WOW! Drove a MSP... [long]

[cyomega]

Posting here... the MSP guys should know for sure... Original post here

I went to the Mazda RevItUp competition last week, and after competition my friend and I decided to test drive a few cars. First up, obviously was the MSP. My first reaction when I got in was 'Wow... nice shift knob...'

That was an extreme understatement.

I absolutely LOVED the way the car felt to drive... the shifter was so tight, the clutch feel was incredible... basically the whole experience was Mazda bliss.

When I got back in my P5 to go home, I immediately missed the MSP. I thought to myself: "Ok, same engine, same (basically) chassis, how can I get my P5 to feel somewhat like the MSP?" Mind you, I'm not worried about the turbo aspect just yet, that will come after warranty is up, what I'm mainly interested in is getting that 'feel' in the clutch and shifter.

Now, I did some research and some serious thinking, and I've determined that the only way to accomplish that feel is to do these things:

1) Get a short shifter
It's blatantly obvious that the MSP has a VERY short throw, and I've all but decided on the Kartboy + bushings.

2) Get a tougher clutch (perhaps flywheel?)
I've never had the privilege to drive a car with a modified drivetrain, so I have no idea how, say, a 6-puck clutch would feel as far as the pedal goes. My friend has the ACT extreme clutch in his 3000GT and has told me that there is a very narrow engagement point, almost like the clutch pedal is an on/off switch of sorts. It seemed like the MSP had something similar, perhaps not as extreme as this, so what I'm wondering is what clutch to consider to achieve that pedal feel. Note that I plan to (once I get the P5 paid off and can save some cash) aim for ~200whp, so I'd like to get a clutch that will handle that.

All in all, my only immediate goals are to achieve a 'sportier' feel while shifting, so before I get suggestions like "Hey, screw the shifter for now and save up for an FM turbo!", please understand that I'm not ready or financially capable right now of doing that. I just kind of need something to 'hold me off' until then.

Thanks
-cy

 

[Street KingFD]

What ever you do get the flywheel. You will feel the difference I promise. It will feel like a whole new car.

 

[Newf]

I find this ironic because, the last thing I would have complimented in the speed that I drove was the shifter, and clutch feel. It's no RSX or prelude/or BMW by any means.

There are so many other things the impressed me more. Direct steering, steering feel, connection of road to the driver, brakes, turbo kicking in at 3 grand, how flat the car handles in hard cornering or braking, how controllable and easy to drive for such a stiff suspension, I could go on and on...

And my complaint of the speed was.....the tranny. It just isn't that great. Not as bad as any domestic, but coming from Ludes, and having driven many bmw's, nice vette's and what not, the MSP does not have a smooth tranny, or fantastic clutch. Just a little better then average at best.

I aslo found the sparco knob way to small. Might as well be holding onto the shaft, and have no knob at all.......ok, that sounds perverted, but you know what I mean....I hope

 

[boostisgood]

Hrrrm, I just turned 2k miles, and the notchiness is pretty much gone in my tranny. Hopefully when I put in redline tranny fluid, it will go away for good. Also ForcedFed and RX-Kevin have found a problem with the slow shift from 1st to 2nd at the master cylinder. Just waiting on feedback for that.

 

[2K3 MSP]

ACT clutch...

I've got an ACT Extreme clutch in my '93 Civic, and it is most definately an "on/off switch". It's only a stage one if I remember correctly, so I definately wouldn't go with the 6-puck if I were you. You honestly wouldn't need it anyways. It would make your car almost impossible to drive. Imagine being stuck in traffic, like on the freeway, where you have to keep the clutch pressed in for a second or two, then off, then back on...It is a nightmare. You start to get used to it, but it always ends up being a pain in the ass at one point or another. If you are only planning on 200whp, a stage one clutch would be perfect. I don't remember what the deal with the flywheel was, but I think someone said not to go with one that weighs less than 8 lbs, due to the fact that you could warp it easily...Does that sound right to anybody?? Keep in mind, if you aren't mechanically competent enough to do this clutch swap yourself, it will probably cost a few hundred dollars in labor, plus parts...

 

[cyomega]

Thanks for the feedback.

I guess it's just that I'm so used to the way my P5 shifts... the different feel of the MSP seemed so much 'sportier'. Even when new, the P5's shifting was just... bland... I guess a secondary question to the whole thing is, providing that I install a Kartboy short shifter and bushings, how can I expect the car to feel when shifting? I like the whole idea of a shorter throw, and hopefully with a lighter flywheel the engine will rev down fast enough so that the 1-2 shift isn't so delayed as it is now (those of you that drive above 5000RPM know what I mean)

 

[ArkosP5]

1) You will be greatly impressed with the Kartboy shifter/bushing combo. My car (P5 with the kartboy combo) shifts much nicer than the mazdaspeed did.
2) I thought the Mazdaspeed was a little boaty, but that's only because I'm used to the JICs.
3) OMG how do you people drive with that clutch on a daily basis? It was much too stiff for me, ...
4) Granted I only got to drive the Mazdaspeed for a total of like 2 minutes, but I wasn't all that impressed. I was happier getting back into my bouncy P5.

 

[ping]

...and I'll sell ya my Sparco knob... I like a roundie better! Found an orange (yikes) Ichiban for $26 at JCW, hey, works for me!

Agreed on handling, steering feel (mmm), trans is still notchy but I'm at 1008 miles today... waiting for that to loosen some.