College Student First Car Build

Things are getting exciting! You're lucky you got a fellow forum goer to help out and provide a space--I'm all by myself for everything I do. Best wishes on turbocharging your car!

There was one guy on here who was in the same city as me, but he never responded to my PM. Oh well.

Thanks man! The garage is a blessing cause it was either there or in my apartment complex parking lot where all other car-related stuff happens, and this is kinda a big one.

Ask around on the fb groups for people local to you! They seem more active over there. I see posts with people's location near me/my parents all the time but they haven't been on here in years unfortunatly
 
Well, last week of the car being N/A. Kinda at the point of "should I really do this" but oh well lol
Did 455.5 miles last yesterday doing a run up to Skyline Drive. 323 invited me to come with some of his buddies and my coworker ended up going. Very fun day, and I forgot how great on gas these things are! I mainly drive city, and did almost 460 miles on a tank and a little less than half. Finally met Boston, another OG protege guy with a clean P5. And cruising with an RX7 all day was amazing, I love the way they look so much. Maybe one day lol Some pics below
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Another update from yesterday/this morning. Of course, I couldn't go the whole day without messing something up lol about 2 am in Williamsburg I'm behind Boston with the black P5 and my coworker with the SS doing about 80 down 64, my girlfriend and I look to our right just in time to see a raccoon running across the highway and it decided to introduce its face to my lip. No damage except to paint, but knocked my HIDs out lol (not hard to. I look at them wrong and they turn off) but no damage I can see.
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Goddamn trash pandas, sorry to hear about the damage. At least you got to have a bit of fun with some pals beforehand, though! That had to have been a fun cruise.
 
I was gonna get you to look at them this weekend and see if the HID kit was reversible. I'm tired of them always coming outta the housing and turning off randomly
 
I*m sure it*s reversible. I*ll see what you need to keep it working haha
 
well, last night while driving home from class I went to downshift into 4th to pass someone (at about 55) and learned our (mine at least) doesn't have a reverse lockout (hand) of course it didn't go into gear, but still ground a little.
Choosing a wheel is hard, as I don't want to buy twice lol I like the Enkei M52 in black with either a 16x6 or 17x7.5 (I think) but my friend is tryna convince me to run a 17x8 in the rear and a 17x7.5 in the front. I've come to terms with potentially rolling my fenders or running a little camber, but idk yet
 
well, last night while driving home from class I went to downshift into 4th to pass someone (at about 55) and learned our (mine at least) doesn't have a reverse lockout (hand) of course it didn't go into gear, but still ground a little...

Yea, it does, yours is probably broken.
Mine is locking me out all the time. I have to put it in third then fourth then try reverse again. If that doesn't work I have put it in neutral let out the clutch then try again.

It helps if I'm moving a little bit forward or backward at the time so the gear teeth lineup or something.
 
I ran 16x7 +40 with no rubbing problems, if that can help you make a decision. Granted, I'm also not lowered yet.
 
Yea, it does, yours is probably broken.
Mine is locking me out all the time. I have to put it in third then fourth then try reverse again. If that doesn't work I have put it in neutral let out the clutch then try again.

It helps if I'm moving a little bit forward or backward at the time so the gear teeth lineup or something.

I've had issues with it not going in reverse when stopped and had to move it into a few gears or roll a few inches to get it. Was just surprised to hear it grind at highway speeds lol
 
I ran 16x7 +40 with no rubbing problems, if that can help you make a decision. Granted, I'm also not lowered yet.

Do you have a pic with them on? I cant remember what they look like at all lol but mine is getting lowered this weekend, but its on tein s techs, so only an inch
 
I ran 16x7 +40 with no rubbing problems, if that can help you make a decision. Granted, I'm also not lowered yet.

7" wide at +40 is mid 1990's fitment to me and i like it lol. easy fitment.

well, last night while driving home from class I went to downshift into 4th to pass someone (at about 55) and learned our (mine at least) doesn't have a reverse lockout (hand) of course it didn't go into gear, but still ground a little.
Choosing a wheel is hard, as I don't want to buy twice lol I like the Enkei M52 in black with either a 16x6 or 17x7.5 (I think) but my friend is tryna convince me to run a 17x8 in the rear and a 17x7.5 in the front. I've come to terms with potentially rolling my fenders or running a little camber, but idk yet

wider tires in the back, you're staggering the wrong way on a front wheel drive car.
 
Here's a link to the wheel post on my build page:.

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6597706

It's just sub-flush with the fenders. You could probably go with +35 offest for true flush, but I didn't want to risk rubbing.

And yeah, I second what 323 said. Staggered wheels and/or more negative camber on the rear wheels on a FWD is understeer city and will leave you with worse handling than stock. However, reverse staggered wheels are more common on FWD, and can be beneficial in some cases, like for drag racing. I highly recommend keeping all wheel sizes and offsets the same dimensions to keep the ride balanced and understandable. I wouldn't tweak the handling characteristics much before truly feeling and comprehending how your car handles as-is.
 
I've had issues with it not going in reverse when stopped and had to move it into a few gears or roll a few inches to get it. Was just surprised to hear it grind at highway speeds lol

Actually, I've never tried to go into reverse on the highway.

But I don't want to try and find out if it will grind.

Besides, it's supposed to lock you out on the highway not in a parking lot.
 
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I've had issues with it not going in reverse when stopped and had to move it into a few gears or roll a few inches to get it. Was just surprised to hear it grind at highway speeds lol

here's a neat protege trick. if it doesn't go into reverse, while clutched in, keep pushing the shifter into reverse and slowly release the clutch. and i mean slowly. it will engage.
 
Ima just avoid the whole reverse going fast lol Class and work have me exhausted and I just wasn't paying attention
 
Here's a link to the wheel post on my build page:.

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?p=6597706

It's just sub-flush with the fenders. You could probably go with +35 offest for true flush, but I didn't want to risk rubbing.

And yeah, I second what 323 said. Staggered wheels and/or more negative camber on the rear wheels on a FWD is understeer city and will leave you with worse handling than stock. However, reverse staggered wheels are more common on FWD, and can be beneficial in some cases, like for drag racing. I highly recommend keeping all wheel sizes and offsets the same dimensions to keep the ride balanced and understandable. I wouldn't tweak the handling characteristics much before truly feeling and comprehending how your car handles as-is.

I like em! I'm looking at these in black. I'm probably not gonna stagger them though, I think the square will look better on the P5. 323's looks good on the MSP, but he's a little lower than I wanna be ATM
http://enkei.com/shop/performance/m52/
 
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