tuning a 99 1.8L protege LX

[jamesinator]

hi everyone, my dad gave me a 99 protege 1.8 LX for college, and I am looking at tuning it up a little bit? Any suggestions on where to start? would I notice much of a difference doing up the intake, exhaust and suspension? Thanks for any opinions
james

[autoxes]

on our cars, anything that isn't suspension is a waste of money

[IukekiniProtege]

are you sure its a 1.8l? i have a 2000 lx 1.6l, anyways autoxes is basically right, anything besides suspension mods(or if you want to go with something serious; then turbo it) is a waste of time. I mean unless you just want the sound and the experience of "adding parts on"

[autoxes]

If I could take back the money I spent on aftermarket exhaust and intake, I'd do it in a heartbeat, and spend the money on some AWR coilovers

[jamesinator]

yep, positive its a 1.8 LX. Thanks for the help, guys. So there is no point modding the engine? If I turbocharged it, would there be much difference in power? What would I have to do to the engine before I turbocharged it to make sure it doesnt blow up? higher compression heads? lighter pistons, stronger rods? Will much better suspension, bigger wheels, stickier tires make a huge difference in the handling?

[IukekiniProtege]

im just curious if you have a picture of the engine bay.

Internally for turbocharging, you should be able to get away with stock motor up until 6-7psi safely, if it is a 1.8l then i believe a lot of the MSP stuff can be used seeing how the 1.8l and 2.0l heads are the same. If you were to do internals, then forged rods, lower compression or same compression forged pistons.

As for better suspension, basically all parts between every protege model are the same with the exception of the front endlinks between 99-00 and 01-03 proteges and a few other minor difference, but sway bars, springs, and struts will improve handling greatly, tires are also nice to backup suspension mods, and with those mods you would see a huge increase in handling

[jamesinator]

Well I actually won't have the car until I get back from march break at the beginning of march, but as soon as I get it, I'll take a picture of the engine bay. So since the heads are the same, does that mean that the only difference between the 1.8 and the 2.0 is the length of the stroke? And if I were to turbocharge, and get the forged rods and pistons, would I notice much of a horsepower gain? I'd probably want to get a cold air intake at that point, to keep the turbine temp in the turbo a little cooler, is that correct, and get more air crammed in? And what would you recommend I do with the heads? thanks

[jamesinator]

I was just looking at those AWR coilovers last night, they are sweeeeeet! So you guys all figure it would be the most worthwhile investment? It's not tooooo ridiculously priced. Like $1500. I think I might start saving up for that.

[Protege2886]

Man that's hilarious - my dad gave me a 99 1.8L LX for college too.

In terms of what mods are worth it, it depends on what you're looking for.

One of the first things I did was an intake and I love it. But I agree that a new suspension is also a good starting point.

[IukekiniProtege]

yeah if you turbo your car its going to cost a bit more, you would see and feel a noticeable change in power, even on lower PSI.

As for suspension, I wouldnt look at the coilovers unless; One: you live in a very smooth part of the country, Two: if you plan on doing more then maybe taking the on ramp faster then usual, Three: You really want them. Reason being is that they are kinda overkill for a daily driven never tracked car. Eibach springs, or Tein springs, or springs from one of the other manufacturers that make springs for the protege, and new struts typically Tokico HPs will get you to the point of a decent handling car. Add in a MSP rear sway bar and you will be good to go.

Everyone here is most likely going to have their own preference on suspension setup. So, basically comes down to the look you want(how far dropped), how stiff you want your ride, how much future expansion will the setup give you, what you plan on doing with the car, how much you wanna spend, etc..

[jamesinator]

thats cool. Yeah, I probably wont get coil-overs then. I would like to join a hobby racing club during the summer, but I'm guessing for my driving level, the eibach springs/tokico struts or something like that will be good enough for now. Once I get a job after school, I can see what more I want to do then. Protege2886: Thats cool man! Your protege looks nice! what kind of body kit and rims do you have? And where did you get those corner lights? I can only find clear chrome corner lights

[KZL_99ES]

yeah...i'm kinda with you guys on the improper use of money (i'm not going to say waste b/c its still an improvement) with my header, exhaust, intake, and UDP i still only get like 22 hp more total...
dont get me wrong i like the added peppiness but overall it's prob better just to go turbo...

I think that the best mods that are easy and cheap are:
Stiffer engine mounts,
Short throw shifter,
Lowering springs and/or new struts,
and...
best of all those get some NGK Iridium sparkplugs = $40 of amazingness!!!

[Protege2886]

Thanks :)

The "bodykit" is just MSP side skirts, a factory Mazda front lip, and I've got an Mp3 rear lip that's not on the car yet. The rims are 14" (*sigh) MOMO Racing rims. The corner lights are just blackhousing corners. Makoto Autotrends and Procarparts.com both sell them. Both of those companies have ebay auctions on them from time to time but you can also call them or buy them off their website.

thats cool. Yeah, I probably wont get coil-overs then. I would like to join a hobby racing club during the summer, but I'm guessing for my driving level, the eibach springs/tokico struts or something like that will be good enough for now. Once I get a job after school, I can see what more I want to do then. Protege2886: Thats cool man! Your protege looks nice! what kind of body kit and rims do you have? And where did you get those corner lights? I can only find clear chrome corner lights

[jamesinator]

what kind of HP gain did you notice with the NGK iridium plugs?

[KZL_99ES]

what kind of HP gain did you notice with the NGK iridium plugs?

prob not too much maybe a couple, i noticed right away when i start to accelerate that there is so much more smoothness!

def worth it IMO!

[Not Jo3L]

yeah...i'm kinda with you guys on the improper use of money (i'm not going to say waste b/c its still an improvement) with my header, exhaust, intake, and UDP i still only get like 14 hp more total...
dont get me wrong i like the added peppiness but overall it's prob better just to go turbo...

I think that the best mods that are easy and cheap are:
Stiffer engine mounts,
Short throw shifter,
Lowering springs and/or new struts,
and...
best of all those get some NGK Iridium sparkplugs = $40 of amazingness!!!

I agree with your best mods, plus anything for suspension and looks is good for these cars. Everything else is really worthless unless your like me and just like to put anything you can onto your car. A nice intake and exhaust is all you need performance wise on these cars to get you the extra power and nice sound.

[Raymo853]

The 99 & 00 USA LX had the 1.6 while the Canadian LXs had the 1.8.

[jamesinator]

thanks for the advice guys! Did you notice much difference in power with a good intake and exhaust?

[FunkRider]

The 99 & 00 USA LX had the 1.6 while the Canadian LXs had the 1.8.

Yes, we didn't have an ES here. LX Sport Touring is the ES package.

[jamesinator]

yep this car is the touring edition

[KZL_99ES]

Did you notice much difference in power with a good intake and exhaust?

the biggest power gain (with those mods) is from getting rid of the cats, those guys restrict the air flow the most, so once they're (if you have more than one) gone you're prob talking about 10whp give or take your other mods too...

[jamesinator]

would you notice a difference like that when your driving?

[KZL_99ES]

oh yeah, the peppiness goes up a bit, you'll def notice that around the 3000-4500rpm range, but the decreased back pressure from the no cats will make you loose some of your low-end power...

[KZL_99ES]

so i just did some math to figure out the my engine hp for my exhaust, intake, UDP, and header (remember no cats at all) and i got... 144hp

now i did some research and more math to figure that people dyno'ed the stock base whp for the 1.8L at 88whp (with 122 hp stock to the engine) and my dyno with those mods was at 104whp... so i just cross multiplied to get 144hp.

does that make sense? ... let me know what you think?

[jamesinator]

yeah makes sense. what kinda horsepower would i get with a turbocharger? I was looking at one of those GReddy cat-back exhaust systems, I was thinking that cat-back design might allow for better airflow without losing the low-end power. Is that correct?

[KZL_99ES]

im looking at a turbo set up myself, with that at about 6-8psi you could prob get like some where in the 175-200whp...just remember there aren't as many parts for the 1.8 as for the 2.0L...kinda sucks, but oh'well

[Captain KRM P5]

you cannot use the 2.0 internals to build a 1.8. been there and done that. the stroke is different, the pistons are different, the rods are different, the crankshaft is totally different and the deck of the block sits about 1/2 inch lower than a 2.0. the heads are the same so that makes life easier for intake manifolds, headers, turbo manifolds, etc. even if you swap in an entire rotating assembly from a 2.0 to a 1.8 it will simply not work. you would need the cylinder block from a 2.0 as well.

[jamesinator]

I've noticed some turbo kits are listed to fit the 1.8 as well as the 2.0. Is this true? would modifications have to be made for it to fit the 1.8?

[KZL_99ES]

nothing too major at all, re-read Ken's post above...

[Captain KRM P5]

nothing too major at all, re-read Ken's post above...
I've noticed some turbo kits are listed to fit the 1.8 as well as the 2.0. Is this true? would modifications have to be made for it to fit the 1.8?

physically speaking, just about everything fits the same way between the two

[Not Jo3L]

who is running a turbo 1.8 all I can think of is glyph.

[FunkRider]

you cannot use the 2.0 internals to build a 1.8. been there and done that. the stroke is different, the pistons are different, the rods are different, the crankshaft is totally different and the deck of the block sits about 1/2 inch lower than a 2.0. the heads are the same so that makes life easier for intake manifolds, headers, turbo manifolds, etc. even if you swap in an entire rotating assembly from a 2.0 to a 1.8 it will simply not work. you would need the cylinder block from a 2.0 as well.

I thought the rods were the same? Also the 1.8 uses slightly hotter cams vs the 2.0.