Pros and Cons

[norwood1026]

I have been surfing several Mazda forums lately. I am always thinking about what I want to do to my car. When I first got my Protégé, I has planned to keep the engine pretty much stock other then a few mods here & there. At this stage, the only thing I have done is modified my air-intake. Keeping my car in good running condition is my goal at this time. However after my first car meet with the guys & girls from CM I soon realized I want more……………Go figure. I’ve been reading about some people doing a KZLE swap & some boosting their cars. Money is always a concern with the way things are these days. I don’t know much about turbos I Know how they work but not much about maintaining them. My car knowledge is limited as far as working on them. I would love to hear from some of you who have done one or the other to your car, maybe help point me in the right direction.



Thanks in advance. BTW, I have a 00 Protégé ES with the 1.8 if that at all helps. I'm not asking for a complete rundown.

[niky]

For a daily driver, a swap is a big, big compromise... getting everything to work properly and dealing with all the niggling issues in wiring, mount compatibility and running can be a daunting challenge for a first-timer (I know it was for me...)... there are swaps that are easier than others, but the KL-ZE is far from the easiest there is (Hondas... just drop em' in and they usually work...(cabpatch) LOL).

A turbo isn't necessarily difficult to maintain. Watch out for bad gas, don't romp on the boost if the weather is too hot, follow proper warm-up and cool-down procedures to prevent coking and watch your oil. But it's always a trade-off between power and engine-longevity. More of one, less of the other.

You could always build the stock engine, but of course, there will come a time when you've reached the limit of how much you want to spend for what you'll get.

My suggestion would be to map out your ultimate goals... what do you want out of your car? How much are you willing to spend and/or how long are you willing to wait for it? Do you want a 300-400 whp drag racer? A V6 highway blaster? An autocross car with a mild turbo build? Or simply a peppier stock car? Figure out if it's worth your time and money to do what you want to do, and if you're sufficiently committed to the car (how long term your stewardship will be) to see the project through to its completion.

After years of going down blind alleys and following dead-end upgrade paths with previous vehicles due to a lack of budget / brains / patience, I finally settled on the car I wanted (this one) and the upgrade path I was willing to follow. I kind of overshot a bit in terms of budget, but I've reached the point where I know to leave well enough alone. Now I"m just sitting back and enjoying my car. It's not the fastest there is, but it's a lot better than it was stock, and I'm happy with where my upgrade path took me.

I recognize that I can go a lot further if I wanted to... but that it would also be more worthwhile to save up the money I'd spend for that and wait for another project car with more potential. Of course, there are those who will disagree, and you might want to see your car out to the 200-300 whp range... but that's your decision, not mine. ;)