Cobb Tuning Mazdaspeed 3 Turbo Inlet
 

Introduction:

About a month ago, Cobb made a public announcement that they have ceased any further development on hard parts for all of their supporting platforms. While this was very sad news and quite unfortunate for many of us, its understandable due to these seriously, impacted economic times. Many people have been forced to either sell off mod parts or their entire car, which is a very sad for an enthusiast to have to go through. I bid good luck to those of you who have recently lost their jobs and as one car enthusiast to another, I'm very sorry about your situation.

Moving forward, after Trey Cobb publicly announced Cobb's decision at a another forum, everyone began to ask... " Are you going to commit to some parts that had cleared the R&D stage and made it to production/manufacturing? " Trey's response was " Yes, we are."

So, the question is, what actually made it through the cut? Well today, we will show you the Cobb Tuning Turbo Inlet. It went on sale a few days ago and was one of the quickest pieces i saw come from Cobb over the fall. The inlet started by a poll posted in our forum from one of our moderators, Unoriginalusername. This poll can be viewed by clicking here. In that thread, the members of MSF gave their input about wanting an inlet like the EVO X community received. Ask and you shall receive, right? Yes, it happened and many are happy to see something new pushed out the doors at Cobb once again. It kind of reminds you of the whole Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory from 1971, where no one seen or heard a peep, until one day there was a contest! OK, stupid analogy, but you get the picture I'm trying to paint. OK, lets discuss the inlet here...

The inlet is made of high temp silicone like Cobb's SRI Reviewed By Us Here. It is Cobb blue in color but Cobb finally gave you a color option of black. Since several of our test cars sport Cobb Blue silicone, we stuck with tradition here. The inlet features a true taper design which eliminates the quick neck downs you see with other inlets on various car platforms, allowing a fluid size transition. Another advantage the silicone brings to the table is lower IAT temps. Metal and plastic heat soak rather quickly while in the hot engine bay with the hood closed. The inlet is comprised of steel wire reinforced throughout to keep the inlet from collapsing under vacuum. This also helps by allowing a little flex and makes breaking the SRI bracket nearly impossible. At the connect side of the inlet for the intake and bypass hose, you will find 2 steel reducers pre-installed. We recommend you clamp these down prior to install, as it will help while installing the intake back on the car. Below are some quick shots of the inlet, naked, straight out of the box:

As you can see, the wastegate vacuum connection nipple is made of plastic. Some members wanted to see brass here, but with the added cost, there really is no advantage to placing a brass barb opposed to the reinforced plastic barb. This plastic one will not break like the stocker one does. If you still want brass, you could head down to your local hardware store and swap it out for peace of mind.

Speaking of peace and mind, for those who are debating whether an inlet is something they should consider or want, need to understand something. The stock plastic piece, by default, comes loose on MANY MS3's from the factory. This has been happening since 2007 and Mazda still overlooks this problem. If you are seeing constant high boost temperatures or an odd amount of knock with your car, CHECK YOUR STOCK INLETS! With the Cobb Inlet, the thing fits like a glove and worrying about it coming loose is a thing of the past. GET ONE!

Now, let's move forward with the install...

[multipage=Tools Of The Trade]

Tools Of The Trade:

1 Flathead Screw Driver
1 3/8 Ratchet
1 1/4 Ratchet
1 needle nose plier
1 Can of silicone spray lubricant

1 1/4 drive 8mm deep socket
1 3/8 drive 8mm deep socket
1 3/8 drive 10mm deep socket
Various extensions

OPTIONAL:

Small flat screw driver
Angled Needle Nose
Large Pliers

TIPS:

To save some time, when removing the stock bypass hose, take the entire thing off and connect it to the inlet prior to installing the inlet on the turbo. Also be sure to hose clamp the reducers as this will save you some frustration for those who dont like to look at instructions.


This install should not take you more then 30-45 mins to complete. Its very simple to do, but has several involved steps to complete.

[multipage=Disassembly]

Disassembly:



[multipage=Continued]


Disassembly Continued:

[multipage=Re-Assembly]


Re-Assembly

[multipage=Conclusion]


Conclusion:

This is one of the most simple mods to install on these cars. So, what do we gain? Well, although we didn't dyno, there has been some proof from other homemade inlets, these make anywhere from 3-7hp. If it does anything of importance, it allows your turbo to breath. How many times have you been romping the car at full boost, when required to shift to the next gear, you get a sudden delay of power? This inlet eliminates it from occurring. You get instant power between each upshift because boost hasn't fallen so drastically. This is most noticeable when upping the boost up to 17,18 and 20 psi.

You will also notice a slight difference with lowered BATs and IATs with the inlet on there. At only $165, these are a great buy and will give you satisfaction for your purchase.

So what else will Cobbawonka release to us? Word has it, the BPV is next along with Access Tuner Race. I think that is it for the time being. I really wanted to see their coilovers come to existence, but unfortunately, development has seized. Hopefully, if the economy picks up by the end of this year, Cobb will give us more goodies for the car. We could really use some enhanced suspension components and more go fast stuff.

I would like to thank Gary Sheehan, Director of Marketing for getting us this inlet within 36 hours for review. Cobb has truly been a delightful company to work with since MSF started nearly one year ago and we look forward to the continued enthusiast support from them in the future.

Stay classy San Diego :)

Discussion for this review can be found here:

http://www.mazdaspeedforum.org/forum/foru...tml#post150141