1.8L woes
 

Hey all,

I have a '99 Protege LX-Touring (Canada)with a 1.8L/5-spd.
I have installed a K&N cone filter and BroSpeed muffler. Here is what I've noticed...power below 3000 RPM is non-existent, 3-4000 RPM is moderate power & 4000 RPM+ snaps your neck and leaves your head in the back seat. But, the inside of my tailpipe is black with soot(this worries me). Do Mazdas usually run rich in this sutuation...atleast enough to create problems? If so, what would be my best option to keep the performance parts, if possible? I noticed my friends Civic VX has done the same thing and his car seems okay.
Also, as a future possible mod...will the MX-3 rear 4-bolt disc swap into a/my '99 G3?

I have a '00 1.8L ES with Monsterflow intake and Bosal cat-back exhaust. I haven't had problems running rich. I think the MX-3 shares it's chassis and suspension with the first gen Protege. I don't think they have the same rear suspension as the 3rd gen Protege, so you'd probably have better luck using the rear disc spindle from the '01 rear disc equipped Proteges and trying the MX-3/1st gen Protege rear disc hub with it. The rotors are available from Mazda Motorsports.