2003 Protege5 exhaust modification question

Thinking of doing a muffler delete or glass pack exhaust set up on my p5. Something relatively inexpensive but will sound decent

My question is there is not a lot of Protege5 exhaust clips but have found several of 2.0l Miata’s with similar set ups. Would these sound the same? Or vastly different?

I’m either going with muffler delete and stock tip or the shorty 8” glass pack and stock tip
 
I have an NC 2.0 Miata.
Manual P5 sounds best.
Then my auto P5
Then my Miata

All are stock exhaust and engine. P5 engine just has a little more of a growl... difference doesn't come from the exhaust.
So, I would say if you use the same exhaust as a Miata it will sound at least as good if not better.
 
Exhaust sound is probably the most subjective topic on any car forum. What one person finds too loud, another will find too quiet, or another will find just right. Substitute raspy, rumble, burble, bassy, boomy, etc....

When I had my Protege, I absolutely loved the exhaust sound I ended up with. I had a long tube 4-1 header that fed into a Mazdaspeed Protege 2-cat mid pipe into a Magnaflow cat back exhaust and muffler. It had almost zero drone on the highway, pulled hard to red line, and had the most glorious soundtrack in the tunnels. The hardest part about trying to replicate it now, however, is that none of those pieces are still in production.
 
Exhaust sound is probably the most subjective topic on any car forum. What one person finds too loud, another will find too quiet, or another will find just right. Substitute raspy, rumble, burble, bassy, boomy, etc....

When I had my Protege, I absolutely loved the exhaust sound I ended up with. I had a long tube 4-1 header that fed into a Mazdaspeed Protege 2-cat mid pipe into a Magnaflow cat back exhaust and muffler. It had almost zero drone on the highway, pulled hard to red line, and had the most glorious soundtrack in the tunnels. The hardest part about trying to replicate it now, however, is that none of those pieces are still in production.
That’s what I’m running into with mufflers. Really want a Mazdaspeed muffler or one meant for the protege sedan or Protege5. Difficult to find and I am not patient. Been looking at obx or Megan racing mufflers but again, hard to find decent sound clips of these
 
I have an NC 2.0 Miata.
Manual P5 sounds best.
Then my auto P5
Then my Miata

All are stock exhaust and engine. P5 engine just has a little more of a growl... difference doesn't come from the exhaust.
So, I would say if you use the same exhaust as a Miata it will sound at least as good if not better.
Yea mine is the p5 manual. Just want a little more noise as I like to tinker with stuff. Maybe I’ll go underneath and see if I can unbolt at the flange and get an idea for sound
 
For what's worth - I've got a RacingBeat OEM MSP muffler sitting in my garage waiting for me to have time to get the tip shortened to fit my P5. I do have a clip of the stock vs MSP muffler but it's with the exhaust facing into my garage so it sounds very boomy and unnatural.

My impression of it though is that it's got a little rumble but still super quiet. I will definitely post up when I get it welded and installed though, probably in about a month or so.
 
For what's worth - I've got a RacingBeat OEM MSP muffler sitting in my garage waiting for me to have time to get the tip shortened to fit my P5. I do have a clip of the stock vs MSP muffler but it's with the exhaust facing into my garage so it sounds very boomy and unnatural.

My impression of it though is that it's got a little rumble but still super quiet. I will definitely post up when I get it welded and installed though, probably in about a month or so.
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve seen someone on Instagram with racingbeat commenting that they wanted a little more noise from it. I’m impatient so I’m thinking of going to the local muffler shop tomorrow and just having them remove the muffler for now with stock tip exit
 
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve seen someone on Instagram with racingbeat commenting that they wanted a little more noise from it. I’m impatient so I’m thinking of going to the local muffler shop tomorrow and just having them remove the muffler for now with stock tip exit
Okay, definitely understandable. I'm running a completely stock muffler now but what I will tell you is that without a muffler, the P5 is LOUD. I had an old non-OEM stock muffler on before and it was such crap quality that it rusted and fell off on the highway and the car was so stupid loud without it. Granted, I think there was some resonance of the pipe echoing into the back of the bumper. So maybe an extended tip out the back will make that better.
 
Okay, definitely understandable. I'm running a completely stock muffler now but what I will tell you is that without a muffler, the P5 is LOUD. I had an old non-OEM stock muffler on before and it was such crap quality that it rusted and fell off on the highway and the car was so stupid loud without it. Granted, I think there was some resonance of the pipe echoing into the back of the bumper. So maybe an extended tip out the back will make that better.
Yea I’m wanting to do something temporary as I wait on trying to find a Mazdaspeed one. Thought of doing resonator delete and keeping muffler or keeping resonator and deleting muffler. I know the shop would have some mufflers but I hate the cannon muffler look which most like civics run n such
 
Update for all

Because I’m impatient, I went to my local exhaust shop and made some choices. I was going to do the Magnaflow muffler with 3” double wall tip but it would’ve been like 300 dollars since apparently Magnaflow increased prices per my shop. They also said, many times people who choose Magnaflow expect it to be louder so they end up coming back to remove resonators so I’d be in it for more money

the shop, based on what I explained, said I could go with an 8” cherry bomb Glasspack and a 3” double wall tip so that’s what I did. Paid like 160 for everything. I went by and paid and started it up, surprisingly it’s not that loud. I’m guessing these resonators are very restrictive. I haven’t driven it other than reving it up but it’s mellow and not ricey or loud at all

Anyone who is on the fence, it’s fairly cheap and not loud. I’ll have more information as far as drone once I start driving it but first impression is I thought it would be louder
 
Update for all

Because I’m impatient, I went to my local exhaust shop and made some choices. I was going to do the Magnaflow muffler with 3” double wall tip but it would’ve been like 300 dollars since apparently Magnaflow increased prices per my shop. They also said, many times people who choose Magnaflow expect it to be louder so they end up coming back to remove resonators so I’d be in it for more money

the shop, based on what I explained, said I could go with an 8” cherry bomb Glasspack and a 3” double wall tip so that’s what I did. Paid like 160 for everything. I went by and paid and started it up, surprisingly it’s not that loud. I’m guessing these resonators are very restrictive. I haven’t driven it other than reving it up but it’s mellow and not ricey or loud at all

Anyone who is on the fence, it’s fairly cheap and not loud. I’ll have more information as far as drone once I start driving it but first impression is I thought it would be louder
well?
 
Well after several weeks of driving and mostly highway travel. I can say I’m thoroughly pleased. I’ll try to get some sound videos if I can. Its definitely not ricey at all and very mellow at idle but you can hear it during throttle and higher rpm ranges. Nothing the radio doesn’t cover. I actually haven’t heard it from the outside yet cause I don’t have anyone who can drive it but inside you can tell it’s got something. Does drone a little around 3k or so but I have never owned anything with exhaust that didn’t

I’ll try to take some pics of the set up tomorrow and how they ran everything. My only gripe is that i wish the tip was closer to the bumper but I made point to say I plastic dipped so I didn’t want it touching

As of now I’ll leave it alone. Once I hear it from the outside and maybe someone else driving it if I want it more noticeable then I’ll remove the stock resonator for something aftermarket. To anyone advising against it or saying it’s too loud, it’s all preference but it’s def not loud by any means.
 
Alright everyone, let’s see if this works. Here are some photos and hopefully a video

I showed them how the Magnaflow exhaust system is set up and told them I wanted the muffler tucked up and angle the piping down.

Let me know what y’all think.
 

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