interesting comments on mods

[markque]

Guys - here are comments collected from two emails to my dealership on my inquiries that I thought I'd pass along. Most of it is self explanatory but if not, ask and I'll fill ya in.

As of yet there is nothing available for turbos or superchargers that we are aware of. A guess would be another year or two.
The Miata was a big hit from the get go in 1990 but the aftermarket did not get into turbos or superchargers till 3 yrs later. They won't do it till there is a large enough pool of cars on the road that they can be sure of some success in sales.
Basically there is very little demand for these items while the cars are under the 3 yr new car warranty. Manifolds and exhausts are in the same league as pistons and cams. Not worth the investment if you're looking for performance. Based on what we have seen with the Miata I would guess that superchargers and turbos will be the way to go on the Protege once they come out.
As for pulling out an automatic tranny and putting in a five speed, that would be an expensive proposition. Wiring will be different, as will the computer and it will also require shift linkages, interior goodies to put the 5 speed in and all new pedals on the floor along with related clutch master cylinder and plumbing. Probably could be done but would cost a fortune. 25 yrs ago it was easy to swap engines and trannies because vehicles had no electronics. As you are finding out it just can't be done reasonably at all on a modern day hi tech fuel injected automobile. Sorry I am not telling you what you want to hear.

As of yet I have no info for pricing or part numbers on any '03 models (another couple weeks). The sportmatic transmission is a completely different transmission than the 02 model. My top tech tells me that the guts of the tranny will all be different from an '02 model along with the wiring, computer control and linkage system, therefore making it very expensive to convert an '02 model.
As for pistons and cams I would assume like with the Miata they are a waste of money. Very little horsepower gain for the dollar and will definitely void factory engine warranties. All car manufacturers have warranty issues when you start changing things internally in the engine from factory spec. The ss scuff plates you saw at our dealership are not a factory Mazda acccesory, they are aftermarket.
When Mazda ships me parts info on the '03 Pro5 I will get back to you on the cupholder.

[Protege5 Kid]

way to go mark. I want to know the price
of the light housing! keep the info coming bond!

[rowan]

*lol* that guy is totally clueless. sorry but ...

There are like six different turbo kits available for the 2.0L protege. Most of them from American companies. Flyin Miata, BEGI, Callaway (the OEM), Tripoint Engineering...

Our engine can most certainly benefit from n/a tuning ..
consider that the Japanese Sport20 engine is basically the same as ours yet rates at 170HP. This is with pistons/cams/header. The most difficult part of finishing off that equation is getting the FS-ZE chip with the proper mappings to utilize the new hardware. Remember that Mazda has seriously detuned the Protege5/Protege to meet with ULEV requirements so it looks good in the North American market. None of those parts are particularly expensive to order and they are all available through Mazda Motorsports or Corksport.

Man ... maybe I'm glad that no Canadian dealerships can get Mazdaspeed parts yet they're all so clueless about their own products! No soul .. no passion http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[pawood]

We are back to the great plague of the modern car... the %&*(% chip!!!

Here's the rant... in earlier days, I could go under the hood and tune a car like a fine composer who was in tune with his virtuoso. It took time and some knowledge, but the results could be amazing... with little money put out.

Now we deal with computer modules, and selective knowledge... and vast restrictions (I used to get PAID for the changes I made on a car to see if there was a benefit). There is very little incsentive to push the barriers without a huge penalty.

Everything we have done on a "club" basis is minor. No one has looked to the engineering boundaries to see what might be possible. What we are offered is within a very fine and restrictive boundary, and for the love of sport, many overstep the limits to see if our ideas work... then, once proven, the conglomerates cash in and sell us back our innovations!!!!!!!

This is never a good solution to making a good car better.

[markque]

Rowan, good points - thanks.
I was aware of the websites that offer turbos. Not sure how many of these companies service Canadian clients. The price I saw @ Tri-Point was $3800 US, plus installation. Seems like they might as well say it's not available, as that translates to ~ $6000 Canadian plus installation. Few of us would be capable or ballsy enough to install a turbo. And this is money to do something that will void the warranty, so if anything goes wrong, then you're talking possibly thousands more to repair.
I thought the response was typical of a dealership but wanted to pass it along anyway. I'm torn about modifying the engine under warranty. I've owned two turbos and love the rush but I also love my P5 enough to wait until #1 - the warranty is over for major engine mods and #2 others have pioneered the effort, reported good results, and the market offers choices at reasonable prices. Call me cautious - part of it is that I paid an extra $220 at point of sale to extend the warranty to 4 years. Thought it was a good idea and mods last year were not something I considered.
So who does believe the cams, pistons, and manifold kits are worth the money? What are the costs and results? What about an overbore - say to 2.2 or 2.3L - plus performance pistons?
I agree that Mazda should be able to get WAY more than 130hp from the 2.0L, especially when Honda can get 160-200hp and Totoya gets 180hp from a non-turbo 1.8L.
Keep the comments coming. There's always something to learn!

Thanks Mark http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Familia 323]

Mark, from experience, enthusiasts who does internal engine mods usually end up going all the way in search for more power. The most serious ones also add headwork (where the real horses are) to the mix once all the serious hardware are ready to go in. Money NEVER becomes an issue to some and certainly any ponies gained is a success. They also know one thing - their engines are beefier and ready for the next stage, some form of forced induction/nitrous system. Vehicle warranties never becomes an issue... and their vision is NOT what most dealerships envisions....

[markque]

My older cousins, brother and sister, used to hang out in the pits with racers and travelled around with them for years and loved Daytona, NASCAR, etc. I knew another family into the "mini-mod" category in the early '80s (mostly Minis and Capri racers) They know more about racing and modding than I do. I took more of a liking to motorcycles at that time.
Hard to believe people would actually take the Protege5 or GT and modify it with a "no fear" attitude and "the sky's the limit" with their wallets. I guess they have to be hard-core, mechanics by trade (or self-proclaimed). Or maybe they get sponsored...? Doesn't sound like something the average car "guru" can afford. I can't imagine getting half-way into a project to discover it won't work then shell more money out to work around it.
I think the Subaru WRX is about $35G - some people may be interested in building a bigger power force out of a P5 and willing to invest an extra $10G +.
Can anyone on this board commit to spending $6000 on a turbo, then spend more to install it or reinforce the chassis, suspension, etc? If and when a reliable turbo is readily available for half that price, I'll be checking it out. Spending more than ~ $3G would be money down the drain if you were trying to recoup it at point of resale, but as you were saying Eric, some people don't care about that. Wish I could afford to be that carefree...!

Mark  http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[lizard]

It will only be a while until some geek wraps his Mazdaspeed protege around a light pole. I thought that it would be awesome to buy a rear ended or rolled MS protoge and then swap the parts that are intact and buy the rest. Sell your current parts and voila a Mazdaspeed P5.

Better yet watch mazda make a turbo p5 in 2004. I would trade my auto p5 in a nanosecond.

Anyway I have mentioned a wankel engine swap in another thread. Any thoughts or would that beast rip the front end of my P5?
From what I understand the wankel engine is failry small at 1.3 liters.

[rowan]

That whole warranty thing is a bit of a kicker ... I don't have any plans to do major work on my car although maybe if I know there's no chance of a warranty anyway I would be more likely to pop the lid on that baby.

[Familia 323]

Mark, the success of Protege racers like Paul Bonnacorsi, Roger Foo, the Jordan family to name a few, also contributes a big part in the whole scheme of Protege modding. I know when I joined Protegetech about 5 years ago, there were only a few us and Hunter Smith, the founder, didn't surely expect that it would take off like it did. We then attracted a lot of attention, and the turning point I believe was the write-up by Sport Car Compact regarding our website, in which they voted us as one of the best "new" sites in the net. Sponsorships, as you mentioned, played a major part as well and the race teams I mentioned, Mazda Motorsports, Mazdaspeed and other race builders like Tripoint then went to work to come up with competitive race cars. Bonnacorsi, on his first stint in a Protege in '98-'99 won a SCCA championship, and Foo also joined Mazda, after a long stint with Honda. These are contributing factors to what we now enjoy, the availability of performance parts for the Protege. Whether you choose to mod it or not, the Protege remains very competent and competitive in the "small car" segment.

[Gen1GT]

Rumours are, the next gen Miata will have a 180-200 hp 4cyl, and will have an optional rotary with 250hp!!(sick!http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif. But lets pray that the 4cyl is going to be VERY similar to the Gen 4 Protege. At worst, maybe the 2.3(I think)L four out of the Mazda 6, with 150-160hp would be sweet.

legal disclaimer: anything said, or implied in the preceding message, was not meant to harm, offend, reject or insult anyone on the TOprotege.com message board. I apologize in advance for any such implications...

[Familia 323]

Josh, the rumours do makes sense, and I think it would be great for Mazda to go with the new 2.3L S-VT on the Miata, and based on reports coming out of Asia & Europe, that may be the case indeed. In fact, a limited number of the concept MP5 (Euno) MP-S will be available in Japan perhaps as early as next year and this beast has a turbocharged 2.3L motor rated well over 200 HP. The Protege on the other hand will also utilize this powerplant in some capacity, perhaps on their top-line models such as the P5, ES and Mazdaspeed versions. The 2.3L btw, was designed by Mazda for FORD, to be used on their Focus line. We should get more feedback on how these motors perform shortly after the 6's arrive however... Another scoop (news from Europe) is that Mazda have basically destroyed the competition namely Nissan, Honda and others especially with their latest performance-oriented vehicles such as the new Mazdaspeed 323 and Mazda6. I think we're in for a treat when the G4 Proteges arrive... http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Gen1GT]

No shit, I can't wait to see what the new 6 can do, and how it measures up. Am I the only one, who finds new car model releases exciting??

disclaimer: anything said, or implied in the preceding message, was not meant to harm, offend, reject or insult anyone on the TOprotege.com message board. I apologize in advance for any such implications...

[Orange]

New car model release is exciting. However, the Mazda 6 & RX-8 has kept people in suspense for too long. In the mean time, the new Altima & Camry is out, Honda is soon to release its new Accord, and even Mitsubishi Galant has arrived.

On paper, the 6 looks underpowered compared with the competitors. Although I won't doubt the responsiveness of the engine, it sucks to hear comments about underpower from friends & family. I hope Mazda changes this 'consistency' soon.

In any case, I am still very much looking forward to the new Mazda 6 release. I hope Mazda will release the 5-door version soon as this will be the key differentiator.

[Gen1GT]

Underpowered doesn't mean it will be a bad car. In comparo tests in the big car magazine, the Protege whups ass, because of it's tight assembly, great chassis, looks, build quality etc etc etc. The MP3 beat out the Sentra SE-R, and all those other guys in one magazine....

[Familia 323]

Margaret, Mazda's marketing scheme continues to be in the handling department, pushing the envelope each time out. They realize that what they lack in power, they can make ground in the overall balance of the car (fun-to-drive), value and their patented Optispace, which is envied by other manufacturers. Every Mazda model (Protege, MPV, Tribute) tested by auto journalists have come up with top honors in handling, beating out the competition in their respective classes. I'm sure this will continue with the Mazda 6 & the RX8 as well. Even their TV ads shows it, models mentioned above...zooming with the cult leader, the Miata... http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[MixedAznBoy]

Hey do you guys know when we can order those front lights from the 03 proteges? I wanna get myself some smoked ones!
msg me pls

[cruisinblackp5]

mmm $385 each?