P5 NA Build - Target 175whp

jimmysuite

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2003 Mazda Protege5
I have actually been working at this for some time now but now have new wind in my sails since the NA tech race to 200whp started. My goal however is not 200whp. My goal is to build a fast NA P5 which gets very good gas milage (hopefully nearing 40mpg crusing) and can be used as a daily driver. Current mods are in my sig, and have left me very happy with the cars performance and drivability. Over the next few months I will be performing the last and most expensive step of the build (most hp gain as well).

Here we go......
 
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The Parts

The first three pics are of my head before being sent to Ken and Protege Garage for a port & polish as well as a 3 angle valve job. (top of the cylinder, exhaust port, intake port)

The fourth pic is of the sweet adjustable cams gears I got from kasmankk here on the forums. Red ftw!
 

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The Parts - Continued

The first two pictures are of my painted and cut valve cover. I used 500F engine enamel (low gloss black and Ford red) on a freshly sandblasted and cleaned valve cover. The cut away will allow me to tune the items in the last pic easily!

The third picture is a beautiful 10.4:1 j-spec piston

The fourth picture are a set of custom Twiggy cams. One set of, oh... about 20 in the whole world!!!
 

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Agreed. But the more I researched 200whp the more I realized the $$$ and mod difference between 175 and 200 is quite large.

Regardless, once I am done and get a dyno people who are serious about 200whp will be able to look at my setup and be able to see where that will get them.
 
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Good luck with this man. Your gonna have nice little setup after all is said and done. By the way very nice Valve Cover
 
blends right in! The billet ones are nice but get really hot. I'll worry about the little things once my car is tuned. :)
 
Good luck. I have my eyes set on a similar, but lower goal - about 150 whp with my sport auto. Which means only abuot 50 more to go...... so we'll see what the future holds.
 
blends right in! The billet ones are nice but get really hot. I'll worry about the little things once my car is tuned. :)

I have a DG carbon fiber one and it is great, it doesn't heat up.

Sweet to see you started a thread as well. A couple questions for you. Are you still using the same kind of pistons you sent me? Also what did you use to cut your valve cover? A cutting wheel?
 
Maybe my goal of 175 is a little high, but the way I see it Once I'm done the car will be even more fun to drive and more fuel efficient. (when I drive it nice!)

Good luck. I have my eyes set on a similar, but lower goal - about 150 whp with my sport auto. Which means only abuot 50 more to go...... so we'll see what the future holds.
 
I have a DG carbon fiber one and it is great, it doesn't heat up.

Sweet to see you started a thread as well. A couple questions for you. Are you still using the same kind of pistons you sent me? Also what did you use to cut your valve cover? A cutting wheel?

Ill have to look into a CF oil cap....

used an air tool with a cutting wheel and a dremel with a sanding drum. Not perfectly straight but good enough for me!

Yes same pistons, I bought the ones I sold you thinking they were the 10.7 mazdaspeed version.... they weren't.
 
awesome stuff...

the difference between 175 and 200 is pretty huge... longer rods, insane redline, intake and exhaust system tuned to a very fine peaky power band, loads and loads of head work.

having said that, 175 is going to be alot of work still. It'll probably be vastly easier to live with than a 200hp monster though.

Suggest you still look at a custom exhaust manifold (tuned 4-1 headers with a merge collector.....), some sort of work on the intake manifold and look at some nice strong forged rods, and head for a 7500rpm. If you go for a redline like that, i'd suggest a 2.5in exhaust system to assist in high RPM breathability. from memory, 2.25 is good for about 200 hp @ the crank as a rule of thumb, at that point it starts to become a major restriction. Twilightprotege runs a 2.5in system and iirc he's up around 150hp, his car doesn't feel lathargic in the slightest, picks up really well and sings in the upper mid range/top end.


Good to see ANOTHER tough NA car being built though :) with the right tire combination, and a bit of practice, you should nail low 14s, or maybe even give high 13s a nudge :)

Good luck....

p.s. did you want me to link your project in the race thread? i know you've said you're not trying for the mark, but if you would like your build in the index i can certainly add it - might give some of the other guys some inspiration too :)
 
The Parts - Continued.... Again

Saved the best and most important for last..... Probably should have had standalone in for a while now but better late than never.

First pic - Microtech!

Second pic - Wideband! Innovate LC-1
 

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awesome stuff...

the difference between 175 and 200 is pretty huge... longer rods, insane redline, intake and exhaust system tuned to a very fine peaky power band, loads and loads of head work.

having said that, 175 is going to be alot of work still. It'll probably be vastly easier to live with than a 200hp monster though.

Suggest you still look at a custom exhaust manifold (tuned 4-1 headers with a merge collector.....), some sort of work on the intake manifold and look at some nice strong forged rods, and head for a 7500rpm. If you go for a redline like that, i'd suggest a 2.5in exhaust system to assist in high RPM breathability. from memory, 2.25 is good for about 200 hp @ the crank as a rule of thumb, at that point it starts to become a major restriction. Twilightprotege runs a 2.5in system and iirc he's up around 150hp, his car doesn't feel lathargic in the slightest, picks up really well and sings in the upper mid range/top end.


Good to see ANOTHER tough NA car being built though :) with the right tire combination, and a bit of practice, you should nail low 14s, or maybe even give high 13s a nudge :)

Good luck....

p.s. did you want me to link your project in the race thread? i know you've said you're not trying for the mark, but if you would like your build in the index i can certainly add it - might give some of the other guys some inspiration too :)

I may play with a custom header/intake (FS-ZE maybe?)down the road. I was planning on keeping my redline at 7000rpm since my bottom end is still stock.

Low 14s would be awesome.

If you want to link this to the race thread be my guest :)
 
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