ok I am coming down to when I will be able to make my next few performance mod purchases and have a feq questions for those that have the knowledge and patience to answer them.

So far what I have for my car engine wise is a custom CAI that is made of 3" mandrel piping and a K&N style filter that si the samw as K&N except it sucks air in from the top of the filter also. I also have purchased the ractive exhaust system for my car.

BTW 03.5 midnight blue p5

I was planning on continuing with air flow mods as that is what I have started with, and got some good ideas from my other thread but those also promoted more questions.

I was planning a header system, motor mounts and camshafts.

Now for the questions.
I do a search here for header and almost all I get is the AWR one, I kinda dont want to spend that much and have seen header ystems for our cars for like 250-300 but want to know if others have had any experience or Any knowledge of these other headers and maybe some links?
At this point in performance mods should I start looking into engine management systems (standalone/piggyback) or should I be looking at upgrading the fuel system since I have done air flow? like fuel injectors, fuel rail, pump...? Im kinda clueless at this point.

Also has anyone seen throttle bodies or intake manifolds for our cars? As these are the only two air flow related parts I haven't really seen for these cars.

Lastly at what HP increase would you recomend looking at replacing the stock clutch and pressure plate?

The biggest question being about the header, as this is the next part I want to purchase.

Thx for those that take the time to read this and reply, I have some basic knowledge of cars tuning as my dad has worked as a tech for jaguar for over 15 yrs now but, Most regretably, i never got into working with him untill the last 2-3 yrs and so my knowledge is limited. unless you wanna know what cars jaguar is coming out with in the next 3-5 yrs, that I know

 

I know that a lot of people are recomending keeping the stock cluthc settup as it's better for teh clutch to go instead of the tranny. I'm not so sure about this but I do knwo that the tranny is a weak link in building up hp. For most of what you can do with our cars, the tranny should be fine with any racing clutch. I seem to have heard that 200hp is the max that the tranny can really take. We really need some aftermarket help here. Somebody needs to "bulletproof" our tranny.

 

well with the entire list of mods I plan on doing I would like to have the engine built up completely at 165-180hp including everything to make the engine handle forced induction as eventually I "might" do a small bolt on turbo.
Basically follow the list of a turbo kit but do it piece by piece myself.

Thats why I wanna make sure as I go along I am keeping in mind engine stability as well as power gains.

 

the tranny is considered one of the weak points....

but remember its not hp that kills trannies, its torque

i think u'll be alright for now, as going NA i dun think adds alot of torque, (i think)

i nkwo turboes add gobs of torque, which is what kills the trannies, so as u said u gonna piece a turbo together urself, then watch out for that part if u are already hitting good amounts of power with NA mods....

if u can find the right turbo, then u can have gobs of hp, with a pretty low, n flat torque line, which should be alright for the tranny, but then im getting worried about the engines internals

 

Headers, You might want to look at the RacingMazda header for the MX-6/Probe. That is going for around your price range of around 300USD. But it will need some modifications as it is not meant for the 2.0L FSDE. There is currently a group buy being set up that won't require any modifications w/ the same header but will eliminate the 2 cat-converters. These won't be emissions legal in all 50 states.

http://www.protege5.com/vbb225/showt...threadid=22487

As for intake manifolds and motor mounts, I believe Corksport has them for sale.

http://www.corksport.com/main.php3?p...3Fcat%3D220746

Going forced induction...you might want to have stock compression pistons, not the high comps that the jspec engine offers. And a header is not needed for a turbo so you'll end up selling that. Just plan ahead w/ your mods. What you want and don't want to do w/ the car. I think a turbo would be a the best way to go w/ cars. With a turbo running around 6-7psi, you'll hit around 170 bhp just like a mazdaspeed protege and then that will provide a good base to start your mods from.

 

Thx alot buddha, that answered alot of questions. A turbo is not a definite thing right now, which is why in my tentative planned mods it is almost last right now. But this is all based off of how I am living now and things can make major changesm especially when you nearing getting your degree and so forth. So I dont like to make definite plans.

For now I will be modding the engine for a N?A application, should the desire for turbo arise, and im sure it will(sometime), I will plan fom there.

As for the intake manifold I know on some cars there are some pretty big power numbers you can pull from a good one, is it true with the 2.0l engine also? I mean if I have intake, exhaust and header would the manifold be the next logical step?

Id also like to change appearence a little, I love the sport20 jdm conversion people are doing with autoexe parts but almost 500 for a f'n lip when most body kits are less than dounle that....any thx for the info and anything else is appreciated

 

Ya..there's basically no way around the bodykit pricing. The Autoexe stuff is urethane and will not crack like fiberglass. Gotta dish out the money for the quality. There's also alternatives like Erebuni and Onderground Designs (not recommended but cheap alternative). Wings West makes a kit but the general concensus is either you like the style or you don't. DG Motorsports has a host of carbon fibre products including lips and even strut bars. ION Performance based here in Canada has a quality carbon fibre hood that beats the price of DG and matches the quality and workmanship. Mint Blue has a full kit but gotta dish out the dough as well. Basically the real Japanese kits costs an arm and a leg. No way around that.

 

As far as engine management, if you have the money, the earlier the better... With minor bolt-ons you may only gain another 5-7hp with perfect tuning (on top of the bolt-on gains), but with those minor mods you will be better off to learn how to make small adjustments. If you wait until you have a fully compressed fire breather, the tuning will be that much more important, and improper adjustments could make a really expensive grenade...

IF you have any future serious plans on a turbo, the header is pointless, you could just go with a custom down-pipe and still pick up a few hp for a lot less money...

The fuel system should be more than equipped to handle your slew of bolt-ons, even mild forced induction...So don't worry about that yet...

FWIW a high compression low boost engine will behave completely differently than a low compression high boost engine...Depending on the compressor used, cams, tuning etc. you can achieve excellent high end power, excellent throttle response, and decent torque curves with a low boost high comp setup...and if done correctly could get over 200hp without the gobs of torque to destroy the gearbox...

 

thx again guys, I have been window shopping for engine management systems and am lookin at the greddy or apex'i but at the cost it will have to wait a while. Which is ok cause after the header and cams it will be a while again before I do anything that will affect the egnine much. Ill just reset the ECU and hope it learns the new stuff a little better.

I am also getting a groiund wire kit modeled after the HKS circle earth one for 38 shippied from ebay so I am hoping that helps my throttle response and idle.

I have decided to just take the balck bar in my grill and sand/primer/paint it the same color as the car and then do the same to the flying M only make that gunmetal so it matches the inner part of the grill. That will do for now and I plan on eventually doing the blackout of the headlights to make em look liek the JDM ones. For that I have to wait till I go home to phoenix where my dad has an electric heat gun, I am scared of puting my headlights in an oven. I also have city lights coming that I am puting in in a couple weeks.

So between that, clear corners and removing the little oval markers by the door (which Im replacing with mp5 or sport20 badges) that should be good for now for cosmetic changes, just a little unique.

 

38 CDN? You can make your own. GroHarlem has put a tutorial in the How-to section on making your own ground wires and finding ground points in your engine bay.

 

yah but the tutorial I saw figured 25-28 cost for supplies and then there is the time driving around and making the kit. for about 10 more it is shipped to me, professionally made and all I have to do is install.

 

Sorry...keep thinkin you were in canada. Oops.

 

im close right now, redmond washington, but I normally live in Arizona. I am going back there in sept to finish my last semester of college and then when I graduate in december I am making a more permanent move back up here.