Test drove a P5 again. My findings
 

This time I was alone :bt: I took a black one for a good rip.

I noticed the 2700 rpm buzz. No worries folks. It's a rattle that is not internal in the engine that buzzes from a harmonic resonance at 2700 rpm.

It sounds pretty good! Decently growly. I liked it

:cool:

Feels eager, but it's all gearing unfortunately. Push the pedal further and it doesn't have a whole lot of get up and go. It makes noise like it is though. But even as such, I find it really fun to drive.

Handles awesome! :D

Brakes great! I nailed the brakes HARD from 60 mph in the rain. Stopped great. AFter getting back to the dealer though I could totally smell the brakes but the thing only had 7 kms on it ;)

I think I've decided to buy a P5 once my R/T sells. These are the important factors to me when buying a car:

1) Fun to drive
2) Great to look at
3) Easy to maintain
4) Price
5) Decent aftermarket
6) Has a good rep.

I'll buy your R/T from ya ;-)

Heeheehee yeah I saw your name on another post and saw you own a Neon R/T :) We were considering a new one too but the wife wants a wagon and the P5 seems to handle better. The R/T has better power though. Feels like a much broader torque curve.

Now my DAKOTA R/T is a different animail altogether. Torque out the wazoo! Nuthin like running 15.12 in the 1/4 bone stock :cool:

Well yeah, it is a better torque curve, the R/T just has more power all around. As for the Dakota, it's a totally different story. We just had a couple new 5.9 R/T Dakota's and Durango's show up at our dealership too. The Dakotas look quite nice.

My MP3 was my first Mazda, and I am starting to have 2nd thoughts. If it were me, which it is not, I would get a Honda. I have had lots of experience with Honda, and despite what some people say, they are great. My mechanic has a civic with a B18A (first gen Integra) that he ran 18 psi on. He ran that on a stock engine with over 100K miles on it and only blew a head gasket and the cam seals, and that was after a few weeks of racing.

I am scared to drive my MP3 again hehe. After the tranny locked up, and hearing it happened on 2 more STOCK Proteges, I am scared it is a defect.

Anyway, good luck on your purchase. If I ever get rid of my MP3 I am gonna get a 240, Nissan is the shit!



#1072/1500 MP3
#72/500 Yellow

Performance Mods
-----------------------------------
FS-ZE Intake Cam
Mazdaspeed Exhaust Cam
Tripoint Engineering Flywheel
ACT Six Puck Racing Clutch
ACT Heavy Duty Pressure Plate
MHP Cold Air Intake
B&M Short Throw Shifter
Apexi S-AFC
Bosal Header
Tenzo R Muffler
High Flow Cat
2.5 Inch Mandrel Bent Exhaust From Header Back

Webmaster and Member of Teamexodus.net
http://www.teamexodus.net

get these three things and you will be screeming

1. AEM short ram air intake......car breaths alot better and you accelerate alot faster

2. short throw shifter

3. get a cusom exost

Thanks! I saw some pics of the AEM and it looks good. Short throw sounds good. I haven't really looked into that. I saw the Bosal on here and it sounds like what I would look for: deep growly sound.

Bummer about your problems! :( I hope the new tranny fixes it. I've never even seen a yellow MP3. I've seen a few blue ones here and there. Did your mods give a noticeable enough increase in power to justify the work and cost? How about the cams? Where would you be at for power now? Similar to a Civic SiR?

All the mods came close to $4000, with installation and all. As far as power now, I am not much faster than a stock Integra LS. I could probably hold my own against a Civic Si.

The cams aren't worth the $ in my opinion. They were dyno'd with a 6 HP gain. Best mods were the clutch, flywheel, and shifter. Header is a POS hehe.

I hate to be a dick...but thats just horrible. So now you've invested $20,000 plus into your car...and can hit about 16's flat in the quarter? I've spent under $8000 on my car, including it's purchase, and am running faster than that. Not to rag on ya...but oh man!

Yep, it really sucks doesn't it hehe.

lol...I agree about the turbo. Also he may have spent around 20K but his car is a lot newer and will more than likely hold its value a little better than yours did. Not to rag on 'ya of course......

Well it's only a 3 or 4 years difference...a 98 is still relatively new, but on the flip side, Neons never hold value, which is what makes them such great steals ;-). As for NA vs. turbo, NA is a lot of work, but much more worth it, IMO. You feel much better with your blood, sweat, and, well, blood poured into that engine for every horsepower.

NC_MP3-

although i havent driven your car, i would suggest this as a possible prob(s):

1. get rid of the crappy header-for sure, youre right about it!!! do this instead. buy a dremel tool, or borrow one, and port the stock manifold. (also, check out for us all if you can, if the stock exhaust manifold is the same as the one on the FS-ZE engine. if it is then you know that the stock unit is good up to at least 170hp-right? if its not, then port it anyway or buy the FS-ZE unit.

2. dyno tune the fuel mixture- if havent already(im sure you have)
3. for God sake's get rid of that crappy Tenzo R muffler!!! buy a universal apexi, 5Zigen, HKS(my preference), etc...muffler. and spend the $100 for an extra S.S. dynomax muffler as a resonator.
4. try P&P'ing the intake manifold.
5. send your TB to RC engineering to be bored out.
6.(personal preference here) get rid of the clutch-its too strong. could be why your tranny locked up-but HIGHLY unlikely. it will cause more undue stress to the tranny as a whole unit. reason draggers and racers use em' is that they have to. and the are prepared to re-build their trannies when need be.

of course this is all IMHO, so please do not be offended.
chris jefferson