Hey All! I've owned my P5 for a little over a year now, and have absolutely loved it. However, the old suspension is tired, and could use a rebuild. My final goal is to KL-ZE swap her, so I'm holding off on any engine mods in favor of suspension for the time being. However, I'm running into a little bit of a snag. It appears that I have gotten into P5 tuning about a decade late (as per usual it seems) and many of the performance suspension upgrades have been discontinued, and ebay searches have thus far proven unfruitful.
So far I have been able to find:
22mm Rear Sway Bar - http://cr3motorsports.com/Protege/Protege-Suspension?product_id=70
It is my understanding that AWR used to make a rear sway bar for the protege, but it seems to have been discontinued, and aside from grabbing a RacingBeat off of a Speed, I don't know what other options I have.
Front Strut Tower Bar - https://www.andysautosport.com/products/cusco__445 540 a.html
Haven't found any others; yet, that is.
Endlinks and various bushings - http://store.awrracing.com/mazdaspeed-protege-protege/?sort=featured&page=1
Now, I've seen some members around with some GT Spec suspension components for the P5. I've not been able to locate these anywhere, as it appears they have been discontinued. Are there substitutes available, or would they have to be custom fabricated?
Now, when it comes to the coils and springs, I'd like some input on what the best course of action would be. I understand that many coilovers have a stiffer ride, therefore decreasing ride comfort. How bad is it? I do still plan on dailying my P5, even after the upgrades. I'm trying to push it as far as possible without making it impractical as a daily.
The cost of a good set of lowering springs and shocks runs very close to the same price as a set of COs
(Springs - https://eibach.com/us/i-1709-pro-kit-performance-springs-set-of-4-springs.html || Shocks - http://www.racingbeat.com/Protege/Shocks/74022.html)
(COs - http://cr3motorsports.com/Protege/Protege-Suspension/BC-Coilovers-BR-Mazda-Protege)
Tokico makes two sets, a blue and a white. The white is touted as higher performance, but is it enough to justify the extra $$$?
As for the BC's, are there better options for the money? What are the Pro's - Con's of a coil-over system?
As a side question, what are some of the best ways to improve the P5s handling?
So far I have been able to find:
22mm Rear Sway Bar - http://cr3motorsports.com/Protege/Protege-Suspension?product_id=70
It is my understanding that AWR used to make a rear sway bar for the protege, but it seems to have been discontinued, and aside from grabbing a RacingBeat off of a Speed, I don't know what other options I have.
Front Strut Tower Bar - https://www.andysautosport.com/products/cusco__445 540 a.html
Haven't found any others; yet, that is.
Endlinks and various bushings - http://store.awrracing.com/mazdaspeed-protege-protege/?sort=featured&page=1
Now, I've seen some members around with some GT Spec suspension components for the P5. I've not been able to locate these anywhere, as it appears they have been discontinued. Are there substitutes available, or would they have to be custom fabricated?
Now, when it comes to the coils and springs, I'd like some input on what the best course of action would be. I understand that many coilovers have a stiffer ride, therefore decreasing ride comfort. How bad is it? I do still plan on dailying my P5, even after the upgrades. I'm trying to push it as far as possible without making it impractical as a daily.
The cost of a good set of lowering springs and shocks runs very close to the same price as a set of COs
(Springs - https://eibach.com/us/i-1709-pro-kit-performance-springs-set-of-4-springs.html || Shocks - http://www.racingbeat.com/Protege/Shocks/74022.html)
(COs - http://cr3motorsports.com/Protege/Protege-Suspension/BC-Coilovers-BR-Mazda-Protege)
Tokico makes two sets, a blue and a white. The white is touted as higher performance, but is it enough to justify the extra $$$?
As for the BC's, are there better options for the money? What are the Pro's - Con's of a coil-over system?
As a side question, what are some of the best ways to improve the P5s handling?