Atenza Tuning MS6 build

Dear Mazdaspeed community,

Have not posted a lot but have been around for a while. It was back in 2013 when I got my Mazdaspeed 6 (or 6 MPS as it is called here in Europe). Started modding it immediately with downpipe, exhaust, TMIC, intake, Cobb Accessport etc. I have always been self tuned because I had previous experience with EFI tuning on other platform so it was natural step for me to start looking into Accesstuner Race, as it was called back then. Around late 2019 I turned professional and currently have pro licenses with Cobb and Versatune. I can tune all models and variants of Mazdaspeed/MPS vehicles.
My business is called Atenza Tuning: https://www.facebook.com/AtenzaTuning

A little background of myself as well. I am 41 years old this year and working full time as a research and development engineer at Genelec which is one of the biggest manufacturers of active studio monitors/loudspeakers in the whole world. We are based here in Iisalmi, Finland, in the middle of pure and clean Northern European nature.



Around 2016-2017 I upgraded the stock turbo to CST4, added Treadstone TR8 FMIC, upgraded fueling with 6th port kit. I was on stock block for the time being. It made about 400whp / 380tq and lasted well for almost two years. After a standing mile event in summer 2018 (It ran ~166 mhp) it probably got little hurt and stated developing a very mild rod knock. I should have opened up her then but decided to keep on driving until about 11 months later she had had enough and spun a 3rd cylinder rod bearing and the block was totally wasted with two big holes on it. I was almost ready to call it a day, but after a few months of rehabilitation I decided, fuck it, let's build her properly.



I sourced a used long block (actually a full engine with all the accessories), ordered Darton dry sleeves, forged internals and all the other required aftermarket and OEM parts to build her properly. Turbo was custom made using CST4 turbine housing machined to a bigger wheel and bigger compressor housing and wheel as well. It was little foolish to keep the stock intake and exhaust manifolds but oh well. I also kept the 6th port kit for aux fueling needs. I had some personal issues with life after it was finished and I could not finish the tune properly so I don't have any numbers to show how it performed. I also sold the 6th port kit to a fellow Speed owner so I was again restricted by the stock fueling. Around April 2020 I decided to start working on it again and ordered Damond Motorsports PI adapter kit and Siemens Deka 4x 900 cc injectors. I got the setup running and started fine tuning the maps for the port injection. In May I was performing some general maintenance and decided to pop off the turbo intake pipe (Cp-e 3" along with JBR Tru-3.5" MAF housing and filter at the time), I found out that the compressor wheel of the freshly built turbo had serious damage. The wheel and the inlet of the compressor housing looked like someone had thrown a handful of gravel in there at full speed. Up until today I don't know what caused it to fail, as I never ran it without a filter or there was any loose parts in the intake which would have caused such havoc.



Even though there weren't massive chunks of metal being ingested by the freshy built engine, still enough to realize I had to open her up again. Luckily the cylinders or pistons weren't damaged that badly and could be reused after some TLC.



While the engine was open, I upgraded some parts as well, mainly Manley H-Tuff rods, bigger Xona Rotor turbo, Corksport intake and exhaust manifolds, Corksport TB, Ecoboost timing components, head with fresh porting and bowl work (also got it flow measured against the OEM head), Supertech valves, guides and seals, new port injection setup, bigger and fully custom 3.5" downpipe and external wastegate setup and lots of smaller upgrades. Also cleaned and painted the whole rear subframe with new arms and bushings, thicker sway bar and DSS +500hp left rear axle. Pistons and cams were given Techline coating products in various forms and the block was honed with a torque plate. Cometic "Oddball" head gasket was used with ARP +625 custom age head bolts, ARP main bolts and King Racing main and rod bearings. OS Gigen dual disc clutch was being installed at the same time, with fully balanced assembly of course.











I was able to finish the build just before the long winter set in about 5 months ago. I did a proper break in and have about 2k miles done so far. I have been running her without port injection so I am limited to about 400 whp level which she does at mild ~22 psi boost and ~12 deg timing at 6k. Snow has finally started to melt and temperature is climbing above 32 F during day time, so in the following weeks I will be finalizing the port injection setup and start turning up the boost and timing. I will be reporting all findings and results in this thread.


Full Google photos album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rnpMSzGRgVR6T1qt8 (Build diary 2013-2022)

Engine and drivetrain:
Built engine with Darton dry sleeves // Ported head & bowl work // Keyed & balanced crank // Ross Performance damper // CS BSD kit with oil pan baffle // SP63 CA625+ head studs // Cp-e/Manley 2618 alloy 10.5:1cr pistons, ceramic coating with TechLine Coatings // Manley H-beam Tuff series rods // King Racing tri-metal main & rod bearings // CS camshafts with ARP bolts // Ecoboost timing components with 55 deg max VVT advance // Supertech valves, bronze guides and 72 lbs valve springs // Xona Rotor XR6557S DBB turbo 0.83 A/R V-band, UHF turbine wheel // Tial MV-R 44 mm external wg // Custom 3,5" downpipe with remote controlled 2" cut out and heat wrapping // Simons 3" exhaust (removable cat for yearly inspection) // EGR delete // CS intake & exhaust manifold w/ V-band flange // Lagged/thermo shielded exhaust manifold and turbine housing by Thermo Met // Cleanmaster Motorparts HPFP internals // Rey's Ethanol safe HPFP seal kit // Cleanmaster Motorparts serviced and flow tested OEM injectors // CS injector seals with Cp-e studs // Port injection with 4x Injector Dynamics ID1050x // Split Second AIC1-V4H controller // N2MB Racing Wotbox // Walbro Hellcat 525lph ITFP with AN8 feed line, AN6 return line and SPD 1:1 ratio FPR // Treadstone FMIC with TR035 core // JBR 3.5" intake & MAF // CS 72 mm throttle body // 3-port EBCS // CS 3.5 bar MAP // Turbosmart 50/50 BPV // Damond PCV plate with 2x AN10 outlets // Damond Motorsports vented 2x OCC & Late Night Racing AN10 vented oil cap // OS Gigen dual disc clutch & flywheel, balanced // SP63 TC bearing caps // Cp-e & SURE rear differential mounts // Damond Motorsports PMM // Cp-e RMM // CS TMM inserts // Whiteline 24 mm RSB // Prothane low profile RSB bushings // DSS +500 hp left rear drive shaft // NGK spark plugs // MSWT tucked coil & injector harness with pnp PI & wotbox // Late Night Racing coil rotation bracket with Ti hardware // CX7/CX9 front dual piston brake calipers and brake pads // Braided brake lines // Spin-on oil conversion, and other bolt ons.

Suspension and tires:
BC Racing DS series coilovers with 12 kg/mm front and 8 kg/mm rear springs, SPC adjustable ball joints, SPC rear camber arms, OEM wheels with 15 mm spacers, 225/40R18 summer, 225/50R17 winter, tinted windows, debadged (rear)

Interior:
Sparco Torino2 seats on customized rails, ZERO alcantara anatomy wheel, CS short shifter plate, gauge pod with oil temp, oil pressure, fuel pressure, and exhaust temp gauges.

 

That heat shield on the turbine housing looks awesome. Did it come with it or did you have to order it separately? Right now I'm using a turbo blanket but it doesn't look as good as that does.

 

I had it made in the UK by https://www.thermomet.co.uk/. They have +20 years experience in aerospace with similar products. I had the full exhaust manifold and turbine housing made. They can also do downpipes, exhausts, wastegate housings etc. It is not cheap but well worth it. It keeps the heat energy inside the runners and helps especially with the spool up as the turbine wheel gets more flow volume due to warmer gasses. It also looks cool, reduces under the bonnet temperatures and keeps everything safe from overheating/burning up.

 

Here is the most representative VDyno plot so far, running studded and thick winter tires, stock fueling and 98 RON gasoline off the pump (equivalent to US 93 oct). Injector duty cycle is very close to being maxed out which is the reason why I had to stop already before 6k. I am running only ~7 psi spring in the wastegate too.