Turing potential for P5? MP3?

[Captain KRM P5]

The Kartboy shifter bushings do help alot with the 1-2 shift, and a short shifter makes it feel better than stock. I would not say that the car's transmission is "garbage" when you look at any of the competition. Having test driven Neons, Civics, VWs and Focuses, I can tell you that they have problems of their own. The Neon and the Civic (surprisingly in the Honda) were loose and mushy feeling all around, and the VW GTI was very rough with each gearchange. Many car mags, C&D most recently, rate the drivetrain and tranny of the Protege far and away better than cars of this price class. You aren't going to the transmission of a Ferrari on a sub $20k car, nothing even close. Older Civics shifted awesome, so I don't know what happened here...but this strays from the subject.

Personally I've never had wheel hop of any degree, and I drive fairly aggressive. I don't lose any torque as long as I shift near 5k, no shudder no nothing of that sort. No offense, but I have to say that some of this "evil tranny" business has been blown way out of proportion. I know of two or three members on this forum who have blown thier trannies. But then again, I know about 1000 Ford Focus owners who have faulty rear suspensions.

I am running 7psi right now with no problems whatsoever. Once I add a set of engine mounts, big fuel pump and perhaps a clutch I plan on running 8 or 9psi. I believe SpoolinMP3 is running 12psi with no problems either, and on stock internals. The stock compression ratio is about 9.7 to 1.

Nomad, I would definetely reccomend this car or the MSP to yourself if you are looking to buy. You can't expect Dodge Viper performance, but you can expect to stand out from the import crowd and have fun driving while doing that.

 

[LinuxRacr]

The stock compression is 9.1:1!

 

[Nomad]

Great info guys.
Sounds like this tranny issue is a beesnest. I'm sure Mazda'll figure it out soon.

I'll keep my eye on the P5. Looks like FlyinMiata has some interesting items under development.

As far as standing out in the import scene, yeah they do get noticed... But I'm used to standing out with my 1st generation Acura CL

I'm looking to get something I can mod out right away. IF I sell my current car I'll have cash left for some nice mods after a large downpayment.

 

[Nomad]

How is the aftermarket going as far as getting parts for the P5 and others?

You all need some polyeurethane motor mounts and suspension bushings.

Of course I've seen other ways of handling engine movement. Such as cross bracing directly to the engine. Don't know much about it but I've seen it in a mag.

The wheel hops not supressed by suspension upgrades?

Where is the redline? 6,000? Sounds like most of you are not shifting at redline, reasons? Is it that the engine power drops off in higher RPM's?

 

[Captain KRM P5]

Sorry to be off there Linux...I must have been thinking of the high compression pistons (10.7 to 1 are they not?) and gotten my decimals mixed up. Thanks for correcting me.

Nomad as far as the aftermarket, there are several companies making parts. The beauty of this for Protege owners is that much of the items produced for one car work well for the others (P5 > MP3 > Protege ES). MMS and AWR make a set of polyurethane motor mounts, several companies make the basic air intake (AEM, Injen) and exhaust (Bosal, Racing Beat, etc.) and one company I know of is considering suspension bushings. Indigo and SR Motorsports sell flywheels, clutches, sway bars, pulleys, and water pumps. Protege5Online.com has a dizzying array of aftermarket goodies for the car. Wings West, among others, have full body kits and body modifications available for the car. These are just to name a few, and the aftermarket truly has been taking off for these cars in the last year alone. You would not be too short for parts if you were to buy this car.

What other vehicles were you considering?

 

[Nomad]

Well, after researching several options I'm still torn in a sense. It has to do with a lot of the "IF"s I have to deal with now.

Family thoughts for the future so here's my plan(s)
1. Keep my Acura CL and deal with the limited space and keep modding it. (Wife doesn't like this idea... no space)
2. Sell the CL and get one car that I can use for family and weekend racing (ie: auto-x or a fun strip day)
3. Sell the CL and buy a regular roomy car that I'd like to drive and spend all my modding time on a "project car", the cheaper the better...

So that's led me to some choices:
1. Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec-V =
Pro: HP and potential
Con: hate the styling, small
2. Subaru WRX wagon =
Pro: I think we all know
Con: PRICE, mods are mad expensive too (comparatively speaking)
3. Mazda P5 =
Pro: Good styling, price (used model even better price), potential
Cons: Sort of small but hatch helps, tranny? Lots of mods needed that are still at "new" mod prices.

4. VW Golf GTI = too small, don't like VW
5. Honda Civic = Love Honda quality/potential but too small!
6. Honda Accord 4door = Might be the simple family car choice

Project (cheap) car possibilities that I'm considering:
89 Civic or CRX with B20 VTEC or B16 turbo
"Fastiva" = Festiva w/Mazda B6T motor

Well, now you know everything about me...
Any thoughts on my assessments?

 

[chdesign]

Spoolin is NOT runnign 12 psi!!!!!!!!!!! He is runnign 8 and around town lower than that. He ran 12 psi once in a dyno run with C16 gas please don't get this guys hopes up that our motors can handle 12 psi all the time cause I dont' think it is that sturdy after being inside the motor.

 

[Nomad]

I'm not getting my hopes up.
12 psi isn't an around town pressure for most cars especially on stock internals.
I think on most decent stock internals 6-8 is expected to be the most. You can run 12 a few times but not around town i'm sure but you better have it tuned right.

Especially with stock compression at 9.1:1 if you want a daily driver you'd better drop that down to 8:1 to be on the safe side for more boost. It's just too high to load up I think... but I'm no expert.

If i'm going to turbo something and really crank the boost you better beleive that I'll be replacing pistons, rods, bolts etc. to keep that bottom end strong.

I keep hearing good things about the new Mazda engines though.

 

[dmitrik4]

if you're looking to do that much work to your car, might want to look at an '02 ES...the MP3 is not really going to give you any better of a starting base if you're going to mod a lot of stuff anyway, and you get cruise and ABS.

and i'm pretty sure that the sedan has actually more room than the hatch. although i do love the versatility of a hatch!

as far as the 1-2 shift...it's ok as long as you pay attention and do it right. the notchiness is the problem...it feels like it's in 2nd, but it's not. i've ground 2nd three times now and each time it was b/c i wasn't paying attention and trying to rush the shift. otherwise it's fine...slow when you're dragging, but in normal driving it's ok.

the redline is 6500 rpm. peak power is 6000 rpm. i usually will shift just short of redline (62-6300) as it does feel like the power starts to drop off just a bit (and since the shift is slow, it leaves me a few hundred rpm safety margin!).

 

[Nomad]

Thanks.

Actually, I was just commenting on the topic above... I'm not ready to replace the whole bottom end on a new car! Turbo the stocks yeah but that's just too much all at once for me. I'll only do that on a project car (a very real temptation), not my daily driver.

That's the beauty of picking up a $500 car and putting a $1000 motor in with $1000 of other goodies.... You don't feel bad beating the heck out of it...