High Compression Pistons

[Captain KRM P5]

Does anyone know...hell, hazard a guess, what horsepower gains you'd get from the MAZDASPEED high comp pistons, the MS/Jspec int/exh camshafts and what the cost would be to install them puppies. I'll do the camshafts myself, but pistons really strike me as something difficult to manage.

I've heard from numerous people that cams alone don't offer a ton of power, but was wondering what the gain would be if all three were installed. SR Motorsports says "quite a bit of zip" on thier website, but again....numbers please?

Anyone with input would be greatly thanked!

 

[chdesign]

With your cars current tuning you may be abel to pull 5-10 hp out of the pistons with the correct tuning they can pull from 20-30 hp. Our cars are nto setup for these pistons so you will ahve to get a piggy-back or stand-alone. As for install costs It will probably run you about 800 bucks to get them installed .

 

[peter]

i'm also very interested in the pistons . . . i would do the install myself, but the price seems very good ($160/set).

are they any hidden costs with the pistons? (new rings, etc...) i've never installed them before, so this is new to me.

and yeah, with the pistons and I/E cams, i would also buy an apexi AFC to tune everything with. $750 in parts.....and maybe i could get 25-30hp out of it? not too bad...

peter

 

[CharlieP5]

With your cars current tuning you may be abel to pull 5-10 hp out of the pistons with the correct tuning they can pull from 20-30 hp. Our cars are nto setup for these pistons so you will ahve to get a piggy-back or stand-alone. As for install costs It will probably run you about 800 bucks to get them installed .

To benefit from this mod you will also need to complete your set up with a header.

chdesign,
what piggy back are you talking about. I'm not aware of a piggy back for our computers.

 

[CharlieP5]

A Catback exhaust will help even more.
And since your getting the Camshafts get yourself a set of Tripoint Engineering Adjustable Cam Gears and you'll be all set.

 

[Captain KRM P5]

Very cool, thanks for all the information thus far, more questions though...

When you say piggy-back, I assume you mean some kind of ECU work? Could I have the same shop "install" that? Adjustable cam gears as well, what kind of benefit would that provide? When you say adjustable, does that mean I can go back from time to time and finagle with them to my whims and desires for different results?

I am an ameteur mechanic so please forgive my naivete or lack of knowhow on these matters, I do appreciate the help. I'd install the pistons myself but I don't have the patience or shop tools to tear down an engine - which is what you'd likely have to do, right?

Chdesign, I see you have the high comp pistons and cams - what kind of changes/benefits/time gains did you see? Did you ever dyno the car to see what changes had come from it? Thanks all for your time and answers...

 

[CharlieP5]

Adjustable Cam Gears give you the ability to fine tune your engine. Our Camshafts are specially designed for our cars and they were develop to work at 0 degrees. When you put in some aftermarket Camshafts that are not originally for our cars they need to be tuned to obtain the max horsepower possible.
No it is not recommended for you to mingle with the cam timing from time to time. This is usually done on a dyno to achieve max gains. Once it's tuned you do not need to change the settings on your Cam Pulleys. The Only time you need to make changes on these settings is when you keep modifying your car and the different variables that affect horsepower change.
I recommend you do this tuning on the dyno after you finish modyfing your car. Unless of course you want to know the Horsepower gains from modification to modification. Also remember that even though all our engines are produced the same way they are all different in some way. So the Cam Gear settings of another protege MP3/P5 may not be the correct settings for your engine.

Oops! Almost forgot. A piggy back computer is a computer that modifies the final signal received by the Factory CPU. A COMPLETE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM replaces the stock ecu with a programable one.

 

[Traveler]

As far as piggybacks, the Unichip is supposed to work on our cars. They need to know which ECU connector we have to give us the final call on which chip will work. If it is the multiple connector (connection at ECU) then we use an "A" chip Unichip. If it is a single long connector with a bolt in the middle, then it's a Mazda/Ford ECU and uses a different chip with a identifying letter I can't remember but they have one that will work.

If you are planning on going with forced induction, don't spend the money on the pistons. The stockers will work fine to a pretty decent HP number. If you are going racing in a class that only allows normally aspirated cars, then go ahead. The world cars are getting 220-230 HP out of their engine with no porting on the head but they are using $5000 Motec engine management, high compression pistons, MUCH larger cams than we can use on the street, large tube header with no cats on the exhaust, cam gears, different injectors, Etc.

 

[CharlieP5]

As far as piggybacks, the Unichip is supposed to work on our cars. They need to know which ECU connector we have to give us the final call on which chip will work. If it is the multiple connector (connection at ECU) then we use an "A" chip Unichip. If it is a single long connector with a bolt in the middle, then it's a Mazda/Ford ECU and uses a different chip with a identifying letter I can't remember but they have one that will work.

If you are planning on going with forced induction, don't spend the money on the pistons. The stockers will work fine to a pretty decent HP number. If you are going racing in a class that only allows normally aspirated cars, then go ahead. The world cars are getting 220-230 HP out of their engine with no porting on the head but they are using $5000 Motec engine management, high compression pistons, MUCH larger cams than we can use on the street, large tube header with no cats on the exhaust, cam gears, different injectors, Etc.

Do they have a Site? This is very interesting.
I wonder why they have not done a port & polish job on their cars. I was told by a Mazda Mechanic ,which happends to be my very good friend, Not to do head work on my P5. He didn't go into much detail but I'll definately ask him now.(redp5)

 

[peter]

I wonder why they have not done a port & polish job on their cars.

i think it has something to do with the SCCA rules.

my friend dave pits for roger foo, and he had nothing but horror stories to tell about buildup problems they had with the motor in his P5. said the block is really weak...

peter

 

[CharlieP5]

i think it has something to do with the SCCA rules.

my friend dave pits for roger foo, and he had nothing but horror stories to tell about buildup problems they had with the motor in his P5. said the block is really weak...

peter

Thanks Peter,
That's good info..I actually thought our blocks where pretty solid...guess I was wrong(redp5)

 

[peter]

well, he said the walls of the block were pretty thin. makes me a little nervous about installing the MS 10.7:1 pistons...

peter

 

[70]

I thought Sunbelt built the motor for Foo's car...If Sunbelt did, they didn't use the stock block to build off of. I believe Sunbelt builds there own block out of there own materials for weight savings, etc.

The stock block in the street Protege should be pretty sturdy...

 

[CharlieP5]

well, he said the walls of the block were pretty thin. makes me a little nervous about installing the MS 10.7:1 pistons...

peter

Well the Mazdaspeed Pistons shouldn't be a problem. It's when you go higher that you have to worry about it. Roger Foo's P5 has to be running a crazy 12.5:1 to 13.0:1 Compression Ratio. If that's the case with our Blocks then I see a Block Guard in the aftermarket coming soon...
(redp5)

 

[blynzoo]

Our stock blocks are sturdy as hell. They can handle F/I, higher comp pistons, the works.....to a point. And I beleive Stutters is right, Sunbelt should have done the building....I guess they could have used a stock block....?

 

[CharlieP5]

Does anybody know what tripoint is using for their MP3's. They were kicking ass in the last street touring race at Road America.
(redp5)

 

[chdesign]

Tripoint uses custom forged 13:1 pistons if that is what you are asking.

 

[big_ben]

Tripoint uses custom forged 13:1 pistons if that is what you are asking.

And a light ass aluminum block, and Motec, and other stuff I know nothing about.

 

[chdesign]

Actually I think Tripoint has to use the stock block by the series rules. I know Roger Foo has to use the stock block and I believe Tripoint is also.

 

[CharlieP5]

That's what I thought! In Street Touring you have to use the stock motor. You can work on it all you want but it has to be a stock motor.