Finally part of the MP5 owners circle

[dzaster89]

recently purchased a 2002 MP5 off a friend. all i can say is i love the car. out performed in my opinion. the vehicle is completely stock i have just recently tinted the windows and yellowed out my fog lights. i will post pictures soon. any suggestions on upgrades? my vehicle is an automatic but i would like to give it that racing feel and look. any input will be appreciated. thank you.

 

[Defense]

What's your budget?

The biggest value upgrade in terms of performance and reliability would be to get a bigger rear sway bar. This will decrease roll when cornering and reduce factory under steer. You will feel more confident going at higher speeds around corners.

The three main brands people here tend to get theirs from is Progress Auto, Racing Beat, and AWR Racing.

I would recommend the 19mm AWR one as it will give you a noticeable difference in roll stiffness, yet it isn't so stiff it might damage other components in your car.

 

[Jordysoso]

Welcome buddy! I have an auto as well, as for upgrades: exhaust, intake, suspension, and tires is what you would want to look at. Have fun with her!

 

[dzaster89]

What's your budget?

The biggest value upgrade in terms of performance and reliability would be to get a bigger rear sway bar. This will decrease roll when cornering and reduce factory under steer. You will feel more confident going at higher speeds around corners.

The three main brands people here tend to get theirs from is Progress Auto, Racing Beat, and AWR Racing.

I would recommend the 19mm AWR one as it will give you a noticeable difference in roll stiffness, yet it isn't so stiff it might damage other components in your car.

Current budget us around $500, buy of course willing to put more into it in the future.
I actually had a buddy mine mention the bars as well. Looks like that's gonna be the next step. I will definitely do my research on the ones you mentioned. Thanks.

 

[dzaster89]

Welcome buddy! I have an auto as well, as for upgrades: exhaust, intake, suspension, and tires is what you would want to look at. Have fun with her!

Any reccomendation on the exhaust?
I'm pretty set on purchasing an injen intake and some falken tires.

 

[Bastian]

Any reccomendation on the exhaust?
I'm pretty set on purchasing an injen intake and some falken tires.

I've got an injen CAI that I've been very happy with, would definitely recommend it.

 

[Jordysoso]

As for tires I have Goodyear eagle gt's and love them, they are all season. A lot of people run dunlop direeza's high performance summer tire, in CA this wouldn't be a bad option. And honestly I love my eBay exhaust, and for $125 you can't beat it. But there is a huge thread on exhausts here.

 

[tweety2300]

I had falkens they lasted a year before the inside edge shreded and the car had a perfect alignement then. I can't remeber which ones they were though. I would say to do an mtx swap if you want a race feel and more power

 

[Defense]

Current budget us around $500, buy of course willing to put more into it in the future.
I actually had a buddy mine mention the bars as well. Looks like that's gonna be the next step. I will definitely do my research on the ones you mentioned. Thanks.

Definitely upgrade that rear sway bar then.

Since you won't do any racing, you shouldn't look into any real performance upgrades, such as intake and exhaust, as they won't really benefit you as much. What you really want is to improve the car handling. This means the two main parts are the rear sway bar, then the tires. Once again, the stiffer rear sway bar will improve handling speed, as well as to feel less like a minivan when turning. Upgraded tires will improve grip which will further your "driver's feel" of the road (Less squeeling going around corners).

I wouldn't touch the struts with your budget yet, as it can get fairly expensive with minimal benefits, for what you want to achieve.

 

[dzaster89]

Definitely upgrade that rear sway bar then.

Since you won't do any racing, you shouldn't look into any real performance upgrades, such as intake and exhaust, as they won't really benefit you as much. What you really want is to improve the car handling. This means the two main parts are the rear sway bar, then the tires. Once again, the stiffer rear sway bar will improve handling speed, as well as to feel less like a minivan when turning. Upgraded tires will improve grip which will further your "driver's feel" of the road (Less squeeling going around corners).

I wouldn't touch the struts with your budget yet, as it can get fairly expensive with minimal benefits, for what you want to achieve.

thanks tires and sway bar it is then. just to clarify by the sway bar you mean the one that goes in the trunk or under the car? and any suggestions?

 

[Brian_K]

thanks tires and sway bar it is then. just to clarify by the sway bar you mean the one that goes in the trunk or under the car? and any suggestions?

the sway bar is the one that goes under the car. make sure you buy the correct size endlinks and bushings for whichever swaybar you decide on. the bar in the trunk is a strut tower bar. you can purchase a mx-6 rear strut tower bar off ebay for around $25 shipped and it'll bolt right up to the p5. you'll just have to do some drilling to fit the bar through the plastic panels.

 

[digitalslacker]

Welcome!

My understanding is that upgrading the rear swaybar caused at clunk and required some additional brackets to fix?

 

[tweety2300]

The clunking is caused by poor design from mazda on the location of the bushings the bracket helps the issue but it will happen with any sway bar. Stock p5 mp3 msp or progress or awr grease and or replace your busshing every few oil changes and you will be fine not that it causes any damage its just annoying

 

[dzaster89]

I don't mind getting the additional brackets I've been seeing a lot about the clunking issue. I will be ordering my parts by the end of this week.
I will post pics as soon as I have time. And I will make my own build thread so you can see it go from stock to what I want.

 

[dzaster89]

As promised here is the first pic i have taken. 35% tint all around and a 60% front windshield, clear yellow vinyl on my fogs other than that it's bone stock.

 

[dzaster89]

jeez that red is really pretty... yum yum

thanks. really wasn't sure about color, but I got used to it and damn do i love it!