Looking at buying a MSP and want advice? Post here!

Possible New MSP Member

Hey whats up everyone,

I joined this forum to talk to the guys over at the P5 sub-forum..

after looking around and talking to a few guys, I 'm really having trouble on whether or not the P5 would be the car for me, just from reading what others have to say..

so, same thing I'm going to ask the MSP owners,

is there anything really critical that I should be looking at when I go and check out a MSP, anything from recalls, to idk..bad rust, paint fades, motor problems, etc?..

the MSP is at 65,000 miles, is there anything that has to be done around that time or in the short term..??

thanks, anything will help out..
 
Well let me ask you this, how much is the asking price? There's a few problems.. You really can't launch this car, if you do you might end up snapping your LSD.. Umm so people blow there engines and end up going forged everytime, it's actually a hit or miss, there's guys on stock internals that are running 12psi just fine! But then there's also guys that are running stock boost and blowing engines.. But honestly to me it's all about the owner, I have treated mine great and for like 5 months I've been fine.. When I bought mine I didn't look at the susp at all. I ended up buying mine with reg protege susp. So make sure when you look at it look at everything, the struts are suppose to blue tokico blues, and the springs should look red, racing beat. That's If it's all stock.. Mine had quite a few things done to it.. So. Yes.. Goodluck.. And just take for a long test drive, use good judgement..
 
Just don't get the car expecting to be able to treat it bad, and have it hold together, you need to do the major things on it before you ever expect it to go fast. Expect to spend money on motor mounts, upgrading the ic and pipes, and definitely change the tranny fluid to a synchromesh, or something similar. It helps. But overall the pleasure of driving the car is less painful than the cost of keeping it going. Unless your luck is bad.

Thad.
 
Issues that are common are the wastegate going bad, rear clunk, headunit going bad. But then theres the ones that make the car not run at all, which is mainly the LSD case breaking.

But welcome to Mazdas247! I hope to see you on here more!
 
kool3453 said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a mazda protege can you guys check this car out and see if its going for a good price. I'm just getting my first mazda so I dont really know much about them.
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/cto/1882574592.html
Click to expand...

looks pretty damn good. private party is definitely better than dealer. if it's really never been modded and is in as good a shape as claimed then i'd grab it. nearly every MSP out there has been modded, unmodded, and modded again.
 
I wondered... same mileage but I didn't see a hood scoop in the craiglist ad (dunno)
 
anyone else noticed how tempurature oriented our cars are? when its cool the car loves it, if it gets over 80 it has fits.
 
Some random questions about msp...

hi, i have a protege 5 and maybe next spring if everything goes well, i might buy a protege speed. I have some question about it tho.

1. Does it rust as bas as a normal protege/p5?
2. Are they that much unreliable?
3. Can an intake(or simply cone filter) cause trouble like fuel cut or stg like that.
4.I read that those msp run VERY rich from factory. would that mean that an intake would lean the mixture and get some hp from it?
5. As i can see, ssafc is a good ems, but could one go without it and simply install a BC and boost it at like 8-9psi no problem(no flaming please :p). Would the ecu adjust by itself?

6. i guess the best mods are FMI and downpipe. can you get good gains from them without any ems(only a BC(no flaming lol))?

BTW, msp in canada are not cheap. they sell for around 8000-9000.
thank you.
 
alexelie said:
hi, i have a protege 5 and maybe next spring if everything goes well, i might buy a protege speed. I have some question about it tho.

1. Does it rust as bas as a normal protege/p5?
2. Are they that much unreliable?
3. Can an intake(or simply cone filter) cause trouble like fuel cut or stg like that.
4.I read that those msp run VERY rich from factory. would that mean that an intake would lean the mixture and get some hp from it?
5. As i can see, ssafc is a good ems, but could one go without it and simply install a BC and boost it at like 8-9psi no problem(no flaming please :p). Would the ecu adjust by itself?

6. i guess the best mods are FMI and downpipe. can you get good gains from them without any ems(only a BC(no flaming lol))?

BTW, msp in canada are not cheap. they sell for around 8000-9000.
thank you.
Click to expand...

1. I dont know about this but I have not noticed any rust on mine but i live a lot further south than you.
2 I have never had any problems out of mine that i didnt create. I say if you get a good msp then you will not have problems out of it if you take care of it.
3 I have never known anyone getting fuel cut just from a cone filter. I would say if you are hitting fuel cut its more than likely gonna be when its real cold outside. I have alot of mods and I dont hit fuel cut till around 20 degrees or so.
4 I wish i ran as rich as my msp, id buy a Ferrari. Lol but with any car anytime you add a air filter you will gain some hp, but it wont lean it out enough for you to even notice with a wideband.
5. i have known people to run a bigger turbo the GT28RS with the factory ecu on like 10psi but im telling you right now I wouldnt want to up the boost on the factory ECU can you do it.... yes. would i do it.... no
6. I wouldnt up the boost with the factory ecu and if you do dont go more than like 8psi. Those are good mods but I would go with a few mods i would do this
boost gauge
wideband
mid pipe
fmic
SSAFC


This was just a quick response, if you look around you will find more info. GL on your quest to buy a msp.
 
thnaks a lot! very helpful.

I read a little and agree that a boost gage and wideband are like the first thing to get for these cars lol. I think they run 10 afr WOT stock. no zoom zoom boom i guess...
 
I went from a red 02 P5 5 speed to a Titanium 03.5 MSP and I couldn't be happier. I wasn't happy when I first got it because of some issues but I love it now. Reliable? Hell no but I haven't had any major issues so far, and they rust just as fast as any other Mazda. I would also highly recommend a piggyback ems or standalone before going crazy raising the boost levels.
 
thanks! if i buy one, i will make sure it has no rust! I really like teh p5, just not the power it has. I would buy suspension first/intake if i bought the speed.

I have another question. Do p5 springs fit the msp struts?
 
P5 springs don't fit, as far as I know, but trading for MSP springs is possible. You will probably be surprised how much quicker even a stock MSP is over a P5. I'm used to driving much faster cars than fwd Proteges so it's not that fast, but it's much quicker than a n/a protege. I thought mine was rust free and it is except for the bottom of the front doors, it's sad because the P5 I totalled didn't have a single spec of rust anywhere, Texas cars FTW.
 
^^ but now i keep reading how uneliable it is and how its always broken...the WHOLE "i know i own a msp because..." tread has people saying i know i own a speed because i cant drive it, its not working, i have cel, i need a towing to get home, i pray eveyday to not have to repair stg... REALLY??!

the p5 has been very very nice in term of reliability. i dont want to get stg i cant get to school with because there is a problem with it everyday. If i buy it, i would keep it stock for the most part and not drive it like i stole it...would that make a diference?
 
Once again, you treat your car with respect it will respect you. If you buy a rough msp. It will never be anything but problems. Take the time and buy a good quality msp spend a few extra bucks and get one worth owning and it will save you money over a cheap beat to s*** mazdaspeed.


On the boost gauge and wideband, do what you will but a boost gauge is a must and a wideband is a good investment. I would NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER change my boost, or do any type of ECU modification with out a wideband so you know what is going on. even if it is just a can tune off of a SSAFC. But its your choice, I really dont care.
 
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