KpaBap

The Protege sounds like **** with an intake and exhaust??


I beg to differ.

Besides, who are you to tell me what I should and shouldn't do to my car?

Can you not AFFORD to spend $1000 to make 10hp? If people can justify spending that much money for that little gain then all the power to them.

TheMAN

so does that mean we car enthusiasts should stop buying performance stuff for our ECONOMY cars and get $200000 sports cars?

dr_sarcasm

LOL!

I gots to agree there - just because it will never be 'fast' doesn't mean that we have to stop trying. Some of us just do the tinkering because that's part of the hobby, and some of us do it because we want our cars to be just a little different.

Posting that "this mod is useless" just falls on deaf ears - people will do it, regardless of what others think.


dr_"keeping his car NA and not FI just because I wanna"_sarcasm.

Mach 1

You can do whatever you want, Im just giving my opinion on throwing money into a protege engine.

If thats what gets you through the day, by all means, go for it. But when your bitching about how slow your car still is, well, I guess ill just say I told you so...

Funky Buddha

I dont' want a 200hp beast. I'm just looking for simple bolt-ons that will increase the hp to make it more enjoyable to drive. My question was, with the cams, and header mods, how do I move the torque and hp curve down a little lower so that I won't have to hit 5000rpm all the time to see the benefits?

Mach 1

You dont seem to understand the "compromise" aspect of engine performance.

You cant have your cake and eat it too.

You eithier make more power down low, or more up top. (Unless you have a variable valve timing engine, like the honda VTECh which attempts to get the best of both worlds).

Cams and headers, etc...all make your engine breathe better, to promote efficiency at higher RPM's. The trade off is a loss down low.

Your engine is tuned from the factory to get a best case scenario compromise for everyday driving conditions, all temperatures, weather, etc....you cant just add 20 hp in the midrange and call it a day, because the engineers already have these engines running extremely well and efficient from the beginning, in the most used engine speeds for the average driver.

Which brings me back to my other point, it you want a faster car down low, buy one with a bigger engine or one that makes more power in that area. Some engines out there have a huge selection of aftermarket bolt ons that can give noticeable improvements for not a lot of money. the protege isnt one of them.

BTW, 200 hp is hardly a beast. Every car would have 200 hp minimum if it were up to me..

Funky Buddha

Alright. Alright. Yes..200hp would be the bare minimum for me too, if it was up to me. Could be higher even. I understand the compromise, but was looking for ways I can overcome that. I realize now that even w/ the mods, my car won't loose that much that it'll suffer in the low and midrange that I won't have to worry anymore. I just have to look forward to the gains I'm gonna get hopefully throughout the powerband. Thanks guys.

Phantom Cruiser

120hp & 125tq here

http://www.redshark1.com/phantom_dyno120.jpg

mygreenmazda

hey Phantom Cruiser I want my pro to have the same hp as your focus. . But really you want hp just save money and put a turbo that is the only way to get true hp or you can buy nos but it gets addictive from what I heard.

Phantom Cruiser

i once got a quote from one of the protege turbo development companies out there (which will remain unnamed) and to get that much hp they were asking that i cough up between 7k-10k!!!

fawk that!

i'm taking it easy...going slow and low...and looking damn good in a wagon

Mach 1

So, what parts should he upgrade then to see power across the board?

What are "bolt ons" for a protege in your definition? What parts gave a nice power increase across the board?

Why not give examples? And dont waste our time by saying an injen intake. If hes looking for 1 or 2 hp fine, but I think he wants more than that..

Installshield

Assuming we are all semi-educated, a "bolt-on" would be a piece that you bolt on. A simple device to give minor power increases. Intakes, headers, exhuasts etc... simply bolt-on. Internal engine modifications don't fall into this category...

All of these can move powerbands and hurt lowend peformance, but all of the pieces available to the public for Proteges are designed for street use and they will increase power across the board albeit just a little unless done all at once...A number of members of THIS forum have used simple bolt ons and gained more than 20hp, which is exactly what those people were looking for. You make it sound like all of these mods will do nothing but move the powerband up, making the car no faster than before... which is completely false and confusing...

Very few of us are creating custom race engine's, which are the type that ARE unstreetable and have next to no lowend torque...This is also where I think you are getting your claims of the tradeoff's. Huge exhuast diameter's and massive cam lobes will destroy lowend pull and promote high rpm power, but none of these pieces are that aggressive. They give a better blend of power across the board than the stock pieces...

FWIW stop arguing with Jesse or any other tech guru on this board. Arguing with Jesse, Chris, and Ed is next pointless...You lost this argument over a day ago but for some reason you still don't realize that...

The money issue is up to whoever is doing the modifications. a 20hp increase with no internal ******* around and for less than 1 grand is fine with me. It may not be the best power to price ratio, but you can't spend less than 1 grand on a turbo setup...and even "Just" 20hp will make the car immensely more fun to drive...

Also to get these increases they need to ALL be done...You can't bolt on one single part "bolt on" and get 20hp, They all add up to give you the total gain...If you read the earlier posts, you would see the dyno's and exact bolt-ons used to get the power across the board...

p5sunDevil

well after reading most of the posts in this thread I see really no point in arguing with anyone. It seems though most people say or make themselves out to be open to new ideas and creativity in actuallity there are just like the rest of the damn human race and scared of change, which is why there are small groups or clubs like this for those who are different, like me.

I bought my p5 cause I had serious restrictions on financial output, I would have loved to have gotten a WRX but couldnt afford it and IMO this was the next best thing for me cause it looked goof stock, had the options I wanted and had a nice growing aftermarket.

With all of the mods I have planned to do over the next 9-12 months I will be safely puching 190-210WHP N/A. That is alot for a small car like this, and that is before any kind of forced induction (which is planned for WAY down the line)

intake, exhaust, headers, manifold, cams, flywheel, pulley, clutch adds up to alot more power for how much you can spend on it.
For Example...I bought my 2003.5 p5 for 14,900 with 10 miles on it. With 500 dollars I have gotten a custom intake, ractive cat-back, eibach pro-kit and a shitload of driver feedback mods(cosmetic) I got my ractive catback for 107 plus shipping, you just need to know how to shop around.

So anyone else see the SCC article on the mp5 tuned to 225whp N/A and they only have about half the work down right now? FU to those who say it cant be done or isnt worth it, I will hit 190 hp in my p5 before I spend anywhere near what the WRX would have cost me.

Mach 1

Lol...you dont realize that you all keep avoiding the question. Im not arguing with anyone clown, so its hard to lose an argument that doesnt exist.

Now back to the subject, what bolt ons are available for a protege to give a 20 HP increase across the board?

as far as I know, theres not a lot out there for these cars.

I know what a bolt on is generally considered, and you all keep talking about them, but no one mentions them here. Why is that? Thats why I asked what he considers a bolt on. Are you all full of ****? Is there MAF meters, TB's, intake manifolds, headers, etc...all out there for the protege that Im not aware of?

So you put on a fart can, a aftermarket air cleaner and you might see 5 hp if your lucky. The cams mentioned will cause a sacrifice in the bottom end, and will probably only net a couple more hp from what those who have installed them said.

So, Ill ask once again, what is out there? Thats what the original poster asked isnt it, and yet no one has told him anything? You all just bitch at me, yet no one has given him any advice. Whats up with that?

Mach 1

Having serious restriction on financial output and wanting to mod your protege to 190 hp is not a good combination, but Im not even going to go there again, so lets move on to this:

How are you going to get 190 hp from your pro N/A? I think your being extremely optimistic, but I dont know whats out there for these cars (and nobody wants to tell me), so Im really interested.

Where can I see this SCC article on the 225 hp P5?

BTW, a clutch wont give you any more power.