New to the Mazdaspeed Protege'

[Sp00led Ya]

I am enlisting in the Air National Guard and will be comming home with about $7-8,000 after taxes of pay and my first half of my signing bonus and I will be buying a new car. I have considered cars such as a used SRT-4, 05 EVO RS, Bugeye WRX and Mazdaspeed Protege'. In my perfect world I will be getting the EVO RS however my credit score is a little weak at 592 and I do not know if $7,000 put down on a $21-22,000 EVO RS will cut it however I am sure if I dropped down to a $15,000 car it would indeed. I thought of the MSP because the Integra Type R like handling intrigues me very much, I heard the MSP handles like it is on rails, a rare out of the box like handling front wheel drive car.

I did not know they were a turbo car for the longest time however. Now that I am aware of how great the handling is, I was curious about modification, how well do these cars respond to mods and is it worth buying an MSP and modding a bit when I could have had a must faster out of the box car? What is the typical basic mod path and what kind of WHP does the set up net? I have a friend who is a novice tuner with an 04 RSX Type S and I can't let myself be slower, call it immature but I just can't. Is this car for me? Is it capable of good power potential or are the components rather weak beyond stock specification, I heard it was just an NA Protege' motor with a small turbo slapped on.

[boostisgood]

First off, welcome to our little home called MAzda Forums :D

Now, to answer your questions, I gotta ask a few myself.

First, are you looking to make gobs of power with little money into the car? If so, then the MSP is not what your looking for.

The MSP will respond well to your basic mods, Larger diameter exhaust with high flow or no CATS, Intercooler, Intake setup. As far as incresing boost, I would not suggest that without first getting a better way to control fuel and timing via a piggy back or full stand alone computer. Here you will be looking at anywhere from 400 dollars and up.

The MSP has very weak internals for a turboed car and does not like to see boost levels above about 8 psi daily. Allthough many people have run higher then that constantly, they are now having to deal with the internals weakened and breaking.

The MSP does handle quite well, and there are alot of suspension upgrades out there to help it become even better in the twisties. Now, this is MAzda's deal, they are about handling, not about pure power. IMHO, I would much rather go at a decent clip around bends and road courses then run 1/4 miles all day.

I would suggest visiting our vendors section and looking at thier websites at what they have to offer as far as upgrades. Here you can get a great idea on money that you can invest to improve on your investment.

http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5496

Good luck with your decision,
Craig

[GrandBelialKey]

hi sp00led ya, welcome to the community....

it's true, it's just a 2.0 protege engine (same engine as in the P5, mp3 and es models) and the internals of the engine are only good for about 230-240 hp (give or take a few) and yes the turbo is small but determined... the average mod list for the MSP is downpipe, exhaust, intercooler, intake.. engine mounts etc..etc.. but there is a very limited aftermarket for these cars... the intergra is a better choice if you want "fast with potential" the evo and bugeye are better "out of the box" fast cars, and faster than the msp. the sad fact is the FSDE engine is an abomination to automotive transportation, and will blow without fuel management.

please feel free to read as much as you can about these cars before you buy one.. and good luck in the ANG.

peace.

[PaulMSP1939]

Welcome.

Being a former Subaru owner, I'd say go for the WRX if you are looking for something that responds well to mods. Its a little bit more solid of a car, boosts stock at 14.5psi, and will beat that friends RSX stock. Also with about 1500 bucks you can invest in a turboback exhaust, up-pipe, and Cobb Stage 2 and you'll be making at least 50hp/50tq over stock. The bugeyes are in my opinion the best looking bodystyle of the WRX, and you can find nice one for around 13 (dealers mark them up like its their job tho...literally).

Its not gonna handle as well as the MSP stock but some rims/tires, springs, struts, etc. will bring it up to par. The power is pretty incredible, def a nice trade off for not handling as well as the MSP. The MSP is still a great car tho, but from what you have described it may not be right for you. It requires a lot of patience as well as time and money to make it go fast. Other than that it beats Subaru in areas such as stereo, comfort, and styling.

Hope this helps.

[jmv]

Its a quirky car, and not really meant to be a drag racer unless you've got the $$ to put into it. That said, i wouldn't trade it for anything less than an evo, as i just love it to death. We have members here who have put tooooons of money and time into the cars, even though they're maybe not the best platform for speed, just because they are that much fun to drive.

[vinnie mack]

everything the guys have said here is great info.. i just got mine and everyone has been helpful. My car is stock so I can't help personally all i can say is the handling of this car saved my ass today.

thanks lol

[Sp00led Ya]

The crowd here seems very welcoming and that's nice, thanks for the help. I was intrigued by the MSP because of it's ITR like presence I guess however I feel I may push it very hard and wish I had more power when I could have sacraficed a little in the handling department and gone with something that had more ponies out of the box. As Sports Compact said, you don't neccessarily used the rail like handling nearly as much as a heavy foot would accelleration. Just testing the waters for now.

[ping]

The MSP is a precision kind of car, kind of a hemostat compared to, say, a slipjoint pliers like an SRT4. Assuming you're staying in the sport compact realm, and want drragrace, beat-on-it bang-for-the-buck, consider the SRT4, VW GTI 1.8T, or WRX. These respond well to mods and are supported well by the aftermarket. The MSP is great (I still would choose mine over the above, except maybe the WRX - would have to add a suspension and the STi steering rack though). The MSP, though, is more for precision handling than gobs of power - though it's not bad in the power department, it's no 230+ (WRX), 230+ (GTI 1.8t with a chip), or 250+ (SRT4).

If you want beat-on-it performance, supported VERY well by the aftermarket, grab one of the 05-and-earlier Mustangs. That will romp the Sport Compact world witha few mods, and stay in budget. Yep, it's a different class of car, but you get the picture - very moddable and not too shabby in the looks department, but it's a muscle car rather than a compact.

Don't get me wrong, I love my MSP, but I also realize it's no muscle car.

Good luck in your search!

[Chiguy_2002]

Welcome to the forums. IMHO, the MSP is awesome handling and a quick car. It is not a drag car, though it can be made to be quicker. It really depends on what you are looking for, if some comfort and awesome handling and quick is what you would like, get the MSP. If you want a fast 1/4 car, look for something else. Get what you think will make you happy. The MSP seems to be fairly reliable stock, and even with some mods, but with more mods, not so much.

[Alejo_NIN]

if you do get the MSP (which i'm hoping you do) here you'll find lots of info on how to make your ride more pleasant.

yeah, EVO's and SRT-4's are faster outta the box....but bein one out of a million doesn't really make it unique...

yeah, the msp is slow....like someone said it isn't a dragster but a DEVIL at auto-x....

the MSP is a car you will learn to love to hate......

....read my disclaimer

[503MSP]

I got my msp a few months ago, and the handling is great out of the box like everyone here has said. As for the power yes it could use a bit more but its a fine car is it is in stock form. I couldnt be happier with any other car out there rite now.

[We Are Ninja]

I bought a MSP a month or so ago because drag racing does nothing for me, but blasting down a serpentine road does. IMO, it's easy to build a drag beast, but much harder to build a well-sorted canyon carver.

The determing factor was exclusivity. Where I stay, Suby's (in all trim levels) are a dime a dozen, and EVO's are 12 cents a dozen. I used to drive a Subaru, and I honestly got sick of the "Subaru crowd". It's too big and convoluted, IMHO.

I honestly love the MSP. It's a genuinely engaging drive. The steering and chassis feel is amazing. The car feels raw and connected. It's high-strung and darty on the freeway and phyics-defying when the going gets twisty and winding.

[RacerXGirl]

I love mine. :D

[jmv]

FWIW, i wouldn't know but people say when you get intake/exhuast/intercooler and an EMS with higher boost, that it feels like a completely different car. It can be kinda fast, with the right mods and some money, but still its primary cause is a fun engaging ride down twisty roads.

I took my car out last night cuz i was in a bad mood, and just went around a u-turn turnaround on the freeway at about 45, and i was all smiles. Afterward, there was a truck behind me at a light turning left with me, who was squealing tires round the corner just to keep up with me when i didn't even push it hard. Its a blast i tell ya.

[smo0f]

I hate mine. Go for an EVO

[speedprotegewi]

benzete is our resident negetive opinion, dont mind him =P

[smo0f]

nah, i'm just not in denial like everyone else. trust me, it's a sick handling car, big grin on my face when i take a turn. but that's about it. maybe my opinion will change for the better when everything works right for me and i add a few more mods.

i mean i blew my engine on a stock car, at 42 thousand miles. all i had was an intake and an exhaust, and mazda wanted me to pay them $10k for a new engine and turbo. that's just ridiculous. then you have to worry about your LSD snapping in two, and that has nothing to do with mods.

Mazda put features in this car, but didn't really want you to use them. Like, hey guy, we'll give you this turbo on your FSDE, but we highly recommend you don't use it....oh and we'll give you great handling capabilities, but you'll probably break your LSD, so try going in a straight line as much as possible. Oh and we got you this phat Kenwood deck, but try not to eject more than 5 CDs in its lifetime. Oh and we'll give you plastic intercooler pipes that break easy, so that you can replace them out of your own pocket with hard pipes that no one makes consistently. Oh and since we've been generous so far, we're gonna throw in an intercooler that i believe was used on a champion *cough* remote control *cough* car. We'll give you some nice aerodynamics and slap on some mazdaspeed decals and call it a day. You get the picture?

[Alejo_NIN]

nah, i'm just not in denial like everyone else. trust me, it's a sick handling car, big grin on my face when i take a turn. but that's about it. maybe my opinion will change for the better when everything works right for me and i add a few more mods.

i mean i blew my engine on a stock car, at 42 thousand miles. all i had was an intake and an exhaust, and mazda wanted me to pay them $10k for a new engine and turbo. that's just ridiculous. then you have to worry about your LSD snapping in two, and that has nothing to do with mods.

Mazda put features in this car, but didn't really want you to use them. Like, hey guy, we'll give you this turbo on your FSDE, but we highly recommend you don't use it....oh and we'll give you great handling capabilities, but you'll probably break your LSD, so try going in a straight line as much as possible. Oh and we got you this phat Kenwood deck, but try not to eject more than 5 CDs in its lifetime. Oh and we'll give you plastic intercooler pipes that break easy, so that you can replace them out of your own pocket with hard pipes that no one makes consistently. Oh and since we've been generous so far, we're gonna throw in an intercooler that i believe was used on a champion *cough* remote control *cough* car. We'll give you some nice aerodynamics and slap on some mazdaspeed decals and call it a day. You get the picture?

SOMEHOW you make sense....but still...i love the msp

[txmzdspd2gen]

Welcom the the forum..As an addition, one magazine editor actually said that the MSP kicked the butt of the Integra in the handling department ( integra holds the record for the best handling front wheel drive). Too bad the msp is limited production (good in a sense cos you are unique) it could have stayed there as the best handling for a long time.

[smo0f]

SOMEHOW you make sense....but still...i love the msp

of course i make sense, i am the voice of reason

[PaulMSP1939]

of course i make sense, i am the voice of reason

Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just sell it?

[RacerXGirl]

Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just sell it?

Because he's hooked on that love/hate relationship. :p

[NeverSober]

I miss my msp...........but my wrx treats me well.

[smo0f]

Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just sell it?

sell it after i blew my engine and did a rebuild for 7k? the rebuild itself is over 50% of what i can sell the car for overall. i'm not going to take that big of a loss, unless you want to buy it from me for 19k-20k or know anyone who wants to