Hello everyone!

This week I've just traded in my '99 Protege LX... 'bout as average as they come. With 73k miles and no unexpected maintence (put $1000 over 4 years!), I figured there's only one replacement car. I'm now driving a 2003 ES with all the options minus the moonroof.

Now that I have a Protege worth pepin' up, I surfed for tips. To make a long story short... here I am!

My question... I'm wonderin' how to get some extra hp . I understand the very basics, but I'm lookin' for the biggest bang for my buck... Some advice on what to get/do and why.

Any help would be great! Even literature on what to's/how to's... URL's (BTW... The FAQ was nicely done)... or places to visit (near Houston or Austin).

Thanks in Advance and I'm glad to be here!

 

You need to determine how much more power you want...Are you only looking at the engine, or are you concerned about the suspension as well...

Read every stickied Tech aritcle on this board. Jesse posted some very informative technical info on systems that seem to be upgraded the most...

As far as bang for the buck, Nitrous is king...but done incorrectly could result in more "bang" than you are interested in...People argue on what type of Forced Induction is the best to go with, but simply, a turbocharger will give the most reliable full time power (also if done correctly) you can get from your FS, albeit at a much higher price than nitrous...

If you have a huge set of ********* you could remain N/A and build your engine to FS-ZE specs...And with a good engine controller +various bolt-ons you could still achieve over 140whp, which would be a first among this board I believe...If you do the work yourself, it will be cheaper than a Turbo kit, be less stressful on the engine/gearbox. The most expensive upgrade being to the ECU...

 

hello Quix and
Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!!

 

Man you can always count on Nuke for the welcome mat, I would check or FAQ's area to get info for your ride, Also welcome to our little piece of the world.

 

good deal.. Thanks for the welcome!!! I've read some of the stickies, but I'm still new, so not to many of them.

From what research i've done, the stock engine puts out aprox 130hp... with the mazdaspeed muffler & a K&N intake, i may push the hp to about 140-145... It was suggested to me to get a bigger throttlebody... and that this should up the hp even more.

Please tell me if I'm wrong with any of this thinking.

Suspension wise... i'm happy right now... the ES with the 16" dunlops and the normally tight suspension is satisfactory. Before I'd mod the suspension, I'd like to hunt someone down who has modded some/all of the suspension and see the results. I can only imagine that tightening it any more would make it ride like a wooden rollercoaster.

'Bout the throttlebody... so far i haven't seen anything for the protégé while looking around.

While surfing last night, in the FAQ here as a matter of fact, I found the "enjoy the drive" site. It's suggesting plugs and wires... any suggestion on what the 2.0l protégé likes best?


... Sr Nuke... what part of Houston r u from? I spend most my time in N & W houston.

 

mazda speed muffler and k&n won't add 15hp sorry... more like 3 or 4

 

Welcome to our cyberhome-away-from-home!

I don't know what "enjoy the drive" site you're referrring to, but plugs and wires are a useless "upgrade" without other mods to take advantage of them.

The stock ignition can handle the juice from the system just fine, and swapping any of it is not going to "manufacture" more energy on its own.

You will not get any noticeable gains whatsoever.

If you want real horsepower gains from this engine, save your money to do some serious mods. Turbo is popular, and nitrous is probably the cheapest way to get some ponies.

None of the "little" mods are going to do much for you. Exhaust and intake will proabably get you 5 HP combined. Plugs and wires - nadda. Swapping cams - I think the average net gain is 10 horses (someone correct me if I'm wrong there).

Best bet is to decide what your goals are, take your time, and come up with a real pony plan. Do you want only a little more power? Then simple intake and exhaust my be enough for you. Do you care about your warranty? If you DO care, you can pretty much forget about getting some real power, as all of those kind of mods are certain warranty-busters.

It's just MHO, but I'm leaving well enough alone for the most part. I've spent my money on the audio, and some other useful little upgrades. But engine-wise - bone stock. If I wanted a 1/4 mile car, I wouldn't be driving a Protege! It takes some pretty serious modding to squeeze good numbers out of our 2.0L's. And for me - it's not worth the effort, money, and possible reliability/warranty risks. Again, just my opinion.

~HH

 

Well... I can say I was hopin' for more from the intake and exaust, doesn't sound worth the $$ anymore. I'm not looking to make this a racer, so I'm not dissapointed either. But, damn I love these lil' suckers. I'll still be fun to drive.

I understand the suspension mods make the car pretty stiff... can any of you vouch for how stiff that is?

Anyhow.. gotta get to work... Thanks again ya'll.

 

Best Bang per the Buck (or Dollar Per Horse Power) is nitrous...You can get a kit from my group buy for about $450 shipped...

With my nitrous setup i have it jetter to 50HP.

An exhaust & intake can run you upto $600 dollars & you will only gain a few HP..about 5 to the wheels...


Chas

 

How hard is nitrous on the car.... I would think it would be hard on it.

Also, I was wondering (remember I know VERY little about this) if that was legal. I've alway thought it wasn't.

Different question... Any opinions on the mazdaspeed stablizer bars? I'm thinkin I'd like to get them, but i'm not so sure... I don't know anyone with a modded protege to let me see how it feels.




(side note... I just signed the paperwork... It's a lazer blue ES... with the moonroof! I considered the heat here in Houston.)

 

That is what I meant by being done correctly. If all the fuel math is correct, and the engine is running properly to begin with it won't be harder on the engine than any other type of forced induction. To keep things simple the Nitrous Oxide molecules break down to deliver more usable oxygen (which is the reaction fuel) into the cumbustion chamber, which is a round about way of what a turbo/supercharger does. With a stock setup the amount of nitrous used should be minimal. A lot of people get confused that a nitrous system creates an engine that no longer burns gasoline, which isn't the case, and also why a lot of people think it instantly places a grenade under the hood. Also people that use nitrous tend to be harder on the engine all together, meaning they do a lot of full throttle squirting around making it a not so good investment to buy a used nitrous induced car. In any form of forced induction engine tuning is absolutely critical, and also why if nothing is done to the ECU, it must be a mild setup...


By stabilizer bars are you refering to the anit-sway bars? No one that I know of is using both bars from the mazdaspeed, but a few are using the MP3's (which is similar and also bigger than stock) rear bar. The front is a **** to get to and replace, so people don't usually worry about that one as much. And a rear bar only upgrade helps the front bias understeer of a stock Protege. check out www.AWRracing.com and www.protege5online.com for AWR rear bars. They are desinged to mount on the stock car, which the MP3/MSP Racing Beat bars are not...

 

As far as intake an exhaust, you don't always have to buy name-brand stuff.

For example: my intake consists of a K&N-equivelant cone filter, MAF bracket, 4screws/washers/nuts, and a custom bracket I made to hold it up. Hp gains: slim to none. Throttle response: Greatly improved! Worth it? Most definitely. Total cost: $35. Search around on eBay and local speed shops for MAF brackets and cone filter (which can also be bought at Pep Boys or Autozone). In fact, you can probabaly get it under $30 if you just let it droop down and not make a custom bracket to hold it up.

For you exhaust, it will be a bit more expensive, but not damn near $500 or so for an Apexi cat-back or whatever. I bought my muffler for $135 from a speed shop, then went to an exhaust shop and had them custom mandrel-bend some 2.5" piping running from the *** end of the cat to the *** end of the car, then mounted to muffler. Hp gains: some. Sound: it'll make ya have a wet dream. Worth it? Yes. Total cost: $230 ($135 muffler, $60 piping, $25 install muffler, $10 two J-hooks). But, some asswipe came up to my car and cut off my damn muffler. It rattles a little bit because they cut off the two J-hooks, but it sure sounds mean. Not anything like those freaked-up buzzbee fartpipes.

My suggestion: go ghetto-style like me and save a few bucks. It may not say K&N or GReddy, but will perform damn near the same.

 

Did you look into getting a Mazdaspeed Protege at all? Just curious.