how slow is your p 5

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02 protege5
Hey guys I'm just wondering how slow is everybody's P 5 since I bought mine with a blown motor I am not sure how they are supposed to run but mine is slow I have a 4 2 1 header and a Flowmaster muffler and this thing is a dog.. my old Dodge Neon was faster. I tried to run it hard for the first time yesterday since the rebuild and was definitely not impressed and when I came to a stop the car went into convulsions. The idle dropped really low And it started misfiring Then I give it gas and all was okay again
 
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the car was not meant to be fast and definitely is not fast...especially NA. Don't expect much out of it if you are NA with just minor bolt ons. To get decent power out of it requires an extensive amount of work whether going for NA power or boost and also needs tuning. Stock fuel and timing maps were tuned for fuel economy and emissions.
 
I'm not looking for race car I'm just asking because really is slow I am the last 1 of the line and normal driving from a red light like I said I just thought it would be faster than my stock 2000 Dodge Neon with the same horsepower output as this
 
Where the car will outperform the Neon is in the corners. Protege corners second to none and gets better with basic mods.
 
Maybe there is a loose connection somewhere. After a rebuild,you never know. It's no racecar but I would think you could hang with a neon.
 
^^^what Brian said. But if you are slow coming from a red light driving normally, use more gas...lol. I know what you mean though. If Im "driving like grandma", shifting at like 3000rpm from 1st to 2nd, then yeah people are always right on my rear bumper. Some people have almost ran into the back of my car. Im guessing it's just the stock gear ratio, I don't know. Im hoping to follow in mp5t's footsteps with a built trans with custom ratios
Also, check for vac leaks
 
^^^what Brian said. But if you are slow coming from a red light driving normally, use more gas...lol. I know what you mean though. If Im "driving like grandma", shifting at like 3000rpm from 1st to 2nd, then yeah that sounds just like it lol I thought it was just mine he's cars really do have a bottleneck somewhere we just have to find.yeah people are always right on my rear bumper. Some people have almost ran into the back of my car. Im guessing it's just the stock gear ratio, I don't know. Im hoping to follow in mp5t's footsteps with a built trans with custom ratios
Also, check for vac leaks
eah that sounds just like it lol I thought it was just mine he's cars really do have a bottleneck somewhere we just have to find.it
 
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The bottleneck is under the hood. The rest is fantastic.

I had to replace almost everything to get "Race Car" performance.

2012.jpg
 
Forgive me - but was the goal of this post?

My blown motor is slow. (well, like, duh...)
My rebuilt motor is not performing well and is still slow... (you have another issue - research EGR and coils once the install has been throughly re-checked for hoses and vacuum leaks...)

Once it is running correctly you should keep up with a comparably equipped Neon (transmissions both manual or auto) or Lancer of the same vintage.

Before you turbo it - fix it. You will have a fine time troubleshooting between the turbo install and the original performance issue...
 
Yo is he serious lol? Ok P-funk The point of this thread was to find out if it is normal for the p5 to be so slow. since I bought mine with a blown engine I did not drive it. do you understand now? or do I need to retype it again but much slower? My engine runs fine no vacuum leaks No Oil leaks no leaks whatsoever. so yeah I think I can turbo it.
 
So the low idle/mis-fire went away? That was my confusion.

If so - yeah, turbo is next step... check the FS section - seems like someone is posting one quite often...
 
You're trying to compare two different cars that really don't compete with each other.

The stock 2000 Dodge Neon generated approximately 130ish WHP with a manual transmission.

Your Protege5 is lucky to put town 100 at the wheels.

However, stock-for-stock, the P5 will own the Neon in turns and curves and handling.

I owned two Neons before I got my Protege5, and I certainly love Neons - and if money weren't an object I'd have a project Neon.

But I *love* my P5 and while I'd love it if it had more power than it does, I'm loving it on twisty country backroads - even more than my Neons.

(For reference's sake - 95-99 DOHC MTX Neons were the fastest bone-stock and, with a really good driver, ought to be able to finish 1/4 mile in juuuuuuuust under 15 seconds. I had a 97 DOHC ATX, which were the second-slowest Neon powertrain combination you could get, and with a CAI, Flowmaster, and UDP the best time I could put down was 17.55 seconds. 2000+ Neons were all SOHC (rated 132hp) or SOHC "Magnum" (rated 150hp) and with a non-magnum SOHC and the 4-speed auto they switched to in 2001, you have the only Neon slower than a 1gen DOHC ATX. I spent around 7 or 8 years on Neon forums before I got my Protege5, I could go on and on and on and on about Neons. That's kinda why I got a different car, lol)
 
Hey guys I'm just wondering how slow is everybody's P 5 since I bought mine with a blown motor I am not sure how they are supposed to run but mine is slow I have a 4 2 1 header and a Flowmaster muffler and this thing is a dog.. my old Dodge Neon was faster. I tried to run it hard for the first time yesterday since the rebuild and was definitely not impressed and when I came to a stop the car went into convulsions. The idle dropped really low And it started misfiring Then I give it gas and all was okay again
As for the rough idle, replace the spark plugs, wires, and coils and clean out the EGR valve and IACV with carb cleaner.

If it has a blown motor, I don't see how you are getting any good compression.
 
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Yo is he serious lol? Ok P-funk The point of this thread was to find out if it is normal for the p5 to be so slow. since I bought mine with a blown engine I did not drive it. do you understand now? or do I need to retype it again but much slower? My engine runs fine no vacuum leaks No Oil leaks no leaks whatsoever. so yeah I think I can turbo it.

I mentioned earlier to check for vac leaks because you said you have a misfire and low idle. Since you had a rebuild done, it is a high possibility that there is a vac leak somewhere. So, check for leaks. You won't know just by looking and listening. You have to either try the "carb cleaner" method or more effectively...get a leak test done. Do that before you start spending money on the car. Although, plugs, coils and wires are not that expensive, if it is just a leak. You can save that money. If you try those and have no leaks, then move on to coils, wires and/or plugs. Also, as Rit14623 said, try cleaning the EGR valve also. If the EGR sticks open, it will cause a vac leak through the EGR tube, which in turn affects idle quality and may cause a misfire. Do all the easy/free stuff first before buying the coils, wires and/or plugs.
 
So the low idle/mis-fire went away? That was my confusion.

If so - yeah, turbo is next step... check the FS section - seems like someone is posting one quite often...
Yeah it only did the low idle misfire 1 time And I hope it stays that way.. I don't know if it was because I was so seafoaming it
Beforehand but I hope so
 
Because I bought it blown if I'm driving it that means it's been rebuilt. it has all new rings bearings seals gaskets oil pump belts water pump plugs wires timing kit VtCs removed intake ported and polished cleaned egr cleaned idle air control valve clean mass air flow sensor clean throttle body the only thing I did not replace was the coils and that is because I was thinking about the 1.8 conversion
 
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my FSDE was also a dog - both of them....I blew 2 of them trying to get minimal gains from them. One boosted - one NA. Both made rod-bearing-soup all over the freeway.

My solution was simple - get a different engine. So - I opted to swap it for a KLDE from a MX6 - and I couldn't be happier with the power. It has tons more torque all over the powerband and it is a solid platform to build up.

just my $.02
 
swapping to a KL is not for everyone though. That's what everyone suggests when they talk about the FS performance. Swapping motors is just avoiding the issue instead of fixing it. It's far quicker to toss in another FS if you blow it than to snag a KL, search for a good wire harness and also the ECU, then wire everything up. I honestly don't see how people are blowing NA motors. What were you using for tuning and how much boost on your other FS? Honestly, if you blow the motor, just snag a junk motor and rebuild it(forged internals). Problem solved, if you blow that, then you suck at tuning..lol. A lot of people over the years have had these cars and they talk about how much the FS sucks, then they either sell it or swap engines. They fail to realize that the FS only sucks if they don't do anything to improve it. Yes, it is limited when stock. But even stock, they can handle quite a bit. But if you really wanted to get power out of it, then there is only one thing to do, build it and be done with it. Don't get me wrong, I do like seeing different things when it comes to the protege, and you ihone, Lewis and another guy on here do have some nice KL swaps. But just voicing my opinion, the average person who blows an engine is more than likely going to get a replacement FS or build a replacement FS. They aren't going to do a complete swap. To me, swapping engines is like getting a different car. Anyone can blow an engine, swap engines and talk about the performance their car has. But in the end, you didn't fix the issue, you just swapped engines
 
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