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- 2003 Protege5
Warburrito's eco / aero Protege5 build *new
- Thread starter Warburrito
- Start date
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- 2003 Protege5
MEGAN RACING TRAILING ARMS
The Megan Racing MRS-MZ-1022 trailing arms showed up last week and after a HUGE hassle removing the old ones I got them installed. I heard the Megan arms have a tendency to rust so I filled the corners with hot glue (all my silicone was dried out), gave them a light sanding, and applied a few coats of clear before installing them. I thought they looked better with the flat side facing out so that's how I mounted them, even though it makes the badging sit upside down. If there's some reason this will destroy my car in the future please let me know, but it seems harmless enough. Does anyone know how to Photoshop rust out of pictures?
I also picked up 2 additional Mazda6 rims last Friday for $35 a piece, just in case any get bent in the future. Its Indiana...all rims have a limited lifespan with the mammoth-sized potholes everywhere. I think the dirt roads in Latvia are better maintained. When I go for an alignment I'm also gonna have them re-balance the wheels. I'd like to be prepared if they find any issues. If not I'm set for the future.
The Megan Racing MRS-MZ-1022 trailing arms showed up last week and after a HUGE hassle removing the old ones I got them installed. I heard the Megan arms have a tendency to rust so I filled the corners with hot glue (all my silicone was dried out), gave them a light sanding, and applied a few coats of clear before installing them. I thought they looked better with the flat side facing out so that's how I mounted them, even though it makes the badging sit upside down. If there's some reason this will destroy my car in the future please let me know, but it seems harmless enough. Does anyone know how to Photoshop rust out of pictures?
I also picked up 2 additional Mazda6 rims last Friday for $35 a piece, just in case any get bent in the future. Its Indiana...all rims have a limited lifespan with the mammoth-sized potholes everywhere. I think the dirt roads in Latvia are better maintained. When I go for an alignment I'm also gonna have them re-balance the wheels. I'd like to be prepared if they find any issues. If not I'm set for the future.
GJ-Molestor
Banned
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- 2011 BMW 528i, 2015 Mazda 6, 1995 Nissan Maxima Manual
I think I would go for the MSP ECU, higher octane fuel is more efficient depending on how you drive. the extra premium for the better fuel will pay itself off with more power and efficiency.
your car is manual, correct?
your car is manual, correct?
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- 2003 Protege5
It is a manual.
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GJ-Molestor
Banned
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- 2011 BMW 528i, 2015 Mazda 6, 1995 Nissan Maxima Manual
as long as you stick to ethanol free fuel you will get good MPG
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- 2003 Protege5
Yeah, the closest place that sold it used to be about 20 miles from me, but a station about 5 miles from me just started selling it. I need to try it out. I think everywhere else in Indiana sells 10% ethanol.
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- 2003 Protege5
ALIGNMENT and BALANCING
I had Firestone do an alignment for $151 (lifetime), balance my tires, and swap out 2 bent rims. I lucked out and both the rims I recently bought at the junkyard were true. I should have asked them to get close to zero toe, but I'll do that next time. They did correct one wheel that had a toe of 0.51. I guess I'll wait a bit to lower my car since my next free alignment isn't for another 6k miles.
The car drives much better now, but immediately after the work I noticed many new issues. I have more clunks and a new grinding noise when I turn the wheel at low speeds. It has a slow de-clunking/grinding noise that goes along with the front end raising or lowering when I get on or let off the brakes at low speeds. Also, my brakes were super silky smooth prior to taking my car in and now it feels jumpy/notchy on the passenger side front with brand new Mazda 6 rotors/brakes 1500 miles ago. I'm halfway suspicious that someone may have taken my car out and beat on it before returning it to me. I should have noted the mileage b4 I dropped it off.
Any advise would be great, but I'm thinking of checking all the lugs, brake bolts, control arms, and probably replacing the front sway bar bushings (if I'm capable). I'd check the tie rods but have no idea what to look for. I'm planning on dropping a Progress sway bar on the rear which will replace those bushings and probably fix that clunking, but that may be a few months.
I had Firestone do an alignment for $151 (lifetime), balance my tires, and swap out 2 bent rims. I lucked out and both the rims I recently bought at the junkyard were true. I should have asked them to get close to zero toe, but I'll do that next time. They did correct one wheel that had a toe of 0.51. I guess I'll wait a bit to lower my car since my next free alignment isn't for another 6k miles.
The car drives much better now, but immediately after the work I noticed many new issues. I have more clunks and a new grinding noise when I turn the wheel at low speeds. It has a slow de-clunking/grinding noise that goes along with the front end raising or lowering when I get on or let off the brakes at low speeds. Also, my brakes were super silky smooth prior to taking my car in and now it feels jumpy/notchy on the passenger side front with brand new Mazda 6 rotors/brakes 1500 miles ago. I'm halfway suspicious that someone may have taken my car out and beat on it before returning it to me. I should have noted the mileage b4 I dropped it off.
Any advise would be great, but I'm thinking of checking all the lugs, brake bolts, control arms, and probably replacing the front sway bar bushings (if I'm capable). I'd check the tie rods but have no idea what to look for. I'm planning on dropping a Progress sway bar on the rear which will replace those bushings and probably fix that clunking, but that may be a few months.
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- 2003 Protege5
ETHANOL-FREE FUEL
A CountryMark gas station about 5 miles from my house recently started selling their 91 octane ethanol-free fuel. Even though I hate the additional cost (~55 cents/gal more than 87) I'm going to try it out for a little while. A few people on here have made that suggestion and I'm going to follow their advise, at least for a while. If I decide its worth it this will also allow me to run an MP3 ECU, although I'll be locked down to 91 forever...ughhh. I've been averaging a little over 31 mpg lately (while using AC regularly) so I'll keep you posted on any improvements. 1 or 2 mpg improvement may just account for the lack of AC as I head into fall temperatures.
One immediate effect I noticed is a lack of pinging/rattling at low RPMs. I always figured that had something to due with valves or exhaust parts rattling because it never gave knock readings, but it looks like I was wrong. Since high mileage pinging is usually a result of increased compression due to carbon deposits I guess its time for a methane / water injection system to start cleaning the cylinders. I'll probably just pull a washer fluid system from a protg at a junkyard and pick up a misting nozzle to put in the air intake. I'll post up my research on these when I recap the actual install.
The injection system won't do much of anything to clean outside of the compression chamber, so I may look into something else for that like walnut blasting or a fuel additive of some kind. I have no idea what walnut blasting costs. If you have any suggestions for outside the chamber please let me know.
A CountryMark gas station about 5 miles from my house recently started selling their 91 octane ethanol-free fuel. Even though I hate the additional cost (~55 cents/gal more than 87) I'm going to try it out for a little while. A few people on here have made that suggestion and I'm going to follow their advise, at least for a while. If I decide its worth it this will also allow me to run an MP3 ECU, although I'll be locked down to 91 forever...ughhh. I've been averaging a little over 31 mpg lately (while using AC regularly) so I'll keep you posted on any improvements. 1 or 2 mpg improvement may just account for the lack of AC as I head into fall temperatures.
One immediate effect I noticed is a lack of pinging/rattling at low RPMs. I always figured that had something to due with valves or exhaust parts rattling because it never gave knock readings, but it looks like I was wrong. Since high mileage pinging is usually a result of increased compression due to carbon deposits I guess its time for a methane / water injection system to start cleaning the cylinders. I'll probably just pull a washer fluid system from a protg at a junkyard and pick up a misting nozzle to put in the air intake. I'll post up my research on these when I recap the actual install.
The injection system won't do much of anything to clean outside of the compression chamber, so I may look into something else for that like walnut blasting or a fuel additive of some kind. I have no idea what walnut blasting costs. If you have any suggestions for outside the chamber please let me know.
GJ-Molestor
Banned
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- 2011 BMW 528i, 2015 Mazda 6, 1995 Nissan Maxima Manual
You are getting the benefits of ethanol free fuel (which is great for your higher mileage vehicle, some full throttle pulls will definitely help clean your injectors and what-not around your higher mileage motor) but you are not getting the benefits of 91 octane fuel without a MP3 ECU. If the ECU is worth the upgrade, you will notice a very healthy bump in power and if you continue to drive normal your fuel economy will improve. It will easiky pay off the premium just based on the better power alone. The engine runs so much smoother with this fuel.
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- 2003 Protege5
That makes sense. Do you know if there's anything worse about the B model ECU instead of the latest C model? Theres one available locally with the B suffix.
Where I live I only have to pay $0.23 extra for 91 and I have to say I definitely can feel a power difference when my gf filled my P5 with 87 once. Now for the gas mileage I don't feel it's any better or worse. So if you were just going to best fuel mileage I'd just leave as is. The MP3 ecu is also so much smoother between shifts so I guess that's all I can say about mine!
GJ-Molestor
Banned
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- 2011 BMW 528i, 2015 Mazda 6, 1995 Nissan Maxima Manual
No idea, dont know much about the protege but if the MSP ecu is good I would just go ahead and buy it.
If you ever feel like your paying too much for fuel, just remember that here in Ontario we pay $1.30 per litre (on a good day) for ethanol free fuel. Thats right, PER LITRE. One US gallon is roughly 4 litres!
The cars not tuned for 91 so youre not going to see any efficiency benefits using it.
how much do you pay for fuel?
We pay $1.30-1.50 per litre here in Canada for 91
My car is tuned for 91.
GJ-Molestor
Banned
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- 2011 BMW 528i, 2015 Mazda 6, 1995 Nissan Maxima Manual
The 91 octane fuel you use, is it ethanol free? From my experience, I noticed absolutely no difference in terms of efficiency between 87 and 91 UNLESS the 91 was ethanol free.
Now the ethanol-free stuff is a whole different story...
hornsfan10609
Certified Mazda Tech
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- 2003.5 Mazdaspeed Protege x2
Be sure you get an MP3 ECU, not MSP.
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- 2003 Protege5
I will...found one in Canada...well see how much shipping is [emoji14]
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- 2003 Protege5
I wonder what the US to Canadian conversion rate is because after conversion it will still be more expensive, but not quite as much. I feel bad for Canada because I used to buy bike parts from Canadians in the mid 2000s and the Canadian dollar used to be worth more than US dollars...now it's worth a lot less. I think it's a bunch of nonsense controlling conversion rates. The US prints money like crazy and borrows trillions constantly so I don't understand how it can't be de-valued. The US manages money like a bunch of hefty 10 year olds at a candy store. I don't see how our money is worth anything, but then again I'm no economist.
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- 2003 Protege5
So far I've noticed no significant gains with the MP3 ecu...even though I'm not using my AC anymore.. Bummer
I'd like to find a gauge that will measure low level vacuum/boost levels at different spots on the front of my car and within intake piping for the design of my air intake system. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with this? I found a OTC 5613 Vacuum/Pressure Gauge Kit on Amazon for 30, but am not sure it will be sensitive enough to reassure differences in the front of my car. Any help would be appreciated.
EDIT: I realized I never supplied any info about the install....
MP3 ECU INSTALL
I found a B model of the MP3 ECU locally and installed it. I really notice an increase in driveability and low end power. My engine feels stronger than ever with less of a need to downshift when going up hills. I haven't noticed much of a difference in top end power, but I'm also not revving it that high regularly and not often enough to notice a small improvement. I haven't recorded any gains in MPG over a few tanks using the ethanol-free fuel and the MP3 ECU, but the car is more fun to drive now so I'll be keeping them for now. At least my FE hasn't gone down.
I'd like to find a gauge that will measure low level vacuum/boost levels at different spots on the front of my car and within intake piping for the design of my air intake system. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with this? I found a OTC 5613 Vacuum/Pressure Gauge Kit on Amazon for 30, but am not sure it will be sensitive enough to reassure differences in the front of my car. Any help would be appreciated.
EDIT: I realized I never supplied any info about the install....
MP3 ECU INSTALL
I found a B model of the MP3 ECU locally and installed it. I really notice an increase in driveability and low end power. My engine feels stronger than ever with less of a need to downshift when going up hills. I haven't noticed much of a difference in top end power, but I'm also not revving it that high regularly and not often enough to notice a small improvement. I haven't recorded any gains in MPG over a few tanks using the ethanol-free fuel and the MP3 ECU, but the car is more fun to drive now so I'll be keeping them for now. At least my FE hasn't gone down.
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