newby101

Hey guys this looks like a great board, so i joined. I am in need of sum dire assistance. I just got a 2002 Burgandy red/garnet Protege from the Martin Dealership in delaware...n e way..... It's completely stock and i got sum money saved up but i need sum advice on where 2 start making this thing faster. I'm not trying to get a turbo/kit yet but i just want sum advice on where 2 start on makin this baby faster. Thx and plz help me

guitargod

it doesn't go faster.

newby101

see that is exactly what i dont need is sarcasim/criticism. I realize i dont know that much about cars/specs but i really am trying 2 get into it. Its very fascinating and i would really appreciate sum honest advice to my first post, and i am really curious as 2 what u guys think. thx

guitargod

It doesn't go faster, unless you do some expensive motor overhaul. Which you don't want to do. You might as well by a cheap Mustang.


Or, a Turbo. But, I would wait on this one and see what type of reliabilty you get from the Turbo's. I don't think Protege's have gathered enough miles to evaluate this just yet.

fossil boy

wel, u c, iznot a fst cr in the 1st plc. U mite tri to sav wate bi remving sum ltrs. tri "da" nsted of "mazda" & x nsted of lx. thaz n e z mod u 2 cn do

mixmaster_matt

Hey man, just do a search on intakes, exhausts, and other fun things. You will find all you need to know, and good luck with the car.

gcs118

They weren't really being sarcastic...it does take a lot of money to make the car fast. I'd recommend suspension first, because that's where the fun in this car lies.

toucci

intake/header/exhaust is a good place to start

newby101

are u talking about like a whole exhaust system which includes headers and the flexpipe, and the cat, and the mufler/silencer and everything? and like what is everything exactly that involves in the intake...i mean i get the basic idea i think.....its all about air flow and how much its getting it and how much its putting out, but those r just basics and i really dont know much beyond that.

Flecky75

hey,
it depends on "how much you have saved up". and what acess to certin tools and resourses you have. air intake all you need is a phillips screwdriver and maybe a 10 mm socket, that is if you need to relocate your coolant overflow(injen intake). now exhaust if you do now or later all depends on how much your doing. if your doing just muffler you could drive up on ramps and do it yourself. any more you yould be better to take it to a shop. and like the other guy said with suspension thats deffinatly a garage job, since you will need to get an alignment. then there is cams and stuff like that that in total will probably get ya an extra 40 horseys. but then your only options are turbo, nitros, or professional engine tuning. but hey save your pennies. this aint a honda where you can go to your local car parts store and fine it on the shelf. most things are special order and in the summer time things seem to be on monthly backorder. well at least my intake is.
good luck

gcs118

My suggestion is to first learn about your car, how things work, and what your final goal is. It's really hard to go into modding/tuning your car blind if you don't know what will happen as a result of the changes you make. Take the time to learn some things, it WILL pay off, trust me. I got a second car besides my Protege to take apart as a learning experience and it has helped phenomenally. I don't expect you to buy a second car, but hang around awhile, read the posts, find articles online, read books, etc. The more you know the more money you can save from installs and you can be more confident when you spend your money. Just my 2 cents

gcs118

Many of the more subtle suspension upgrades like the strut tower bar, or sway bars, or the adjustable endlinks, can be done on ones own without the need for an alignment. I plan to install my own struts and springs whenever I can find the time. You will save a whole lot of money installing these yourself, then simply wait about a week for things to settle before getting the alignment done (SirNuke's theory, makes sense to me).

Installshield

What he just said could not be more true...If you save the money to buy certain parts, at least do enough research to know why the mod increases performance in some aspect, and at least where it goes...Some others made assumptions that installing an entire exhaust could not be done anywhere but at a shop...This is incorrect, a trip to Sears and the purchase of a decent set of tools and 4 2-ton jack stands is all you need...If you have a driveway, a parking lot, a garage, parking spot in front of your home you can do almost any bolt-on as long as research how to do it...The money you save by doing work yourself will be money saved for whatever is next...Rotate your tires with the stock lug wrench in the trunk, the 20 minutes it took you would easily translate into $50 at a shop...The prices just go up from there...

this board as well as the internet has enough info to turn anyone into a non-ignorant, good decision making, car fanatic...The problem is the time it takes to aquire the information...If you want to be a car nut read every single thing you can get your hands on...Learn about everything not just Proteges there are countless tech articles regarding modern engine design, certain mod "break-down" articles that explain what they do and why some are much better than others, etc...

Also basically everything single thing you could possibly want for a Protege is made by at least one manufacturer...There are litterly hundreds of options on how to make your car faster in every aspect, this was simply to counter the first reply to your thread...

newby101

alright thx guys i really appreciate it, i actually have an old 93 honda civic with almost 200 thousand miles on it and hey i installed a shortshifter on that all by myself!! haha it's so shooort and i loved the results but i dunno instead of sellin it for like 500 bucks maybe i can just keep it and take it apart and see wtf things do ya know? gotta talk 2 my dad on that 1. dunno if he wants a 4th car...i dunno though...1 guys said dont just learn about protege's which i agree with, but i wanna learn everything there is 2 know about my car first. but....i'm confused on where 2 start. Because i would seriously love 2 put on like 30-40 horses on my car, i would be in love with it (already am but im just sayin) btw its an ES, just got it recently only put 1.5k miles on it so far (20.5k total) thx again for all ur help guys...but like i said b4 where should i start learning about my car heavy duty? where should i go?

Installshield

Start by just searching this board (the button in the corner) for various performance parts...run searches on for things like intakes and exhuasts or whatever interests you...Also pick up a couple of different car magazines and just read every page of them, you end up coming across a lot of information that pertains to cars in general...go to "how things work. com" or whatever that site is and just read about everything related to internal cumbustion engines, gearboxes, electronics and whatever else...Search or ask about the things that you don't understand and just work from there...