import_tuner19

Why is it no name brand companies make parts for our cars but civics get everything. Protege's are better in my opinion. Im just mad because 80 companies make cat backs for civics and eclipses and whatnot and 3 or 4 make them for the protege.

THAPRO1

The plain and simple truth is that people who drive civics, integras and the like will actually buy this stuff, whereas most people who drive proteges or other cars that there isn't a huge aftermarket for don't. So its not worth the trouble and money for a company to build parts for a car where most of the people who own them don't buy the parts....there are some good companies that recognize our cars i belive skunk2 makes a catback for our cars racing beat does mazdaspeed does or you could always do what i and alot of other ppl do buy a muffler from a "name brand" company like Apexi or hks and then just have your local shop run piping from the cat back either way it won't really make that big of a differenece my understanding is that on our cars you will get around 7hp i belive it is? i could be wrong? but basically the only way to get these name brand companies to make parts for our cars is to buy them and sadly i don't see enough people who are willing to buy the parts to make it worth the companies time and money. Plus if you think its hard for our cars try owing a 1st gen protege!!! compared to that our cars have the aftermarket of a civic or integra...lol
peace
dante

eggynatey

I don't see much of a problem.

Apexi and HKS both make cat backs for the Protege. So do JIC, Magnaflow, and a bunch more.
Need an intake? AEM, JIC and Monsterflow are a few that are availble.
How 'bout a turbo kit? Plenty to choose from including HiBoost, MAM and BEGI
Cams? yep They're out there.
Bracing for the chassis? Cusco, CP Racing and Curcuit Sport are a few names to start with
Body Kits? BuddyClub, Mint Blue and AutoExe all make stuff for our Mazdas.
Wheels? Volk, Wedsport, ****, even Work makes custom-fit wheels for us

There's even gauge rings, short shifters, door sills and custom gauge pods & antennas for a Protege.
lol, when I bought my P5 in Dec '01, there wasn't **** for our cars! I remember getting all stoked over my new rear bumper cover and cargo tray.

import_tuner19

see you have a P5 I dont i have a sedan, exaust systems arent as easy to come by, every cat back for the p5 is 6 inches shorter than that of the sedan. Intakes and the other lot arent as hard to find.

juddz

.... is it a problem if parts are not "name brand"? Many people here conclude that the E-Bay CAI and SRI are better than those offered by AEM and other major makes. And, the little cottage industries that support us (Wagner, for example) turn out top-notch stuff. And, IMO, the stuff from APC and other large "performance as fashion" companies is largely crap when compared with the folks we have supporting us. It's kind of cool to be part of a scene that is driven by grease under the fingernails, rather than the big dollar marketing you see in some of the second tier import magazines.

If you are into it, you will run out of money before you run out of possible mods to your car. But I apologize if the brands we have supporting us aren't big enough to throw a bikini contest at the car shows.

kargoboy

Personally, I'd rather have a few companies making quality parts for my car than 100 companies making parts and 80% of them are crap. I'd go crazy if I had a freakin' Civic trying to wade through the garbage to find what I wanted.
I know that for my next mod, whatever it is, I can find EXACTLY what I want and know that it's going to fit and work.

juddz

...I will also venture that Civics are like Mustangs, in the sense that they are over represented at every sport compact show you will ever go to. It is the unusual and the extraordinary that always catches my eye at car shows. Even growing up, at the hot rod shows, I was a lot more interested in the Henry J or Anglia that someone had made into a gasser, than I was in some of the more ubiquitous stuff.

FlyinHawaiian071

Woah there buddy... overly big words are not allowed here. We are just but a simple people with nice cars and a passion for performance... We like to go fast without think too much about it...

But in all seriousness, I too get frustrated by the lack of a really competitive market for our cars and the limited selection of parts. On the other hand, as kargoby mentioned, all of the parts for our car are of top quality and it is really hard to screw something up. Most of the few mods that are made for our car are performance related and very few are for bling as it is for the civic crowd. How many boy-racer bodykits do you see out there for us? Whereas the civic crowd has a crap-load of kits made for their cars, most are fiberglass, don't fit well and look like elephant dung. Ours, where they may be less in quantity, are very high quality, with almost all of the kits being made from polyurethane, and the ones made from fiberglass are of good quality.

Really, in simple, comparative terms, the only people who make stuff for our car are the best in the business. Think of it like this, whereas the civic community shops at McDonalds, we get offered the Filet Mignon. It costs a little more, and there is less of it around, but it's worth every cent.

Phantom Cruiser

I was severely embarassed when I walked into the local O'Reilly's Auto Parts store and on the top shelf of their APC display, they had a box of Altezza-type lights with a picture of them on a Protege! I'd actually rather not see APC and Proteges together...

There may not be quite as much available for our cars as say...Ford Focus...but like has been stated before, we do have nice quality parts made for us. I have been satisfied with all of my parts so far and back in the day when we couldn't find many parts we just took what we could find and we made it fit!

FlyinHawaiian071

Tell me about it.. I was in Pepboys and saw an APC "GT-Spec" aluminium-crap wing on a WHITE 99-00 Protege Sedan. I left the store, hugged my car, told it I was sorry it was near such a vile image, and drove off...

Roddimus Prime

also don't forget that some vendors are still trying to create new stuff for our cars....no matter if you have a sedan or wagon.

import_tuner19

I can understand small companies making parts but ebay inkates im kinda leary about because injen has put hours or r&d into the intake while some moron on ebay finds aluminum that absorbs heat like no other and out lines a quick way to cold air. But yet the big companies like APC and crap like that are just riding the civic integra fad until its dead, then theyll move on. Then again the brand intakes cost an arm and a leg and a first born child.

juddz

You know, it ain't rocket science to design an intake... it takes just one equation to determine the length and diameter (for resonant tuning), then all you need to do is:
1) Make sure it fits
2) Minimize the number of bends, smooth them out as much as possible
3) Make sure IAT, MAF, and other mating hardware attaches secure, and in the right place.

Roddimus Prime

what exactly is it you think Injen makes their intakes out of??

you should sometimes think about what you say before you say it because sometimes those "morons who outline quick ways to cold air" are your moderators/admin!

p.s. If you show me any consistent proof that says an Injen intake outperforms my ebay intake I'll buy you an Injen intake.

import_tuner19

(inserting foot in mouth and buying ebay intake so as not to **** off roddimus or juddz)sorry