If you removed your VTCS read this please...

bumpin_p5

Member
:
2002.5 Mazda Protege5 SportAuto
Howdy. I know is like a million threads about VTCS and the removal of it, but I really can't seem to find the answers that I am looking for. OK, I have seen the mentioning of the cold start problems and all. Does this mean that I will have problems in the winter with it starting or warming up? Does it mean that I have to warm the car up to full temp before running it?
Another thing too. Do you neccesarily have to port it? Or is that just another thing that you can do while you have it removed?
Lastly, is it really, really worth the effort to do this in a N/A Automatic?
Thanks for any info.
 
bumpin_p5 said:
Howdy. I know is like a million threads about VTCS and the removal of it, but I really can't seem to find the answers that I am looking for. OK, I have seen the mentioning of the cold start problems and all. Does this mean that I will have problems in the winter with it starting or warming up? Does it mean that I have to warm the car up to full temp before running it?
Another thing too. Do you neccesarily have to port it? Or is that just another thing that you can do while you have it removed?
Lastly, is it really, really worth the effort to do this in a N/A Automatic?
Thanks for any info.


It is absolutely not worth it at all.
 
i dis agree i did the vtcs removal along with the port and olish and i noticed right away the pick up is alot better and i have a sportmatic p5
 
wagonwhatmp5 said:
i dis agree i did the vtcs removal along with the port and olish and i noticed right away the pick up is alot better and i have a sportmatic p5

It is mental, in your head. I am not being rude, it is just the placebo effect.

The intake design is garbage to begin with.

You WILL gain some, but it will be minimal. If you are a racer or don't mind the work, yes it is worth your few hours plus.
 
Boston5761 said:
Go make some mid-pipes....It's a free mod, how isn't it worth it?

Mind your business. Don't you have more worthless post to make?

He asked if it is worth it, I assume he meant by time. I gave my answer.

IT TAKES A LONG TIME FROM STARTING THE JOB TO RUNNING THE CAR AGAIN, but if you have the time and ENJOY the work, do it. It not an hour job though, he may not know that.
 
yeah i did the vcts removal on my car, it toook sooo ******* long to do, in my opinion its only worth it if you have a lot of time on your hands, an extra car to drive around while your car is down, and your trying to sqeeze every ounce of hp possible out of your car
 
I did mine in about 3-4 hours but I did not port. But I do feel a diff in the high-end. I know its not a placebo feeling because a friend of mine drove my car and felt a little more pick-up and he didn't even know I did it until I told him after. If you know what you are doing then go for it. And while you have it off its a good time to do the rear motor mount.
 
Get a junkyard (or MAM 35.00 used one like I did) extra intake & an IM gasket, do your removal/porting/polishing/filling at your leisure then take the 2 hrs to swap the top half of it out when convenient. Save the original one or sell it afterward. TIME not a factor, MONEY not a factor that way. mmmmm, placebo. If nothing else, there is much less useless noise from the engine. You could rate every engine performance mod on these cars as placebo to some extent since no matter what you do besides doing a complete race long block stroker or turbo you won't get more than 20hp more than doing nothing at all. In the end, the value of modding is a judgement call one must make for one's own self once pertinent useful data has been digested.
 
the slight increase in flow MAY help fuel economy too and may help decrease carbon build up from the EGR, especially so if you have a better intake cam such as the JDM one (not to mention better power increases from that when combined with this mod)

as far as "free mods" goes, I say this is the only real one for our cars

it is a lot easier to do it by unbolting just the top half of the intake manifold... you can do this by undoing the EGR pipe on the exhaust manifold end... remove the intake manifold support bracket by the starter/oil filter... then once you undo all 6-8 bolts that hold the intake manifold to the head, you can slide it back just enough to take the top half of it off... the only downside is you have to replace the gasket that goes inbetween the halves, but since it saves time, it's worth the extra money on the parts

pretty much that's the shortcut techs use at dealerships for the intake manifold recalls

oh and IIRC, all the bolts that bolt the intake manifold to the head can be removed all from the top of the engine... you don't have to get under the car... you just need various extensions
 
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yeah, unless you have time to kill, don't do it, i removed my vtcs at the same time i put the nsn manifold spacer, i didn't notice that much of a difference and it took me a day to finish (had to tap a hole to put a screw)
 
hmmm, lots of peeps saying its good and lots saying it's bad. I am still not convinced. lol
 
Hence my post about in the end deciding yourself. You'll get similar replies about most mods or styles of this or that. The climate you live in may be the kicker on this one. I live where "winter" is snowless, pretty much frostless, pretty much freeze-free, 2 months long at best so I am not worried about it.
 
bumpin_p5 said:
hmmm, lots of peeps saying its good and lots saying it's bad. I am still not convinced. lol

The gain in performance will be less then the the difference when you go from AC on to AC off. It will also be inconsistent accross the rev range.

To sumamrize, there is a gain in performance, and it may be detectible, but at the end of the day who wants to spend hours on a barely detectable improvement?
 
great replies guys. I really appreciate it. I guess I'll leave that one alone for the moment and do it, when there is absolutely nothing left to do with my car. lol.
 
Or you can buy a MP3 intake manifold (VTCS-less) and install it. Then all you have to do is find a place to hang the VTCS solenoid (must leave it connected so you don't through a CEL, unless you also install the MP3 ECU). That is my plan, mani already on hand.
 
wont a manifold from a 626 fit our engines?
What must be done to get that to fit?
Wouldn't this give a liitle more power than removal of the VTCS?
 
Yea but the 626 mani also doesn't have the vics which gives us the torque. That mani is more suited for turbo so there are no restrictions.
 
NVP5White said:
The gain in performance will be less then the the difference when you go from AC on to AC off. It will also be inconsistent accross the rev range.

To sumamrize, there is a gain in performance, and it may be detectible, but at the end of the day who wants to spend hours on a barely detectable improvement?

I know from past experience that I have seen .2-.5 sec improvements in runs with the air off than with the air on. Plus, dynos that have showed 2-10whp gains with it off than with it on at full load.
 

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