What have you done to your MSP today?

[o0n8]

I certainly understand outgrowing the Protege. I like the newer Speeds but they don't do it for me. I am over messing with small engines, my next car will have a V8 and RWD. I am glad I have managed not to turn the MSP into a money pit, just a fun, reliable and relatively cheap DD.

Finding a good used MS3 is a challange, good MS6's pop up every so often. I think the MS6 would make for a fun DD, not sure on reliability as they are 7-8 years old now and probably multiple previous owners. Definitly not a track monster though.

So an LS swapped RX-_

I considered this as a fun car option.

 

[protege3690]

MS6 FTW. I go through my I hate but love my msp phases. when it runs right with no issue I fall in love, but when it wants to act like a PITA. I wanna burn it or drive it off a cliff sometimes. but I know def if I sell or trade in my msp ill get a ms6 GT for sure. heated seats have become a must and having awd is always a good thing haha

 

[Cleverfrog]

MS6 FTW. I go through my I hate but love my msp phases. when it runs right with no issue I fall in love, but when it wants to act like a PITA. I wanna burn it or drive it off a cliff sometimes. but I know def if I sell or trade in my msp ill get a ms6 GT for sure. heated seats have become a must and having awd is always a good thing haha

Honest if I ever sell my MSP I wouldn't get a ms6 or ms3 or even a mazda. the ms3 is a hatch and I never will be a hatch fan. and the ms6 is just... idk... bulky? Not sure. it just doesn't have the james may fizzzzzz.

 

[Preferio]

I always like the MS6, but never enough to say, "Hey, I want that car" but after driving the 6s, I can imagine it being a little faster in stock form and AWD. Throw some mods on it and increase the horsepower. It is kind of a bulky car, though. The MS3, I love hatches. I wish I'd just done all the mods to my Protege5 instead of getting and modding the MSP. MS6s are cheaper, too. At least locally when they do actually pop up. It's either one of three types though: 200k miles highway machine though usually in decent shape; Modified and probably abused; or super low mileage and more than I want to spend on one. I have a thing for Mazdas, because, to me, they are a drivers car. They make the cars that are fun to me and appeal to me and car enthusiasts in general more than any other manufacturer I think.

 

[protege3690]

Honest if I ever sell my MSP I wouldn't get a ms6 or ms3 or even a mazda. the ms3 is a hatch and I never will be a hatch fan. and the ms6 is just... idk... bulky? Not sure. it just doesn't have the james may fizzzzzz.

to me I fell in love with the ms6 the day they were released. iv always loved them. they are bulky, but I drive a g37x as a daily especialy now in the winter and snow, so its not a big deal. and they are relatively cheap. same as Preferio says. to me mazdas have always been a drivers car. and the MS6 just stands out to me. im not a big hatch fan either, so I cant imagine myself rocking a ms3.

 

[Cleverfrog]

I love my msp. loved the other one too. Great drivers car company yes. I dream to have a late 80s rx-7. I just want to try something different if my current one bites the dust in one way or another. Is it sad that all MSP owners do anymore is talk about how much we want to sell it or get something different? lolzzzzzzz

 

[protege3690]

I love my msp. loved the other one too. Great drivers car company yes. I dream to have a late 80s rx-7. I just want to try something different if my current one bites the dust in one way or another. Is it sad that all MSP owners do anymore is talk about how much we want to sell it or get something different? lolzzzzzzz

lol a little. I mean unfortunately when there are platforms that produce less headaches and more time behind the wheel instead and less down time with more aftermarket support, it makes the protg seem a little obsolete to some degree. if I CAN ill keep my msp as long as I have a place to store it.

 

[Bonks]

Is it sad that all MSP owners do anymore is talk about how much we want to sell it or get something different? lolzzzzzzz

Yes.

 

[hornsfan10609]

Cars today have so many features and are so powerful it makes our MSPs look old and slow. I love my MSP and want to keep it forever but a more powerful car is certainly in my future.

 

[SeR_Cyclops]

Yeah, this platform is dying.

When I bought my car in 2006 this forum was still very alive.

Its a fact of life, the protege is dying.
But that is what happens to every vehicle. they spark interest when they are new and then people and vendors move on to different/newer platforms.

 

[Cleverfrog]

I see the features and hate them all. Too much information being thrown at drivers. My 10 focus has none of the extra gizmos and even has a manual gearbox. Not because of the money aspect but more because I didn't want them. I drive my car to and from work. I don't need to see someone's FB status update in my dash. I don't need a touch screen control center. Just 1 more $$$ thing to go wrong. Cool? Yes. Want? No. I'd much rather have my msp with no radio and a/c. The engine note is the best sound track.

 

[bikingpro5]

I see the features and hate them all. Too much information being thrown at drivers. My 10 focus has none of the extra gizmos and even has a manual gearbox. Not because of the money aspect but more because I didn't want them. I drive my car to and from work. I don't need to see someone's FB status update in my dash. I don't need a touch screen control center. Just 1 more $$$ thing to go wrong. Cool? Yes. Want? No. I'd much rather have my msp with no radio and a/c. The engine note is the best sound track.

Ill take the daily comforts of a brand new car over a 10+ year old "race" car that was never meant to be a race car, its a faster(ish) eco car then the other 10+ year old eco cars that were designed at the same time. There is a reason people are building newer cars for much cheaper.

 

[hornsfan10609]

It's hard to beat an MSP in terms of value, you won't find many turbo vehicles that are more fun to drive and own than an MSP for $4-5k. However if you were to compare a new MSP at $20k vs new cars today it would be a different story. But that should be obvious, our vehicles should be advancing and improving with time.

Not to mention, in 2003 most cars (aside from terminator Cobras) required a large investment to push 5-600hp usually including a built motor. Today you can buy a Mustang or Camaro and throw FI on it and make 600+hp for just a couple grand and not even have to forge the motor or port the heads.

 

[Cleverfrog]

Ill take the daily comforts of a brand new car over a 10+ year old "race" car that was never meant to be a race car, its a faster(ish) eco car then the other 10+ year old eco cars that were designed at the same time. There is a reason people are building newer cars for much cheaper.

your "argument" is invalid

troll

 

[hornsfan10609]

I agree with bikingpro, go back to 96-97 to when they were designing and building these cars and see how often the engineers used the word "race car". Probably never.

 

[rally2003]

People build these cars beyond what they are reliability and is why people hate working on them. Keep it under 225 which is plenty of hp for me and my lead foot and you'll have little to no issues with them. I'll take a car that can turn with some cornering speed over a car that has straight line speed. If you find a MSP that is bone stock they usually have nothing wrong with them and are in great condition. Everyone wanted that EVO power tog along with the styling and didn't car what engine platform was there to support it. Still a great car in my opinion. My motor has over 235k and is still running strong with just bolt ons and a stock tune.

 

[Cleverfrog]

I agree with bikingpro, go back to 96-97 to when they were designing and building these cars and see how often the engineers used the word "race car". Probably never.

ok... do any manufacturers use that term?(other than your high dollar companies). We see Ford in nascar and rally and others, as well as Toyota, Subaru etc. Probably not yet despite this term "race" most of these car makers have a vehicle in one form or another in a race series whether it be the econ box or the top of the range model. It's not necessarily the car maker that makes it a "RACE" car.

 

[thaikim]

Simply put in order for Mazda to keep the price down on the MSP they had to cut corners. They basically slapped a turbo on an FS and called it a day. This motor was not meant to handle high hp numbers hence why they were only allowed to run the miserable amount of psi through that's right, plastic pipes. Anyone who wants to have a high powered machine has to go back and reverse engineer Mazdas shortcomings.

 

[THE Phen]

In the same regard, 170 hp in 2003 was pretty potent compared to the competition at the time.

 

[Cleverfrog]

I am thoroughly impressed with how clean the insides of the coolant passages look after running Evans waterless coolant. Absolutely no corrosion anywhere to be seen.