advise on aftermarket products

[ELEmental59437]

ok, so I just bought my first new car. A 2002 yellow protege5, MT. At first i was against turning it into a rice burner. My plans were to put a security system on it and a nice head unit and a few lcd's and make it nice to ride in. After seeing some of the cars on this message board, I dont know what i wanna do anymore. I definatly want intake and exhaust now.. although i dont want a loud exhaust. The quieter, the better. In the future i wanna put new 17" and drop it but right now the factory chrome is fine.

So far all i have is xenon bulbs and other random lights and LED's and a 12 inch sub.. I want to change out the 6 disc changer to something that sounds better. I am willing to sell it or trade for something i want.. My first priorities are adding a pager alarm system and changing out the factory speakers.

Eventually I will add intake and exhaust and I want suggestions. I have been looking at those cheap no name ones on ebay.. Personally I would like an AEM just for the name.. I have no idea what i want for exhaust other than I want it as quiet as possible while still adding power. Anything else that you can help me out with would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Captain KRM P5]

Get the Injen Cold Air Intake. I personally have found people giving more respect to my big red "INJEN" logo on the intake pipe than what I thought originially, a very good name. The build quality and look can't be beat, and the sound - oh so sweet purring on the throttle response, even on a stock exhaust. You will notice touchier throttle and pedal feel. I know others like it, but I just can't get into the whole AEM deal. Short ram intakes aren't my thing I guess - name be damned. And seeing hugeass AEM stickers plastered all over on the door of a car screams RICE to me.

I personally am going for the Racing Beat Catback exhaust. Reputation and name alone, from work on prior Mazda engines, cars and the MP3 alone were enough to sell me on it. From the pics they sent me and the ones on the site, the quality looks well worth it. Yes, it doesn't have a huge fat pipe or bomb muffler tip, and no I don't want that. The sound has been described as only slightly louder with a low steady rumble - not like these bumble bee Tenzo Civics that infest my hometown Taco Bell on every Friday night. The system is a full three piece catback running a 2.375 inch pipe. There are plenty of other options, like a custom catback or the Bosal (Sir Nuke?). Spare the cash and don't buy just the muffler or the so-called "sport exhaust". Save a little more and treat yourself to the full deal.

For intakes (and alot of other parts) check www.protege5online.com. You'll find that the stuff there is far superior to the eBay "no name" product. Mitch the webmaster is an excellent vendor, and he's got good descriptions and photos of all his inventory.

I would suggest to anyone the SR Motorsports (www.srmotorsports.com/protege.htm) rear anti-sway bar. It is alot thicker and stiffer than the stock rear sway bar and is adjustable. I've got one and I have to say that body lean is lessened greatly and cornering has become far tighter. SR also sells a variety of clutches, flywheels, radiators, strut tower bars and an intake.

Whew! Those are my suggestions anyways.

 

[MPChi]

Paging alarm system

When it comes to pager alarms, Compustar comes to my mind. I just had a Spread Spectrum(latest model) Alarm only unit installed recently, which they claimed to have up to 1.25 miles reception. The real reception is not even close to half of what they claimed, especially when you are indoor and your car is outdoor or vice versa. But still better than other brands that only claim for 0.25 miles, which probably would be even less in reality. But other than that, all the other functions are pretty practical and neat, and not too complicated to remember as most button combinations are printed on the back of the pager. It also have silent vibration mode on the pager, which the older Compustar FM model doesn't have. Very helpful if you attend classes or business meetings quite often.

Do a search on 'Compustar' to dig up info from prevous threads on this forum, and look up www.compustar.org

Good luck on your aftermarket parts hunt.

 

[scooby419]

how much?

MPChi, how much did you pay for your spread spectrum alarm? I have been checking out their website, and I think thats the one that I want to get.

 

[MPChi]

Scooby,

I got mine for US$490 installed. Pretty pricey. But you probably be able to get it cheaper if your area has more dealers around. Out here around San Francisco Bay Area, only 3 dealers are within reasonable driving distance, with 2 in a really bad neighborhood that you don't want your car to park too long. And one of them is thinking of stop selling Compustar. So not much competition really. So I would say probably around $350-$450 range. Cause I did remember seeing some posts around saying they got it like CAD$500, but the older model though. Of course, if you are thinking of getting the remote-start as well, it'll add another couple hundred bucks.

The place I got it from only takes about 3 hours to install it. Really quick. But they said if its with the remote-start, it'll take about an entire day. To locate a dealer, call the customer service # on their site. I tried email and took forever. Also, ask for a few dealers' address and numbers instead of one, so that you can check their prices and find out if the area is safe, especially if you need to leave your car overnight. If you need more details on the alarm, download the Spread Spectrum manual from the Compustar site and check out all their functions. See if it fit your needs. Seems like Compustar can't adjust its sensitivity on triggering the alarm, at least it didn't say in the manual. But it does have a dual shock sensor thing to distinguish minor or heavy impact on the car. I have yet tried it myself as I don't want to put a dent on my baby by accident

Hope the info helps, and good luck on your search.

 

[OurP5]

Absolutely

For intakes (and alot of other parts) check www.protege5online.com. You'll find that the stuff there is far superior to the eBay "no name" product. Mitch the webmaster is an excellent vendor, and he's got good descriptions and photos of all his inventory.

I just ordered my B&M Short-Throw shifter from Mitch at Protege5Online and he was a pleasure to deal with.

Even though I was an idiot and ordered the part... forgetting that it takes 3-4 days for money to transfer from my checking account to my PayPal account he was totally cool.

Said he would just hold the order for me until payment could be made.

Highly recommended.

 

[Protege Type 5]

MPchi
do u have MT?
i got remote start installed on my car...
but i think we did it the illegal way lol

my car remote starts in any gear...and it doesnt require the clutch depressed anymore to turn on..even with the key..

from what im aware of, people that install it are only supposed to wire it so it only starts in neutral? and not it the doors are open and etc..
.but my car turns on no matter what lol....its kind of convenient, but dangerous...i went into an empty parking lot and remote started it while it was in 1st..its crazy..it lurches forward like from a james bond movie or something..ill watch out for it

 

[MPChi]

Like James Bond movies

That's funny, cause I am actually working on a James Bond videogame for EA. That's pretty cool starting and watching your car roll with a press of your remote

Anyway. Thanks for the heads-up. That doesn't apply to me however as I have the alarm only unit. I didn't get the remote-start as it costs more, may cause trouble as I do have a MT (MP3), and think I don't really need it in somewhere like California. It may be a God-send though if I am at somewhere up north.

Protege Type 5, how much did it cost you, by the way?

 

[Protege Type 5]

well..i think the total time for install was around 5 hours, for a single guy, who installs compustars about 4-5times a week. He did an on-site install for me for $100. Not too bad. I got the alarm discounted at a local shop that i know everyone at for like $270, then EVERYTHING installed (mt remote start is the worst part) for that $100.I think quotes at other shops for alarm+full install was like $500-700... Like I said..its crazy..i think ill make a .mpg or .avi of it sometime soon when i get a digicam...peace.