations and increases the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a performance chip. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

Don't forget to increase the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty.

Using high octane fuel is another option if you find you are suffering from pinking or premature ignition on your project after fitting other upgrades. To get sufficient fuel you may need to improve the injectors on your engine.

If you've uprated your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Please note that WE DO NOT FEEL YOU GET POWER GAINS FROM INDUCTION KITS, unless you have tuned your car with over 30 percent more power and are finding that the standard air intake has become the bottleneck.

Derestricting the air feed into the engine is a primary goal of performance tuning so get a better flowing air filter if you find that the car is running lean only if you find the car is running lean. Induction kits can sound sporty but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not do much to increase power and actually rob you of power on most cars.

Sports exhausts balance the flow of gases through the engine. But if the exhaust is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose much of the flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Head work including a head port and polished and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. A good heavy duty fast road uprated clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never cut corners or think that your standard OEM clutch to cope. The best mods we would do for your CX-30 are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

Remaps offer impressive power gains on all turbo charged cars. On NASP engines the benefits are doubtful. However a chipped ECU on a NASP engine will help unleash the potential if you have done a lot of mods. The most significant power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are generally easier to add than a turbo. Turbos give boost in increasing proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

The nice steady boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them simpler to map. Decreasing the engines compression ratio will allow you to add forced induction, water injection may also help prevent detonation.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloys include a lower unsprung weight and better brake cooling. If you are serious about performance then you will need to carefully choose your tires - ideally with a soft compound tire. The drawback to large rims on your CX-30 is that you're altering your final drive ratio and this will have a negative effect on acceleration and performance.

Although some people have fitted larger wheels without issues we would restrict ourselves to an 18 inch rim size as the maximum.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss CX-30 options in more detail with our CX-30 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Mazda. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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