Possible future owner here.... Looking for experts :)

bikermiker

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none yet!
Hi all.... New here.

When the Protege 5 came out I wanted one of these cars. Only made for 2 years, time passed and I kind of forgot about them.

One came up on CL, I took a look at it. It needs a few things but nothing major.

I had a few questions and thought I'd ask the experts here....

Are performance parts still available? Hard to find? I really want to tune the suspension and steering. I really want to add a turbo. Maybe an LSD.... Maybe turn it into a fine cornering sleeper. I'm just not sure what is available for an older vehicle only made for 2 years. I know there are some parts that are interchangeable with other models but I have a steep learning curve here and over a decade of forum BS to dig through.

I guess I'm trying to ask..... Am I too late?

FWIW the car is in great shape, 191k, top end rebuilt 7k ago along with water pump, belt and other stuff I can't remember.... Oh.... NO RUST!!! $2500. From my quick inspection it definitely needs new suspension and one or more of the engine mounts are worn.
 
As far as im aware alot of MX5 stuff can bolt straight on depending on your year.

As for aftermarket wheels yeah they fit 4x100 14s.
Radio and head unit will accept a double din unit.
Aftermarket radiators/and hoses they fit.
Ive heard of people going stainless from the header down to the back box, havent done it myself just yet.
 
I'm no expert but I'll share some thoughts if you don't mind.
There is still performance parts available, it's just the supply seems to deplete as time goes on and items get discontinued.
I'd check out sites like AWR Racing, Hydra Motorsports, CR3 Motorsports, Corksport... off the top of my head.
This is a bit dated but should provide some info as well: https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...yeA8zASCt8lF2ldrHhfT0QZdcw4_j3sOBt3x7BJnc8tcw

Mazdaspeed protege and the P5 have a lot of interchangeable parts as well. Including the turbo, bolts right on because the same engine (as long as you got all thats needed).
Some people opt to swap in a FSZE (JDM engine).
Currently building a "cornering sleeper" myself lol finally working on the suspension.

You'll find quite a few protege/P5 groups on facebook, that's where it seems like most of the people hang out at.

It's never too late, it just depends on your patience waiting for aftermarket parts pop up on ebay or craigslist :p or if you decide to order from those sites.
I'm sure any questions you have, people on these forums here will definitely help. The facebook groups too, tons of input on there.

I'd also suggest going through some of the old builds in the build section of the forum via Protege5 Builds. Might give you an idea of what's possible.

Rust seems to be the biggest issue with these cars, so looks like you've scored there if you pick it up!
Motor mounts... I personally just put in Hydra/AWR motor mounts all around the other week. Definitely made the car feel much more.. how should I put it... 'together'.
 
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I appreciate the guidance.

Of course man, though I'd suggest joining some facebook groups to get further input. Replies on these forums nowadays are a bit slow, but people are constantly posting in those groups.
Bunch of potential owners like you come thru with questions and often get a bunch of answers.
 
as grffn said, Im no expert, but Ive owned mine since 2011, long enough to know a few things.
first thing I can add is these cars already corner better than many equatable cars of the same years.
Id recommend looking for a 626 rear sway bar, its significantly thicker than stock on the P5 and is a straight swap, and tons of them to be found in salvage yards.
plenty of suspension parts available, but none real cheap (not that you want to go cheap on suspension anyways). the MSP stock suspension is a decent upgrade and is straight bolt on, so no issues with compatibility, but pretty hard to find.
many turbo's will bolt on, depending on how much you want to add and how much fabrication you want to do, but honestly, the P5 is pretty limited in how far you can go. as mentioned, the MSP turbo bolts right up as its the exact same engine in both, except internals on the MSP engine are of a higher grade I believe.
if it was me, Id look for a JDM MSP engine with wiring harness and ECU, should bolt right into the engine bay. on average, I believe Mazda JDM engines have about 5%-10% increase in HP.
outside of that, you can just tweak things to your liking.


As far as im aware alot of MX5 stuff can bolt straight on depending on your year.

As for aftermarket wheels yeah they fit 4x100 14s.
Radio and head unit will accept a double din unit.
Aftermarket radiators/and hoses they fit.
Ive heard of people going stainless from the header down to the back box, havent done it myself just yet.

in the US market, the rims are 5x114.3, and stock size is 16" so 14" would be a downgrade for performance cornering, in most instances.
not sure about the MX5 stuff being straight bolt on either, 2 completely different engines and drivetrains
everything else seems correct for a US market.
 
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Great platform, some performance parts are easy to find, some are rare but there's a few people on here that can get their hands on just about anything. I just turboed mine, so if you have any questions I might be able to answer!
 
If you want to make it corner well, you thankfully don't have much to do.

You can simply put on a Racing beat rear sway bar, stronger polyurethane bushings and some performance tires to really bring out it's potential. They made the greatest difference in my track times, and have kept me in front of Honda gang thus far! Aftermarket suspension is largely limited to coilovers or used struts from JP Parts.

When you do get under your car to modify it, be extra careful and wary of those damn weldnuts. They're really old now, and all of mine have broken off now...

For power, I'd personally advise against turbocharging the car. There are a lot of hoops to jump through, only to have your car run very rich and be prone to fuel pump failures and oil starvation. There used to be parts out there to prevent these issues, but that was maybe 15 years ago. Keep it NA and go for some J-spec cams, an MP3 Ecu + VTCS removal, and possibly a header.
 
Digging out this old thread. Looking to add lowering springs and upgrade/update the suspension bushings. I noticed some clunk in the rear that I'm sure I'll figure out once I dig into it. Also, looking at some other things to keep it N/A. Going to grab a header and possibly cat delete. Gonna look at trying to find out about that VTCS removal though.. hmmm

~SNOW
 
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