For the guys who modded their P5... I need your advice

[redmang]

Hey guys,

I don't really know all that much about cars, but I have a few pretty basic questions. I own a red 2003 Protege 5 ES (auto), and I want to do some mods that don't really cost too must... I was thinking of the following:

HID headlights (ebay $100)
Header (ebay? 150?)
Exhaust (300?)
Cold Air intake (already done)
Body kit (evo or bc2...painted white)
Eye lids for front headlights
Rear tail lights replaced
Carbon fiber hood

Now, I was wondering if guys can steer me in the right direction here as far as specifics...like for example what header i should get, if i should avoid buying it from ebay, roughly what it will cost, and if a mechanic friend can probably do the install (i couldnt see everyone knowing how to install a turbo).

Also, what do you guys think about the body kit idea? I've seen a few pics of people who've had kits on their P5's done white (mainly when looking at body kits but none while lookign at pictures in this forum)... I need to know what u guys think of that...I live in Northern Canada as well (Edmonton, AB to be exact!) and would like to know if i'll probably have to order my body kit from the internet what it will cost once it's painted and put on the car... Thanks guys hopefully one day i'll be posting pics of my p5!

 

[ForceFed]

• 1.GEt your HID Headlights here from the HID Buy thread from Apexcone..I think they are about $125 shipped and they are pretty nice..a lot of guys run them.
• 2.There is not too many headers available for this car...and you will find that all of them made are run by someone here...simply search around to determine which one you like the most based off of opinions vs. pricing and avaialability.
• 3.Your exhaust choices are a bit more plentiful if you are wanting a Cat back...and if you want a nice sound...Most will reccomend the Racing Beat Catback for your car.
• 4.You already have a CAI so we will skip this.
• 5.Body kit....This one is a very questionable item.

You need to ask yourself a few things before committing to this item.

• DO you drive your car Daily?
• DO you have another car to Drive?
• How are the roads around your area?
• Are you lowered?
• All of these are questions you need to consider before buying any body kit for any car IMHO.

All body kits require work to get them to fit properly and most are made of FG.

If you are not careful and you like to scrape your front end or not pay attention to how you are driving..you will damage them.

The other thing to consider is the cost of install...There is a lot more to them than just painting...most of the time...Fitment takes twice as long and cost twice as much as the paintwork itself if you want it to look very nice.

A $500 kit may cost you another $500 in paint...but it may require $1000 in lbor for proper fitment before paint...your $500 Kit now costs you $2000 to do the right way.

Just think about it and ask all the right questions before proceeding on this item.

Body kits are not for everyone....Period.

• 6.Eyelids...Simply pick which style you like and buy...there are many different ones out there in a couple of different styles which vary widely in their pricing.
• 7.Rear Tails...Most will say the JDM tails you can get from Corkport will look about the bast on the P5...and are about the only ones I would recomend myself....Altezza's or any of the like are junk, poorly made and I think look Horrible on the P5 IMHO.

Others may argue...but most will agree with me on this.

• 8.CF hood....Get a Good one..Period.

DOnt look at price alone...Ebay is NOT a good place to buy a CF hood regardless of the pricing which may suck you in.

First off..if you are lucky enough to get it to your house in one piece to put onto your car...then ou have to hope it fits properly.
If it fits properly , then you have to hope it holds up to the elements and does not discolor..odds are it wont and will start yellowing in a matter of months no matter what precautions you take short of clear coting the hood upon arrival and prior to install.

Buy a nice hood from a reputable vendor and you will be happy with it for some time to come.

You do get what you pay for in this instance.

 

[redmang]

Hey Thanks for the quick reply!

I have a few questions now...

1. HID Headlights, i've seen different kits with different colors and intensities. Any color you recommend? 125+ is an awesome price BTW.

2. Headers, recommended for boosting HP right? What else besides headers + CAI + exhaust?

3. Exhaust - i definetly don't want my p5 to sound like a bumble bee. I've heard alot about catback on these forums... racing beat hey, know what a good price on this is?

4. CAI, it was my first mod (besides stereo), and lovin' it!

5. Body kit, you really talked me out of this, which is probably a good idea. My reasoning for wanting it is this.... last year i hit a snow bank and slighty cracked the lower panel of my front end bumper (sorry i know nothing about cars!) and don't really like it now. I do ALOT of driving (40k+ yr) and the roads really suck in Edmonton. How's this idea, I want the car to look different... what if i buy the "body kit" from an old protege5 (junkyard) and repaint it. I don't have another car to drive which is why id buy it ... what do u think? It's a red p5 now, but i want to paint the front end, side skirts and bumper white or black. With possibly a black hood (if i go black "body kit"). Am I crazy?

6. Eyelids, how much and where? I've only ever seen these ridicously priced on Ebay.

7. Rear Tail lights ---- Advice taken!

8. CF hood -- is this a bad idea considering I drive in poor conditions? The weather also is bad, and FREEZING for a few months... What about buying the hood from an old protege and re-painting it? ;-)

Also, I've noticed a lot of guys who have REALLY clear headlights, like the plastic that the bulb shines through is really clear and mine is actually really foggy almost dirty. how do i remedy this?

 

[Flash5]

1. HIDs come in different temps which project different colors (mostly tints to the white light), for example 5k is pure white i believe while 6k has a slight blue tint and 8k is mostly blue.

2. Yes a header (we only have one header not headers since the p5 is a 4 cylinder so just keep it singular) open up your exhaust and give u more power. There are lots of things outside of those three that you can get just use the search feature and youll see.

3. go with racing beat, its not ricer but it will give off a good sound

4.

5. there are a lot of red p5 owners on here who have incorporated black into their car quite nicely and if u want to do that look into getting a dg motorsports front lip and painting that black and go from there.

6. they might be about $75 or so new but unpainted, I found mine in the for sale section for $40 already painted but they were used

7. def jdm tails or look into tinting your stock ones, thats what i did

8. if you live in a bad area that gets snow, i wouldnt recommend a c/f hood unless you are only going to have it on in the summer then switch back to the stock one in the colder months.

look in the how-to section on the forum, theres a how-to on cleaning your headlights

hope this helps!

 

[Flash5]

go to protegegarage.com and this should help answer a lot of your questions too

 

[redmang]

Thanks for all of the advice here .... after you mentioned the "dg motorsports" front lip...i looked it up and ya....it made me want to paint it black with a black hood + side skirts + rear bumper... got the idea after i seen a "spicy orange" mazda speed like that. That's definitly a good look, thanks for the info!! This looks a lot better than the "body kit + white" idea...

After looking at the JDM tail lights and the stock ones , i actually prefere the stock ones, I am going to look into tinting them...

1. For the HID's -----> Not sure on what color temp i am going to get, What typically comes when HIDs come from factory?

2. Header ----> If I have CAI + catback exhaust, would it only be right to get the "header" done as well? What's the next couple of items that you would do for HP upgrade?

3. Exhaust ----> I'm already pricing out the Racing beat Catback exhaust, any additional parts i should order that don't come with?

4. CAI -----> My current install of the CAI isn't located in the wheel well, does this really matter? I see most installed on top of the well.

5. DG motorsports Front lip --- > Cost to get this painted? rough estimate...

6. Eyelids ---- > Do most get these painted to match the hood's color? Or would "black" look best in my case?


Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[TWISFM]

1.6000k imo is best gives the bmw mercedes color..

2. yes get header cai and exahust together to give a nice lil something. if you want big numbers...turbo.. other wise next look into pullies.

3. everything else for the exahust would be a high flow midpipe..

4. eh just watch out for hydro lock..

5. i want to know the same thing.

6. do whatever you want. im actually runing almost the same setup you lookng for. at the moment i have black hood with white eyelids on a white car... im thinking about changing to black eyelids..

 

[TWISFM]

and what do you mean when you say p5 es auto... didnt know they made that?

 

[redmang]

ya I'm pretty sure its the ES version ... I think it refers to the leather interior and that's really it.

Ummm here's a couple pics of guys that have the lip painted.... I hope it's ONLY the black that the dude painted and not something crazy.

 

[sube]

ya I'm pretty sure its the ES version ... I think it refers to the leather interior and that's really it.

Ummm here's a couple pics of guys that have the lip painted.... I hope it's ONLY the black that the dude painted and not something crazy.

I think all the Canadian P5s were ES version, leather was an option is wasn't standard on any version.

Pat.

 

[AlturredMP5]

if you get a carbon fiber hood, certainly dont let price be a factor. the cheapest ones are always gonna be the worst, and the most expensive wont always be the best. i would recommend getting a Seibon hood. i have one, and it looks awesome. fits perfect, too. it was $610 shipped.

 

[kboutsider]

I think all the Canadian P5s were ES version, leather was an option is wasn't standard on any version.

Pat.

Mine isn't an ES version on the Registration it says Sport and when the the CO's at work run my vin it comes up as Protege5 Sport. I see a million sedans around that have ES badges.

 

[rooster1]

imo i dont think autotragic is worth performance mods. but if thats what floats your boat. then by all means, lmao.

alot of oem hids i know are 4300k

 

[vanso514]

imo i dont think autotragic is worth performance mods. but if thats what floats your boat. then by all means, lmao.

alot of oem hids i know are 4300k

Seriously...

Unless you drive a manual car, I don't think it's worth the money to mod it. For an automatic, I suggest upgrading to 17" mags/tires and tainting your windows only but as far as adding performance mods, it would be totally dumb.

Also, when you're stopped at the red light with your modded car, usually the idiot on the next lane will want to race you because he thinks you're driving a manual...

Just save yourself the embarassement (and money).

 

[kboutsider]

imo i dont think autotragic is worth performance mods.

Are you talking all auto's or just the p5 with an auto. Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for flaming from the guys in this tread like another one i've posted in. I had an auto sunbird that was pretty quick off the line. B&M torque converter with a 3500 stall and a shift kit worked really well not sure if those are things that are available for the P5.

By the sounds of it though I did make the right decision in giving up the sunroof for a 5spd when buying my P5.

 

[Flash5]

Seriously...

Unless you drive a manual car, I don't think it's worth the money to mod it. For an automatic, I suggest upgrading to 17" mags/tires and tainting your windows only but as far as adding performance mods, it would be totally dumb.

Also, when you're stopped at the red light with your modded car, usually the idiot on the next lane will want to race you because he thinks you're driving a manual...

Just save yourself the embarassement (and money).

first dont put your taint anywhere near your windows haha, second i have a manual with exhaust and an intake and never have had anyone want to race be just because its manual and modded. if he wants to mod it go for it, i mean its not like if u mod n/a with a manual in our car your gains are gonna be huge. i say do what you want, its your car.

 

[mx-p5]

Thanks for all of the advice here .... after you mentioned the "dg motorsports" front lip...i looked it up and ya....it made me want to paint it black with a black hood + side skirts + rear bumper... got the idea after i seen a "spicy orange" mazda speed like that. That's definitly a good look, thanks for the info!! This looks a lot better than the "body kit + white" idea...

After looking at the JDM tail lights and the stock ones , i actually prefere the stock ones, I am going to look into tinting them...

1. For the HID's -----> Not sure on what color temp i am going to get, What typically comes when HIDs come from factory?

2. Header ----> If I have CAI + catback exhaust, would it only be right to get the "header" done as well? What's the next couple of items that you would do for HP upgrade?

3. Exhaust ----> I'm already pricing out the Racing beat Catback exhaust, any additional parts i should order that don't come with?

4. CAI -----> My current install of the CAI isn't located in the wheel well, does this really matter? I see most installed on top of the well.

5. DG motorsports Front lip --- > Cost to get this painted? rough estimate...

6. Eyelids ---- > Do most get these painted to match the hood's color? Or would "black" look best in my case?


Thanks for all the great advice!

1) About HID's, OEM hid's in BMW and Merc. and others are 4300K


The purple you see is due to the cutoff of the projectors.

The light output is white

See below pic

There is a constant battle of what color is "Best" and it is ALL personal preference. 4300K gives the most usable light and you'll still be ok up to a 6000K kit, which will be blue/hint of purple.

2) For an auto Protege, intake, header, highflow midpipe, and catback exhaust are the extent of "Bolt on" mods. You could also do an Underdrive pulley, and lighter pullies for the rest of the car

3) If you are buying a brand new Racing-Beat, maybe, exhaust gaskets? . One thing you might want to consider are exhaust hangers

4) Each brand name runs different. The AEM Short Ram actually runs the filter JUST as low as the Injen Cold air intake, the difference is, AEM runs the filter down INSIDE the engine bay, where the Injen runs it into the fender. I personally have the Injen, but did not install the second tube, so it is run as a short ram with the filter just behind the headlight, protecting me from any water injestion

5) I was quoted $250 to get the MSP lip painted, so, unless you've got "connections" to a paint shop or a buddy who can do it, it's gonna cost as much as the lip

6) Painting the eyelids is totally up to you.

 

[AlturredMP5]

dont tell a guy not to mod his car just b/c its an automatic. sometimes the feel of a lil extra power, even though it may not get you into the 10s on a quarter mile, is enough. just saying "tint your windows and throw bigger wheels on it" is pretty damn stupid imo. put on headers, exhaust, turbo the damn thing if you want to. its up to the owner to do what he wants, so dont tell him its gonna be a waste of money and time.

some people mod their cars as a hobby, others do it so they can drive fast in a straight line. mazdas (for the most part) arent right for drag racing. for example, equinox's 100k project. it was a standard, turbo'd, he put a lot of money in it. i knew the guy personally. he spent a lot of money, and got his car into the 14s in the quarter mile. thats it. it was badass in auto-x, but it still didnt have a lot of power.

for you guys flaming him for wanting to mod an automatic car, how fast is your standard?

 

[mx-p5]

I missed the "Don't mod an auto" post.

To each his own dude. And, seriously, just cause someone next to you revs, you DO NOT HAVE TO RACE! I don't. And I have a 5 speed.

Infact, i've only raced once, and it was against my wife's stock auto. No contest though.

But that's besides the point.

To each his own. Even guys with 5 speeds take thousands and thousands to make your car even run close to other cars.



I mod mine jsut for the simple reason that I can. I am not building it to be a race car. just making it fun

 

[AlturredMP5]

i guess what im trying to say is, most people viewing this thread have to realize that their P5 isnt going to be the fastest car on the road. and if fast is what youre modding your car for, arent you all wasting your money?

i dont think many people that own P5s are driving them to go out racing everything they pull up next to. theyre modding the car so that it feels more responsive, sounds better, has a lil more power, and mostly handles better. all that can be acheived w/ an automatic.

so redmang, do what you want, do what makes your car everything you want it to be.

and you flamers, unless you do the rwd rotary swap in your proteges, youre wasting your money and your words.