Is my protege 5 specially tuned?

[Chief7925]

Well about a month and a half ago i purchased a 2003 mazda p5. It was a trade in from a guy they said had belonged to a mazda club of some sort. We knew it wasn't quite stock b/c it has magnaflow exhaust, headers, k&n short ram air intake and we also came to find out it has a performance clutch and flywheel.
Now this thing has a decent bit of get to it but i've been researching a bit and people with the same mods as me have run times that aren't too much better than the stock times. My friend has a 2004 srt-4 and we raced recently to see how we matched up and i stayed ahead of him through second gear. When we hit third though it was a different story. He started to gain ground pretty well and of course passed me. At our designated spot where we would see who won he said he was going 120 and i about 108. Now basically what this all comes down to is that I believe something else is done to this car and i wasn't quite sure what. My engine cover has something about tuned by racing beat but i didn't know if this engine cover came with the car right out of the factory or not. I'll post some pics so maybe someone will be able to tell me something. Oh and i posted the last pic b/c i wanted to back up the fact that my friend does indeed have an srt-4

 

[Brian MP5T]

The suspension is Racing Beat on an MP3..

You have P5

It's just a crappy cover off a MP3 motor...

 

[03promaz]

I have about the same mods minus the cluth and flywheel and im not even close to my friends srt.

 

[Woody54]

if you honestly stayed with your friend through most of second, then he was either; 1. toying with you to make you feel good about your new car or, 2. he sucks at driving

 

[03promaz]

if you honestly stayed with your friend through most of second, then he was either; 1. toying with you to make you feel good about your new car or, 2. he sucks at driving

(iagree)

 

[Chief7925]

lol, my friend is hurt. Thanks for the help Brian.

oh and ps. i hope to one day get a turbo to keep up with my friend or even beat him through all the gears.

 

[SooberDude]

You have a secret, one off Mazda P5 made by a secret program at Mazda. Your car is worth a million dollars and will beat just about anything on the road.

 

[M.S.P]

Better hope he doesnt start staging his srt then. Stage 3 and it's gonna take alot to keep up and keep a reliable MP5.

 

[redpr5]

srts dont catch traction very well in 1st or 2nd. a buddy of mine had one awhile back and from a 30-40 kick he could turn over the tires pretty easily.
nice cars though

 

[~JoJo~]

p5 with a mp3 valve cover that is fast..wow...I better put some mp3 stickers on and make mine go faster =p

Something must've happen to cause the close race because it's simply not right.

 

[jeg0024]

Nice half stock SRI, and out of place MP3 cover. Welcome.

 

[DeadGeneration]

Chief7925, let me help you get started.

Your car is ok. You should notice though that your intake is half stock (the black part of it attatching to the intake manifold, also containing your MAF is the stock piece).

The valve cover is from an MP3 and doesn't mean anything for performance, the previous owner did that and for most people they agree it's pretty distasteful. If you like than keep it though.

You also have a very sloppy custom grounding job. The blue wires from the neggative terminal on your battery are the custom grounding wires. They might be good wires and good connections but from an organization stand point with the zip ties it looks pretty ghetto and you might want to clean it up or at least look into it.

Other than those three things your car looks in pretty good shape. Ignore the ass holes.

 

[D-rock240]

Hey hey don't hate on the MP3 cover

Yeah it's just for asthetic purposes, the previous owner was probably lazy like me and didn't want to paint their valve cover. I wonder if they bought the brackets or got a MP3/MSP valve cover though.

 

[JOMO]

Properly tuned??No. But looks good none the less.

 

[silverpro5]

is it possible he has an mp3 ecu as well?

 

[DeadGeneration]

He would have to check but I don't think he is any more likely just because of the valve cover

 

[delguini]

but even then, does the MP3 ecu actually make that much of a difference?

 

[Riken]

wow lets give the guy a break, he did not mod the car, he got it like that. He has no clue so thats why he is asking us. No need for negative comments. 3. could be that yes maybe there was something done to the motor. Try racing your friend again and see where you get again.

 

[nate0123]

but even then, does the MP3 ecu actually make that much of a difference?

only if he's running premium fuel, and then maybe 6-7 hp or so?

 

[silverpro5]

I heard 10 from the ecu

Edit: maybe 10 if you PNP your intake mani
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123665598