Just picked up an 01 ES...

[CarlF]

Hey, I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Carl, I live near Chapel Hill, NC, and I just picked up a 2001 ES with 5speed and 110k miles. It's bone stock and in great shape except for 2 things: The brakes feel OK but not great, and the front struts are leaking slightly.

I generally like sporty handling- my wife and I are active in the local autocross scene. But while I might take it out to a local autocross now and then for fun, this car's primary function will be daily driver and road trip car. In the past I've been happy with Performance Friction Carbon Metallic pads, but Autozone doesn't seem to carry them for the 2.0l. What else is good?

For struts, I don't have any idea what is good. All I know is Koni Sport single-adjustables, and I don't need that much for this car.

Thanks for reading!
Carl

 

[Metallic36]

Welcome to the forum

 

[JC-MP5]

Welcome to the forum!

You might like Tokico Blue Struts for your car. They're sporty enough while not being too agressive of a setup. I have them on my P5 and I love them. If you want 5 way dampening adjustability, get the Tokico Illumina struts. They're slightly more motorsport oriented but still not crazy agressive.

As far as brakes. I'm not sure what you're looking for as far as pad material and how hard you plan to use them, but ProtegeGarage should help with all you're needs.

Here's the page for the 3rd Gen Protege.

http://www.protegegarage.com/index.php?cPath=21_31

 

[MaxPower]

Welcome! I drive an '01 ES, too, and got mine last year with 115k on it.

Definitely change those struts--the car will handle so much better.

BTW: good source for cheaper OEM parts is onlinemazdaparts.com, an approved vendor on this website.

 

[Speedkid]

Welcome to the forums

 

[lilpoindexter]

The sway bar links are probably crap...check those out first before anything else. I have the fairly cheap kyb gas a just shocks on my 99 1.6/ 5spd beater, and they feel great.

 

[CarlF]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll def check out your recommendations.

@lilpoindexter Yeah I noticed the rear sway bar end links were like 1/8" diam and attached to tabs welded to the strut body. I don't think that would work too well with a larger rear bar...

 

[JC-MP5]

Definitely. Get some AWR adjustable links if you plan to upgrade the rear bar.

 

[CarlF]

You might like Tokico Blue Struts for your car. They're sporty enough while not being too agressive of a setup. I have them on my P5 and I love them. ... ProtegeGarage should help with all you're needs.

Here's the page for the 3rd Gen Protege.

http://www.protegegarage.com/index.php?cPath=21_31

Thanks! I checked out Protege Garage and liked their parts and prices. I was going to pull the trigger on some Tokico Blues when I noticed they didn't use a secure checkout page (no https: in the URL, no lock). So I bailed on that and called them. And called them, and called them. They never returned my call, so I guess I'll be shopping elsewhere...

Carl