_Kansei_

drove an MP3 yesterday.. such bliss! The car looks so perfect stock! no squeaks or rattles or any bad noises with over 100k miles too!

only mods are
- kartboy short throw shifter (dunno if it had the bushings, felt like it)
- injen intake
- obviously recently replaced rear sway bar bushings.

I wish my car was that stock.. well with just a little bit more power, like 20whp more.. but to do that naturally aspirated would be painfully loud.

basically I just wish I had that car with it's superior seat and door panel materials, quicker steering rack, and comfy yet amazingly competent suspension but with an MSP turbo kit at 5-6psi

oh wait that's just a mazdaspeed protege then (basically) :P

maybe I put my car back to stock and get me one of those (in orange.. the only color I would ever purchase)

JoshP5

This is something I never really got to the bottom of. Both the MP3 and the P5 steering have 2.7 turns lock-to-lock, even though the rack ratio is different (ratio's actually higher on the MP3 rack). What gives?

_Kansei_

I should confirm that they are in fact the same lock to lock (by just sitting the cars side by side. The MP3 steering definitely feels a bit quicker, but it also could be related to the fact that my front sway bar is only held in with one bushing

njaremka

you know, the ES / Pro5 steering rack actually has a quicker ratio than the MP3. i can't remember what the two ratio's are, but the MP3 is slightly slower.

_Kansei_

Where does the MSP fall? Is the real Nardi wheel (MP3) just slightly smaller perhaps? It just didn't feel the same

njaremka

i THINK the MSP rack is the same as the ES rack, but not 100% sure. i thought the ratio's were listed in the FAQ, but damnit all if that site isn't a big pain in the *** to navigate through. give me a few minutes and i'll see if i can find the ratios....

_Kansei_

I just did a google site search for "steering" and then for "ratio" and turned up nothing

njaremka

MSP/P5/normal proteges: 15.0:1
MP3: 15.4:1

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showt...=steering+rack

aMaff

which means that 1 turn of the wheel turns it further, or that it takes more turns to move it further? lol

What are the 2 different parts of the ratio?

njaremka

there are two parts: the rack, and the pinion. the pinion is directly connected tot he steering wheel, and the rack part moves the wheels back and forth. the "higher" number corresponds to the pinion, and the "lower" to the rack. think of them as two gears, just that one of them isn't round. the protege5 rack for example, requires 15 turns of the pinion to equal one "turn" on the rack. the MP3 then requires 15.4 turns on the pinion to equal one "turn" on the rack.

_Kansei_

It means a 15 degree steering wheel rotation yields 1 degree of wheel turning.

So I guess the quicker turning feel is just because I basically need to replace every stock piece of my front suspension?

edit: almost forgot.. same power steering system so that means the MP3 should have lighter steering, all other variables held constant.. right?

JoshP5

Yep.

aMaff

so... why does everyone think that the MP3 rack is quicker?

_Kansei_

I did because my front sway bar is hardly connected.

or maybe because the mp3 steering should theoretically be a little bit lighter, but not light enough that it feels like you're driving a Camry.

JoshP5

I wonder if it has less assist than other Proteges, making the effort higher, which might be confused with quickness...?