SteveO

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demoninvictus

well, sound system sounds alright, i wouldn't recommend putting tons of neon lights in your car to light it up at night, but that can be done cheaply. you can get an underbody neon kit, but it is kind of pointless, can be had as low as $150 to $200 bucks and can't be used legally in ANY state, except for show. as far as speed... well, speed is hard on a budget, but open up your exhaust system with a 2 1/4 mandrel bent cat-back system... kinda runs anywhere from $300 to $500 installed, depending on where you go or what you get. you've opened up the flow to the intake of your engine, so why not open up the exhaust system to let it out? something cheaper that doesn't improve straight acceleration, but can help you take turns is getting front and rear strut bars... and most setups can be had for under $100 front and $100 back... sometimes even dramatically cheaper. and for our cars, as one person once wrote, "It's the biggest bang for your buck mod you can do for a protege!". OEM rims and tires can enhance the appearance of your car and is dramatically cheaper than regular rims... a set of 99-00 ES 16" inch rims and tires can be had as low as $300 to $400 bucks on ebay. they look really sharp, Groharlem has 15's and they look bangin on his car. there are tons of other things that aren't necessarily college budget, but can help horse power: greddy exhaust header with highflow cat and fully opened 2 1/4 inch mandrel exhaust is nice, under-drive pulleys, cams, different things. scott is the expert on mods for your engine and is a little more knowledgeable than most of us of the actual impact each mod can have, as he's dyno'ed just about every major modification. search for 'dyno' and you'll find the thread. and definately not in your budget, but feasible for under $2000?? i'm assuming? you can get a full body kit with side skirts, front bumper, and rear and get them painted. another thing that can give your protege a 'slammed' look is getting some lowering springs and dropping your car an inch or two in the front and back, that in itself is a great mod, although with all aftermarket spring kits, common complaints seem to be a rougher ride, but it will handle a lot better than what you got. also, where did you get a Megan Racing cold air intake?? lol sorry, never heard of megan racing. anyway, hope this helps..
peace

Identity_X

Welcome

What is a limited budget ??? How much do you want to spend and what are your plans for the car? You can't have looks and speed when you're on a low budget. If I were you I'd start with some suspension mods. Good tires and a front strut bar will get you started in that department. Once again, it really depends on how much you have to spend. You've got an intake, so improving the exhaust system will help you out as demoninvictus pointed out. Look into getting an 86-88 non-turbo RX-7 VAF. You can get it from a junk yard for a good price and it will give you a 5hp boost at high rpm. This will be a nice addition to your intake system. As for the header, I've never heard of a "greddy exhaust header". Pacesetter and Genie are the ones that make headers for our cars.

Davard

Strut bars do ALMOST NOTHING for handling. They might make the car feel tighter, but they don't control body roll, and until you start cornering harder than you should on the street, they don't even control body flex that much.

What you probably meant to say was SWAY bars. Those will limit weight transfer, and can affect the balance of the car.

With an older car on stock shocks/struts, new struts will provide the most dramatic difference in feel. Putting sticky tires on a car with old, worn-out struts will only make things worse (more out-of-control body motions and lack of suspension control).

Do a search for ZX2 struts and you will find all you need to know about what is out there, and how to install them.

For the best performance (tire wise), 15's are the best compromise. A 15 x 6.5-7.0" rim with 205/50-15 tires is the hot ticket. Handling, braking, and acceleration will all be better than with 16's or 17's, and you won't have to worry so much about bending rims on potholes.

But, that's just my opinion, gathered from 13+ years of autocrossing my Protege, so...

demoninvictus

haha, so i fucked up, SWAY bars is what i was thinking of??? anywho, and as far as greddy making and exhaust header, i was wrong i'm guessing. tire sizing davard recommended has never actually occured to me, but now that makes sense... alot more sense, should be more than perfect for your car.
peace, sorry for the mix ups

SteveO

thanks everyone.

Well my budget....haha..my elusive budget. Well..i would be willing to spend around 3k If it really did alot for the car. But would like to keep it as cheap as i can get. But you get what you pay for so i dont want cheap quality stuff.

And Megan Racing is a growing performance dealer outta cali. You can find ALOT of their stuff on Ebay. Their site is almost up
www.meganracing.com

They are gonna be pretty big when they get more advertisement and support

Loundarp

i emailed meganracing and they don't have a intake for the 90-93 protege lx . do you have a lx or dx???

celi85

just wanted to point out that undercar neons are COMPLETELY legal in Georgia...as long as you cant visibly see the tubes with your eyes.

Standard

I got the same subs, being pushed by a Pioneer GM-X542! They pound pretty good

SteveO

I have a DX SOHC 1.8 16valve.
I got my intake from them off ebay.
Thats where they sale most of their stuff for now

TheLastMarauder

I'm pretty sure it's the same way here in Alabama. In fact I don't even think there's anything saying the tubes can't be showing, as long as they're not red or blue. (cop colors for those of you who might not have ever seen a cop before...)

Anyhoo, I could be wrong about that last bit. You know, all my information comes from word of mouth...

I know in Florida you're not allowed to have more than two "extra" lights on the car. That means fog lights, or KC lights, or those goofy-*** winshield washer nozzle lights, but no combination of those. In Alabama the law is more lenient.

Identity_X

Here in Illinois, anything other than yellow, amber, and white is illegal. Besides, neons should be the last thing to worry about

SteveO

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