help w/ idea? Go or bust?

[big_ben]

Oh, I was starting to get a bad impression of NYC people.

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

now i'm serious, i have close to $10,000 to spend and don't want to buy another car, i would rather upgrade this limited ed. car and keep it for as long as i can.

Problems is not too many shops knows how to work w/ our platform motor and aftermarket is the worst for our lil car that could.

 

[big_ben]

Your best bet is to get a turbo. If you want to get lots of hp, upgrade your pistons and rods with forged ones. I think Crower has made them before. But they are expensive. For the set it will be like $1200 to $1400. Spoolin's turbo kit is the best out right now for making high hp. I'd say the Flyin Miata kit is the most reliable. I'm sure Terry would agree too. Terry's kit is made for someone who knows how to work on their motor and do the install. The Flyin Miata kit is kinda dummy proof. If you want around 300hp, you might as well sell the car and get a different one though. If you want a good looking 200hp to 240hp car, this is the one for you.

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

i made that list based on when i had my old civic ex, boy i do miss the part selection i had, just concern bout wear and tear on motor.

I had always thought build a strong motor b4 going turbo/supercharger!

quick question, i was reading up on vortech and jackson supercharger, in our case will a supercharger be better then turbo since we are limited in hp and weak tranny

 

[big_ben]

Here is my opinion about superchargers. Superchargers are a waste of time. Turbochargers are much more efficient. The only thing I'd put a supercharger on is a V8. You will get more power and less energy wasted from a turbo. Superchargers steal energy created by the motor. Turbos use energy wasted by the motor. If you want 100,000 miles of reliability, go with the Flyin Miata kit. If you want the most horsepower, get Terry's turbo kit.

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

i'll wait for terry r&d on the t3/4 setup

 

[Kooldino]

Looks good! You should extend your front lip. It's easy to do, and it makes it look so much better.

extend the front lip? What/how?

 

[Kooldino]

All you do to extend the front air splitter is take it off, measure about 3/4" to 1" behind the original holes, drill new ones and re-install it.

ahh. take a closeup pic of yours, will ya?

 

[Kooldino]

to big ben, not my fault that u moody on your period, just a thought, i just finish my payment on the car have ova 15000k on her, and sold my bike, so i have close to 10k of cash for upgrades!

sooooooooo, just wondering since we are consider nobodies in the big honda world of imports!

i called area 51 and vortech supercharger, vortech is considering working on a supercharger kit if thiers a market for us mp3 and p5 owners and as for area51 their kit is coming out in late dec. early jan.

screw SC, go get the tripoint turbo kit. Or wait a few months and get the FM turbo kit. I'd like to see someone try the tripoint tho. $3K and you can do the install yourself.

 

[Kooldino]

now i'm serious, i have close to $10,000 to spend and don't want to buy another car, i would rather upgrade this limited ed. car and keep it for as long as i can.

Problems is not too many shops knows how to work w/ our platform motor and aftermarket is the worst for our lil car that could.

Our aftermarket has come a long way in a short time...we actually have a decent amount of stuff now...

 

[Kooldino]

i made that list based on when i had my old civic ex, boy i do miss the part selection i had, just concern bout wear and tear on motor.

I had always thought build a strong motor b4 going turbo/supercharger!

quick question, i was reading up on vortech and jackson supercharger, in our case will a supercharger be better then turbo since we are limited in hp and weak tranny

Nah. If you're worried about too much power, just run low boost.

 

[Kooldino]

Here is my opinion about superchargers. Superchargers are a waste of time. Turbochargers are much more efficient. The only thing I'd put a supercharger on is a V8. You will get more power and less energy wasted from a turbo. Superchargers steal energy created by the motor. Turbos use energy wasted by the motor. If you want 100,000 miles of reliability, go with the Flyin Miata kit. If you want the most horsepower, get Terry's turbo kit.

SC's aren't all bad. I agree, turbos are more efficient...BUT a good turbo kit will run you $4-$5K, and a good SC kit will run $3K. Plus SC's are easier to install.

But turbos make more power and are more tuneable.

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

i'll wait for terry r&d on the t3/4 setup

 

[big_ben]

ahh. take a closeup pic of yours, will ya?

I'll take a pic of it this weekend. But if you look at the pic in my signature, you can see how it extends farther than normal. I love the way it looks. It only took me about 15 minutes to do it too. There's nothing better than a free mod!

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

i think i meet u kool at a meet early this yr in nj near atlantic city?

 

[spoolinmp3]

BIGBen is right if you are looking for a considerable amount of HP turbo is the best way to go. As for Turbo kits, you have a lot to choose from. FM, TRIPOINT and ME!

All of them are well made and offer decent support.
The kit Ben initiallly purchased was a starter kit. Just the manifold, turbo and oil lines.

But we offer stage 1 kits now that include everything to get the car running. The reason for this is that most Pro owners are younger than miata owners (from a former miata owner) and what miata guys are lookin for are manifolds and have the knowledge and know how to piece a custom system. Most of the pro guys want a complete kit. So thats why we made a full kit. Stage 1 does not include an intercooler and is only set to 5 psi. Upgrades (stage2)will be available in the future (Front mount Intercooler and all plumbing) or you can upgrade it like all the greddy miata owners do. Just buy a used intercooler on ebay and get a muffler shop to make the I/C pipesl.

Either route you choose you should be happy.
But stay away from superchargers................they SUCK
The only advantage they offer is instaneous boost and no oil lines. But turbos advantages far outway that of Scrappers.....I mean superchargers

 

[Antoine]

Hey big_ben...that was a great impersonation of a pclub post...wait it was an impersonation right?

I think you can get a little ahead of yourself...you need to chill out. Sometimes you have this really negative tone in your posts...and its not cool. We are all here to help each other out...not to shut people down despite the type of question.

If you think they have no idea what they are talking about...try EDUCATING THEM...give advice...treat others as you would like to be treated...bottom line.

I've got to give credit to kooldino on this one...you made some very good points.

And about the 200+mph p5...I've been working with mp3_moran...I've been waiting on the proposal...we are both quite busy and moran assures me he and a friend are creating a killer package including a flash presentation. If I can get my hands on a completed package...then we can progress. So...you can say "it's on hold"...but in NO WAY over.

Please continue the original discussion

 

[APEXistud]

now i'm serious, i have close to $10,000 to spend and don't want to buy another car, i would rather upgrade this limited ed. car and keep it for as long as i can.

Problems is not too many shops knows how to work w/ our platform motor and aftermarket is the worst for our lil car that could.

You've made a good point in your own post. Since the market is limited for this limited edition car. The best thing to do as far as having a monster goes is....."sell the Protege and get something that has more R&D done already". Or you can swap out the 2.0 liter and get the 1.6. Either one I see as being a complete waste of time. When I bought my MP3, I knew that there would probably never be a great chance of it being a low 13 second high 12 runner. Sure you might be able go fast, but it sure as hell won't be reliable anymore.

Plain and simple boys, if we want to go fast, we have to buy a car that already has the capability to go fast from the factory. When I was younger (18-20). I was all about trying to make my Civic's a monster, but after spending $6000 I soon realized that it wasn't an economical platform to start from. My list of capable vehicles are: WRX, Supra, 300Z, any of the pony cars (Mustang, Firebird, Trans Am), DSM's Audi S4 etc. I think you're beginning to catch my drift. I'm not against people who wish to make a monster out of their Protege, just don't get pissed when you start breaking things or when you go broke.

If I had $10k to mod and my car was already payed off. The first thing I'd do is setup a goal/plan for my car and stick to it. My personnal goal for my Protege (should I keep it) is the hit 13.8 full interior on 17's, no nitrous and only spend $6500. I think that is a very realistic goal. Good luck on your quest bro

 

[BlueDevil NYC]

thanks for the advice, after hard tricky talking w/ fiance, i'm going to sell her the car and use the money to get a wrx.

i will still add turbo kit or maybe spoolin manifold and built it to just probably go as high as 240hp and still it from her from time to time, and enjoy the wrx!

 

[LinuxRacr]

I'll take a pic of it this weekend. But if you look at the pic in my signature, you can see how it extends farther than normal. I love the way it looks. It only took me about 15 minutes to do it too. There's nothing better than a free mod!

Ben, I got you covered!