macdaddyslomo

A stiffer front bar with the current setup on a 3rd gen Protege WILL create more UNDERSTEER, not oversteer

Yes the car most definitely has a rear bar...usually a first mod for most guys is upgrading it to the awr rear bar though,this help decrease understeer

tonkabui

1) JIC or Bosal makes the lightest catback exhaust for the protege line. JIC weighs in at a little under 20 pounds and Bosal weighs in at 25-ish pounds.

2) Hawk pads rock

3) tokico illuminas are the way to go. 5-way adjustable.

4) redline, royal purple, it really doesn't make THAT much of a difference. you might want to look into a short shifter though. the throws in the 5speed are a mile apart.

5) if you get the RB front sway, be sure to turn the struts in the back way up. gotta counter that understeer.

6) the oil starvation problem has not been a major problem. perhaps people weren't mindful of their oil levels prior to driving hard. i use the mazda 626 v-6 filter and exactly 4 quarts of oil with no problems.

if you can upgrade the rear sway bar, AWR 21.5mm fully adjustable sway bar is the way to go. talk about BEEEEFY. the coils on the 03 pros are a DIS system, so upgrading wires will net you no gains. k&n filter is a good idea. other than that, have fun with the new whip.

and welcome to the forum.

kargoboy

You could swap the front/rear from an ES model, right? Or is that illegal, too? Sorry, I'm clueless about auto-x, but the ES models are ever so slightly stiffer by a few mm.

mitchman

That Kartbody bushing looks like the way to go! Do the OEM one's wear out in 40,000 miles? I could try replacing with new OEM one first?

Swaybar- I've got a friend that has raced one sucessfully and he has drilled new holes in the stock bar to make it stiffer. I'm not disagreeing with you. I need to do some testing to see what works best.

Alignment- Can you adjust the rear alignment? Especially toe in/out.

JDM-P5

A prime example of WHY I joined this site! Thanks Tonkabui!!!


"I have given it much thought. It seems disaster must come, at best only postponed. The auto-crossing technique must now be taught to more young women & men. We must expand get more pupils, so the knowledge will spread."

mitchman

MacDaddySlomo: (great handle!) Thanks for the suggestion. You're probably right. I'm just going to get something that's adjustable enough to do my own testing. I hope I can find something! (nobody puts enough holes in their bars anymore!)

Tonkabul: Thanks for the informative reply. So which exhaust is move livable for everyday driving? It can't be too loud. Also, can you explain what I DIS ignition system is? I don't understand how new wires won't help. I think mine are probably getting worn with 42,000 miles. I at least need new plugs.

Everytime I've run Illuminia's they've raised my ride height considerably. Not a good in the stock class where you can't change springs. But maybe they've gotten better with this over the years. It's been about 15 years since I've ran them.

Kargoby: Good idea. But the SCCA doesn't allow update/backdate in the stock classes. I'd have to convert the WHOLE car over to an ES to beable to run that thicker rear bar. Now on the other hand, maybe no one would notice! (kidding)

mitchman

Where can I buy AWR swaybars?

tonkabui

well, both systems are canister design, so they'll be pretty loud compared to stock, or even other systems with a proper muffler. the JIC sounds wonderful though. i know people with the bosal have been happy with it but i have not personally heard it. if you live in an area of high corrosion, however, the bosals have been known to rust at the welds. the tips are also replaceable, and people have had them fall off on the freeway. the JIC's run about $600 for a catback. let me know if you are interested, i'll link you to a site. tell them i sent you and they'll give you a price break perhaps. no promises though.

as for wires, if you replace the wires you have on there now with stock wires, you'll be fine. the way the DIS system works, it sits right over the spark plug. the wires are VERY short. since it's so short, there's little resistance and the stock wires are plenty efficient. the magnecor wires are ~$80. all you get is 2 itty bitty wires. guys in mazdasports had gotten them and sold them shortly thereafter because of the lack of any gains or advantages over stock. definitely not worth it. your plugs definitely need changing if they didn't get swapped out at 30K. don't get anything fancy. the stock ngk's are good. i bought into the hype of the iridium crap and got ripped. $40 for plugs and not a damn difference.

as for the illuminas. those bastards! hahaha. they are excellent for track use, however, you are absolutely correct in saying they lift the car up. when i had the stock shocks (only 14K miles on them at most), my car was nice and lowered with the eibachs. after illumina installation, the car lifted about a quarter inch. since the drop was less than an inch and a half, a quarter inch was quite noticeable. but trust me... they're soooooo worth it.

tonkabui

awr rear sway bar:

http://awrracing.com/pages/store.html

chris at spd also sells them. he's a regular poster on here under the handle f3cs boy i believe. he's a really knowledgeable and helpful vendor and can better help you regarding all your questions.

macdaddyslomo

Can you put different springs on if they are a stock option on the car ??? If so MSP Springs pair GREATLY with illumina's, and the drop the car about an inch, which should compensate for the increase from the tokico's

Phantom Cruiser

I haven't done any auto-x so my setup might not be ideal for that. However, I can say that I have not upgraded the front sway bar, just a larger one for the rear (SR Motorsports). I use the Hawk HPS pads, but only on track days because they scream like banshees! Right now I have some skunk2 coil-overs on stock struts on the Protege (someday will upgrade...). I love my Racing Beat cat-back exhaust!!!

I run the Tokico Illuminas w/matched Eibach springs on my Miata and they are great. I switched from the howling banshee Hawks to the Cobalt Friction pads and they stop like nobody's business (very impressed).

mitchman

Tonkabui: I like the JIC exhaust (actually called Bullet on their website). But what's with the tips? Is that how they look? Burned, blue color? Wierd... Can you give me the link to the site you're talking about. $600 is BIG money for a cat back system. I'm used to paying $200-350. But we'll see!

MacDaddySlomo: No you can't swap springs. They need to stay stock. Good idea though!

Phantom Cruiser: That's what I'm hearing. Just leave the front swaybar stock or even disconnect it. But here's another way to look at it that I found interesting (sorry for the long post):

--------------------------(from autocross forum)--------------
On a mac strut, negative camber will increase as the suspension compresses until the plane of the lower control arm is at a right angle to the shock shaft. Beyond that point, additional suspension compression will actually cause a positive camber change (not good). Generally speaking, on a mac strut application, the more extended the suspension is (IE: the more the a-arms are angled downward), the more favorable the camber curve will be. What makes the suspension geometry good (raised ride height) is therefore at odds with what keeps weight transfer low (lower ride height).

The poor camber curve of a mac strut can be made up for to some degree by stiffening the springs and antiswaybars to reduce body roll. This is why you often see successful FWD autocross cars in stock class running big front antiswaybars, despite this increasing weight transfer at the front, it helps the car go faster by controlling the front camber better.

Increasing caster and setting more static negative camber can also be helpful to keep the outside front tire from going into positive camber territory in the middle of the corner. Running too much static negative camber reduces braking and acceleration traction. But this is normally not achievable with the OEM adjustments.

Often on macstrut cars, the static negative camber is adjustable by rotating an eccentric bolt that mounts strut to the wheel bearing housing. Sometimes there are stock class authorized "crash bolts" which are thinner shanked than the stock bolts, and give extra range of adjustment for negative camber.

Hope that helps.
----------------------

Now you know why I want to do some extensive testing with a front sway bar.

tonkabui

here's the link to the exhaust. if you tell them truc from mazdasports sent you, they might be able to knock off some of the cost, or throw in cheaper shipping... or something!

http://www.apexr1.com/jicbususse.html

but there are two types. they have one with the burnt tip that's titanium (even lighter) or they have the full SS one. good luck racing and keep us posted!