Another prospective buyer with questions!

I've had my eye on the Protege 5 ever since I saw it a year ago. I've been reading the forums for months, and now I get to post!

While i'm waiting for current finances to allow me to pay for a new car, I thought I'd ask for your opinion on a few of my questions.

1) I'm pretty much set on the 5-speed stick-shift. I'd like to put an auto-starter on it, but i've heard it's illegal to put an auto-starter on a manual transmission car. Did I hear right?

2) My car will pretty much be a sleeper, with some toys under the hood. Does anyone have any suggestions for add-ons other an a new intake?

3) Now it's down to color: silver or black. I'm a sucker for underbody lights, and if I get black, I'll go green underneath. If silver, i was going to go blue. Has anyone else put underbody lights on their P5? Should the caliper paint match the body color?

4) I'm big on sound more than under the hood. I've seen people mounting their amps/crossovers/whatnot onto the back of their rear seats. I would see this as a hinderance, which would drop your cargo space. (it is a wagon!) Has anyone put their amps under the driver/passenger seats? (like me?)

6) Ah, yes, one more question: Will any of the above additions void the car's warranty?

When I get my car, i'm going to take it to my step-dad's shop and do most of the installs at once (intake, stereo, calipers, underbody lights). Is the P5 a fairly modular car? My current car (a '91 Dodge Caravan) has been stripped down so much that you can't see a stitch of wire anywhere. I'd like to keep my P5 that way.

Thanks for reading!

sleeper is a car that looks like a POS but hauls major ass...so youre wrong there...youd have to check laws in your area concerning an auto starter, and since you dodnt fill it out when you registered, itll be hard for someone else to find out. as for warranty, i dont think lights or stereo components void the warranty, but depending on the dealer, they may not work on the engine with the CAI...id say keep the stock one and swap it out of theres a problem

Thanks for replying.

I'm in Maryland, by the way.

Heh. Whenever I talk to someone about a 'sleeper', whether it be cars or computers or whatnot, usually i mean it looks like a stock car from the outside, but underneath it's a whole different beast. Looks like I need to adjust my terminology.

I'll check with my dealer about the stereo, that's the biggest worry regarding the warranty. I'll ditch the lights if they void it, but the stereo is a must!

A sleeper is not necessarily a POS car. It is a car that isn't what it seems. For example, a car that looks completely stock on the outside and has a 400 hp engine would be a sleeper. Back in the olden days alot of the muscle cars were sleepers. I'm reminded of a 1970 nova ss....They didn't have wings and lights and bells and whistles, they were just a plane looking body and nothing spectacular, but when you step on the gas they roared to life. A sleeper is a car that appears to be no competition but blows everyone else away.

PCTek said:

1) I'm pretty much set on the 5-speed stick-shift. I'd like to put an auto-starter on it, but i've heard it's illegal to put an auto-starter on a manual transmission car. Did I hear right?

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Its not too hard. If you know how to splice wires you can install it. Click Here for the wire locations and I posted how to install remote start on the manual transmission so that it wont start when in gear. Remote start is illegal in texas (i think) but I installed it myself and how is a cop to know unless it starts in gear and runs into something.. with that link you can wire it to never start in gear. works great for me..

PCTek said:

2) My car will pretty much be a sleeper, with some toys under the hood. Does anyone have any suggestions for add-ons other an a new intake?

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TURBO!!!!!!!!!!!

PCTek said:

3) Now it's down to color: silver or black. I'm a sucker for underbody lights, and if I get black, I'll go green underneath. If silver, i was going to go blue. Has anyone else put underbody lights on their P5? Should the caliper paint match the body color?

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My suggestion is Black with red underbody and red calipers. Red calipers look nice on all of the cars. Do whatever you like best though. Black is sweet with tint.

PCTek said:

4) I'm big on sound more than under the hood. I've seen people mounting their amps/crossovers/whatnot onto the back of their rear seats. I would see this as a hinderance, which would drop your cargo space. (it is a wagon!) Has anyone put their amps under the driver/passenger seats? (like me?)

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Mines on the back of my rear drivers-side seat. I dont ever fold the seats down so its not in the way. But I will relocate a better amp under the drivers or passengers seat when I upgrade the system.

PCTek said:

6) Ah, yes, one more question: Will any of the above additions void the car's warranty?

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Turbo Im pretty sure will. Intake shouldnt unless it directly causes a part on the car to break. some people take it off when they get any warranty work done. It takes no time to take it off. Not much should void the warranty... but I guess it depends on the dealer and how mean they are.
The radio installation should be a snap with a wiring harness and dash kit.. theres plenty of how-to's on this site to answer any question and if you have any problems the board is great at helping. The car isnt too powerful to begin with. I think its alright and witha turbo it would be a sleeper in my mind. hauling past a slow honda and watching their face as they get beaten by a "station wagon". i dont consider it a station wagon.. more of a sports hatchback.. but then again its both.. it still looks sweet though.

i don't think you can install a remote start on the protege5 stickshift because you need to step on the clutch to start the engine

blackp5 said:

i don't think you can install a remote start on the protege5 stickshift because you need to step on the clutch to start the engine

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no that function is only electrical not mechanical. theres a switch on the clutch pedal that needs to have two wires touching in order for the car to start. you can grab the wire coming from the switch and splice into it there. I dont know it that makes sence. Click here for a thread that discusses that.

the stereo wont void any warrantys except maybe the one on the stock system, which youre reaplacing anyways

I've compiled all of my thoughts, comments and concepts onto this page.

http://basement.geekstreet.net/Protege5/

Comments?