Greetings!

[x DeadTaco x]

Thought i would drop in and say hello to the folks here and thank them in advance for the help and insight I have gotten about my Protege5 from snooping around the site beforehand as a non-member . Now then, as it seems to be the norm here (judging by what ive seen), all members seem to show their car at one point so I thought id show mine! I own a 2003 Mazda Protege5 in Laser Blue Mica. It was purchased by my dad before I was able to drive, as a sort of future car for me when I became able to drive. Now it is mine and I LOVE the car, great handling, comfy ride, great gas mileage, cannot complain. It has about 93,xxx miles on it now, and I am unsure as to how many were on it when purchased. Enough with the little stuff. As far as mods go it has:

OEM Size Sport Edition rims (purchased from Tire Rack.com)
Chrome taillights
K&N Typhoon CAI
Short throw shifter with Momo shift knob
Pioneer head unit
Kicker 8" Tube subwoofer
Magnaflow tip or cat-back exhaust (Unsure as my dad has told me both and I have had no real urge to confirm which it is)

And here are two pictures (It is in dire need of a bath so i apologize and more to follow possibly ).

 

[Mookhaasa]

cover the rear lens with red. It will look better and get less attention from LEO. Wheels look good and stock enough. I am not a fan of pinstripping. But looks like a great ride. Have fun with it. Find some curvy roads and enjoy.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

I planned on either covering the rear lens or just changing them (possibly to the JDM spec if i can find any), since it came with all of the mods on it, as well as the pinstripes. It is a bit disappointing living in North Dakota, where not many curvy roads exist as most of them are straight line county roads lol.

 

[hat1018]

Well you need to find an auto cross nearby and have fun. Car looks good, congrats.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

thank you! im hoping to have plenty of fun and good driving in it, and hoping to do more to it than done already and to have it live for a long time. And taking your advice hat1018, taking it to an autocross at LEAST once lol.

 

[Mookhaasa]

You will learn alot about your car in an autoX, usually that your suspension sucks and it can be better. So thats when you start buying thick sway bars and some tower braces, then it never stops.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Hey I got a quick question as far as painting goes. I'd like to paint the rear valance and the part above the license plate on the rear. Anyone have any advice on how to do this? (as I have seen it many times before)

Photo for reference: (Like this one has, but with the piece above the license plate painted as well.)

 

[balilewis]

Use Black Plasti Dip.
Do a quick search in this forum or on youtube on how to do it. Pretty simple, cheap, and looks great!

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Thanks! I always thought that it looked pretty sweet so was interested in doing it! Thanks

 

[x DeadTaco x]

It has been a while since i have been on the forum with school starting up and in full swing it has slipped my mind!

A little update, car got a nice bath and the engine bay got some cleaning too! Pics up tomorrow if i remember!

Also, I have a few questions. First, the car has a Magnaflow catback already on it. I find the sound of the HKS Hi-Power axle-back more appealing to me however. Could i get the HKS exhuast and just attach it to the Magnaflow midpipe (i believe), or would that not work/be pointless? Second, I plan on keeping this vehicle for a while (assuming it doesnt break or I upgrade to something more suited to North Dakota's winters), I was hoping to, in the future, give the car some boost (super or turbo), or to do the KLZE swap to it. Which of those do you guys think would be best in the long run? And lastly (apologies for the long post), as I have yet to brave the winters here in my P5, how good are they in winter, as far as starting, grip, etc. If it helps any, it is the 5 speed so

 

[Mookhaasa]

Winter... have winter tires. It froze once this year here and it was like bambi on ice with the tires that came with the car. Now I have better tires and its way better.

Does the current exhaust have a resonator in it? If so it might sound a bit different depending on the design difference in the muffler part of the exhaust. But straight pipes pretty much sound alike depending on diameter and length and are louder.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

i am not sure if it has a resonator or not. and so the HKS axle back would sound like the magnaflow if i kept the midpipe? i ask because clips on youtube of te HKS sound different than mine does currently so. and for winter, would studs be a viable option? or just tires?

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Here is a pic of the recently cleaned engine bay. I can clearly tell now how old some components are, but it is at 94k miles so no surprise. The air filter is a bit messed up and I plan on replacing it soon. And a clean engine bay is a happy engine bay!

 

[x DeadTaco x]

So a quick question of sorts. If I end up keeping my P5 for a good chunk of time (which i plan on but life has its twists and turns sometimes), I plan on boosting it and or engine swapping it. So my question is, which is better? Boost of the FS-DE, or swapping to the KL-DE or ZE? (Also i think id keep it N/A if i got a KL-ZE as ive heard the higher compression compared to the KL-DE does not like turbos well).

 

[azuelke]

Boosting will be by far much easier and cheaper, you just need to be careful not to over-boost.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Is it easy to overboost? Or is it more or less just a "do not get greedy" kinda thing.

 

[azuelke]

Or is it more or less just a "do not get greedy" kinda thing.

^ This. A stock engine can only handle so much, most stay around 8 PSI, maybe a little more with a decent tune. If you plan on going any higher than that, you will need to rebuild with forged internals.

 

[sleepwalker]

If you're still rocking those chrome altezza taillights and don't want to be, I'd be happy to trade. I still have stockers. By the time I was able to afford them, I couldn't find the chromies on ebay anymore, just the black ones. And I think the chromes look better on Laser Blue Mica than the black does.

Some think they're cheezy, but I like them.

Let me know if you're interested, we might be able to work something out.

 

[x DeadTaco x]

^ This. A stock engine can only handle so much, most stay around 8 PSI, maybe a little more with a decent tune. If you plan on going any higher than that, you will need to rebuild with forged internals.

Ahh okay. And from what ive read forged internals are pretty much like last thing since youd have to squeeze every ounce of power out of the FS-DE to need those with a turbo.

If you're still rocking those chrome altezza taillights and don't want to be, I'd be happy to trade. I still have stockers. By the time I was able to afford them, I couldn't find the chromies on ebay anymore, just the black ones. And I think the chromes look better on Laser Blue Mica than the black does.

Some think they're cheezy, but I like them.

Let me know if you're interested, we might be able to work something out.

For now I plan on keeping them, however I will definitely let you know if I decide to remove them or replace them (If when that time comes you dont have them already lol).

 

[x DeadTaco x]

Plasti-dipped today! Looks good i think.