Mini Mazda Modding (2011 Mazda 2)

[apc]

I've been in and out of the forum for a good while. But I've finally acquired a car fit for modding. This thread will serve to develop and document my evil plans.

2011 Mazda 2
EPA 29/35
1.5L 4 cylinder, 100HP
Manual 5-spd

Per the in-dash readout, I've been getting between 30 and 35mpg combined, depending largely on how much A/C has been used. I just bumped the tires up to 40psi and after 80 miles of city driving with lots of coasting I'm getting 37. My current goal is 40.

Planned mods:

Grille block
Wheel covers
Engine kill button
Engine start button
Engine belly pan
Temp display with fan-on indicator
Vacuum gauge

Been coasting whenever practical. I tried some EOC but am not comfortable with it in the city. So the kill button will be for long red lights, etc. Currently there's just a light that's blue when the engine is cold and red if it's overheating. Thus the new temp display. I'm not decided on the vacuum gauge yet. I'd need to find one that's small, preferably digital.

That's as far as I've gone in my thoughts so far!

[apc]

First Mod - Grille Block




Opted to work with the bumper off. Just made everything easier.




Easier still.




Cut paper template.




Transferred paper template to cardboard. Located toggle bolts. Ended up going with smaller washers.




Transferring to coroplast.




Ready to go.




Installed.




All back together.


They need to be trimmed a bit more in a couple spots. Then they'll be painted flat black. I'm leaving the opening below the license plate for now. Once I get the temp gauge installed I'll play around with blocking it completely. There's a good opening above the license plate that is probably sufficient airflow.

One day I'll build a larger one that brings the entire grille area flush with the bumper.

[apc]

Painted the panels with plasti-dip black rubber. They came out nice.




Almost looks stock. That's what I'm going for.

As of today's fill-up of a half tank I'm getting 39.5 mpg. The in-dash display also read 39.5. There's been disagreement between it and the paper before so it's being tracked now, too. But... so close to 40!

[TimV]

Nice work!

I suggest to make the stock front air dam longer. And with longer i mean lower to the ground. In city it wont help much. But on faster roads it will gain you milage.

Vacuum gauge and/or instant milage read ouds are realy handy.
I would buy a scangauge or similar tool. Also capable of showing coolant temp and so on.


Keep up the good work!

[iamnotahippee]

That looks great! Very subtle. In fact, it barely shows in the picture.

[apc]

Thanks!

The in-dash has a realtime mpg readout. It's useful for cruising but jumps all over the place in city driving so I just run with the average.

I've looked at the Scangauge but I think it'd be more fun to install my own gauges. There's a small panel down on the left with the DSC button and four other blanks. Perfect place to put little LED displays for non-critical stuff.

I've thought about the air dam but I think I'm gonna go with the belly pan. The stock dam almost has total coverage but a pan would take care of the little bit of the front crossmember still exposed. Was reading threads on wheel spoilers today, too. Adding that to the list.

[spacemanspif]

Paint the rest of the grill to match the block off panels and everything will totally blend together and be invisible to the passer by. Looks great, hopefully you'll see some good gains from this, and future mods

[apc]

I did the aero template overlay. That's pretty cool.





Around a gallon into the new tank and my average is bouncing around 41.5 mpg. Still coasting whenever practical plus spending as much time as I can in 5th gear, barely pressing on the throttle when needed. It's already become habit. I'm calling that first goal reached! Now to see if I can hit 45.

>
Ok so after a 30 mile drive through town I've crept up to 44.0... I guess I need to set a more ambitious goal: 50!

[freebeard]

Soooo close!

on the Plastidip.

[apc]

Gathering things together for the wheel covers. Have the pizza pans. Found these low profile zip ties on Amazon. Trying to figure out the best way to cleanly cut a hole in the pans for valve access. A clean round hole would be perfect as then I could use a hole plug. Currently thinking I'll use a hole punch to open them up then clean them out with a dremel.