Help!!!

[crazyupgrades]

I am currently in my third year of college where I play Division I-AA Football. I am dual majoring and also have a minor so free time is a problem for me.The summer is basically the only time I have time for a job so I have no money to buy my own car but that has not stopped me from taking a hand me down from my mom (the same car that I had convinced her to buy). I currently drive a 2000 Mazda Protégé ES 1.6L. It has remained unmodified for the 2 years that I have been driving it. My current plan is to get a cold air intake and a exhaust system for it so that she can breathe a little better. My question is what brand of each would be the best to get and will also give me "the best bang for my buck", as they say.

[DiS]

well on the intake side, there are two types of intakes: 1) is a SRI which is a short ram intake and 2) is CAI which is cold air intake. both of them are good, but there is alot of talk on the forums which one is better.....lots of contrevercy. I used to have SRI, but switched to CAI, just because SRI that I had (eBay brand) was rubbing against master cylinder booster and was developing a hole in it, so I switched to Injen CAI. As far as the exhaust, it depends on what you want...a cat-back, an axle-back, or the whole exhaust. There are alot of choices for the exhaust and custom exhaust is always a choice, but it would be a bit expensive to get custom exhaust if you're just looking for a quick little gain. Check out www.corksport.com (http://www.corksport.com) for intakes and exhausts, also ebay would be also an alternative choice. Hope this helps.

[Brad]

i thought the ES was the 1.8 in 2000... anyways...I myself have the 2000 Protege LX with a 1.6 and our engine HATES an intake without modification. something with the way the Mass Air Flow sensor sits in there. A member by the name of ShaneMazda200P (i think that is what it is) has had a little luck with modification of the Cold Air Intake.

[crazyupgrades]

Brad your right about that, my car is an LX not an ES, sorry for the mix up.

[Static03]

I'd go with a AEM SRI, that should serve you well. A cat back straight pipe setup for your exhaust should also do the trick, i wouldnt go with Injen cause ive heard bad things about them when used on low performance cars.

[chuyler1]

I'd save your money for other things. You've got one more year left and you don't know where your life may lead you after college.

Intake-Exhaust alone won't really give you that much gain. Maybe 5-10whp which is not enough to make your car competitive.