1996 Protege 1.5 performance
 

I know I drive a shitty year for proteges but is there anything
i can possibly get for this car? I'd like an intake and and exhaust, the rest i could care less about. I also dont want to custom make anything. Your help is appreciated.

1996 protege
 

even clear tail lights would help too :(

Ok, the 1.5L is a P.O.S., save your money and get a 1.8L..

You can get exhaust and clear front and tail light from www.corksport.com I tell you up head, you are going to need a big wallet to buy parts from there, or any where for that matter. It is just Corksport has a lot of parts, but just like every where else, 95-98 Pros 1.5 L parts are expensive, and most custom made. You can get an intake though, it only requires a small mod. Just do a research, and you will find out that 1.5 sucks, and the 1.8 is the way to go.

Poor guy realizes that, do you really need to rub it in? :)

I am sorry if I were too rude. But you newbies should do some reaserch first. It has been answered before! Peace

Don't feel so bad about having a 1.5, there are still things you can do to make it quicker. You can really feel the difference!!!
This is what I've done. Ractive Cold Air Intake with cone filter $106, Ractive Muffler (Any Stainless Steel Straight Through Muffler will do, just pick what you think looks the best and will fit), 2.25" inlet $135 from NOPI.com.
I had the muffler and custom cat back exhaust installed at a GOOD muffler shop with all new hangers, welded, no cheesy clamps for $110.
Also, APC has a custom tailight package with availability "pending" for 2nd. Gen Proteges. Maybe if we all ask for it, they'll make them!!!
Also 17x7" wheels with 205/40/17 tires fill out the wheelwells and really transform the look of the car DRASTICALLY!!!
Don't let the 1.8 guys get you down.

While I have a 98 1.5 protege, the motor is peppy
enough with the 5 speed manual. Also note that I
went to p185's13's. If you were to put on taller tires,
the net effect is to drop your axle ratios, making
for poorer performance. I test drove a 1.5 with an auto,
and that car was much slower that my manual 5 speed.

I too wish I had a 1.8, but really the car should have a 2.2.

I love the fuel economy of the 1.5, but then again I also
have a '70's Trans Am with a 400HO and duels too!!

The 1.5 makes a great city car and the manual does ok
on the highway.

obx

When did this happen?????, and any idea what it looks like, or when it's gonna be made??????

1.5
 

ya, i'm aware it ironically falls into a bad year for proteges high performance wise, but the car is mint for what i got it for. I'm not really going for high performance but it would have been nice to have a year that I would have no trouble getting stuff for had I wanted to go that route. Oh well. I already picked out the car before I knew much about proteges. Fortuneately I found this helpful forum and some fellow 1.5 fans :D

btw if you got your intake/exhaust of the web, where did you find them? I seem to always run into dead ends when looking for toucan/ractive parts. Especially tail lights :/

You almost aways have to call the place, and to make sure that what ever you want is in stock, or it is the right part. For most part, they will be able to help.

Hey OBX,
You can increase they wheel/tire size without messing up the overall outside diameter.
I’ll give you an example on how this is done and how it can be calculated for any dream combination you can think of.
Stock wheel and tire 185/70-13. 185 (tire width in MM) X 0.70 (aspect ratio)= 129.5MM X 2 (since the tires on both sides of the rim)= 259MM / (divided) by 25.4 (to convert MM to inches)= 10 inches + 13 inch rim dia. = 23.197inches Overall Tire Diameter.
Now, lets use the 205/40-17’s on my car.
205 X 0.4= 82 X 2=164MM / 25.4= 6.457 inches + 17= 23.456 inches Overall Tire Diameter.
Soooo, you can get a much shorter sidewall, larger rim diameter while not changing the speedometer or final drive gear ratio.
By the way, I have a Mint 1986 Grand Prix with 305 4BBL, chip, Dynomax, all the high performance options, etc. as another toy.
Bobfish,
Go to NOPI.com, select E-CATALOG, then select MAZDA, Year , etc, to find the things I bought for my Protégé. Their prices are pretty good, and I got everything in about 2 days with regular shipping.
Green Skanka,
I have a local APC Warehouse/Dealer in town, and he had the taillights listed in his price sheet for 2nd. Gen Protégé’s as “pending”. Who knows what they look like, probably APC doesn’t even know unless there is demand for them.

I know ractive makes a intake for your car. I had o'reilys order me one for my 97, you have to speacial order it and it takes a while to ship to you. but they make it

Okey, well I did find my intake from a local Honda dealer and I know the guy there so he hooked me up with a cheaper price :D

Now, the only thing left for me to do is to get rid of that ugly amber color and make my lights red/white or all red.

Hmm, well I've found plenty of exhausts that would work for the car, I dunno which ones to go with... There's one for Ractive, and I know of one that works from Flowmaster but their more Amercian... Any suggestions?