Found something interesting out.

First, for some time I've known that in '96 Mazda changed the design of the primary turbo inlet duct. Straighter shot into the turbo and about 1/8"-1/4" wider mouth on the duct. I first discovered this when I bought a '96 JDM motor and went through it - that part is on my car now .

Anyhow, had someone PM me asking about the part number. The number is stamped on the duct - N3D8-13-232 . Searched Mazdacomp, comes up as a good part number, and shows in stock ready to ship!

Also checked MazdaPartsCheap, also shows as a good part number, and price is around $80.

I'm still not certain if it makes a difference at all, but it's a neat part regardless. Would be interesting to compare the two on a dyno or something.

Here's some pics I took a while back comparing the two -









If it's easily available in the US, I guess it's an updated US part? Wonder if any US '95 models came with this from the factory?

Anyhow, does look good as it'll be MUCH easier to get your hands on it!

Dale

 

there is still the bottle-neck of the actual size of the compressor... no matter how much air can theoretically go through a specific size of piping.... whats actually used is what the turbo can actually efficiently use

i'd be interested in seeing dyno results.

how did the duct do with mounting of the rest of the piping? did it shift anything by much?

 

Bolts right in place. The shape of the duct is different, but the position of the inlet/outlet is the same. Remember, this is OEM goodness with OEM fit .

Typically, you want a turbo's inlet duct to be a funnel - give it a large reservoir of filtered air to draw from and funnel it down to the inlet.

It's a cool part, and one I'm pleased to think that I actually discovered it .

Dale

 

I've noticed that on some cars the inlet duct appeared to be shaped differently. Never thought much of it as I figured it was an updated part. I doubt you will notice any difference as the rest of the ducting is very restrictive, especially the piping to the rear turbo. Still, I guess it is worth it if you have to replace that part anyway.

 

Since the opening is bigger, the piping to it must have a larger opening too. That being said, if the opposite end is still the same size, I'm thinking you won't get any more air thru it than with the old setup.

 

I think with the stock rubber piping you just take the extra rubber fitting off the end of the pipe and attach it - that gives enough room to work. I do believe I ran it originally with the rubber piping before I went with hardpipes.

Mazda went through the trouble and expense of redesigning it - the only reason I could see doing that is for a performance benefit. The new pipe doesn't seem any cheaper to make or gives any other advantage I can think of - matter of fact, the two inlets cost around the same amount from Mazda.

Also, the stock rubber piping is much larger in diameter than the ID of the plastic inlet to start with.

Dale