Other thread closed...can we continue a civilized discussion about MSPs?

[Alejo_NIN]

if mods allow, i would like to continue the discussion about how the MSP's suck so much.

i would like to know what this guy has actually done to his car that made it that bad.

BTW, i'm on my 3rd protege...first i had an LX, then a MSP 03.5 and now an MP3 on boost (i daily a mazdaspeed3 while the wife dirves a 3skyactive)
so i've had my fair share of mazdas.

i tell you something though, as fast as the MS3 is compared to what the MP3 is...i run like a little girl every time after work so i can go and admire and drive or work on the MP3

my MS3 is bone stock...doesn't catch my attention as much as the MP3 does...
i know that car like the back of my hand and besides the lack of aftermarket support, it is an awesome car....

so pelase, explain to me what is it that suck so much about it?

 

[KrayzieFox]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about these things.. if you love your car then that's all that matters. Of course there will be people who don't like the same things as you and have different opinions about them, but that doesn't mean you can't continue liking it for your own reasons.

This will probably get way out of hand too just like every other similar thread, so let's not fuel the fire. We love our Proteges for various reasons, and others hate them for various reasons as well. It's like anything else in this world.. some people will love it and some will hate it.. so it's completely worthless to debate these things because we will never see eye-to-eye.

 

[Alejo_NIN]

I don't understand why anyone even cares about these things.. if you love your car then that's all that matters. Of course there will be people who don't like the same things as you and have different opinions about them, but that doesn't mean you can't continue liking it for your own reasons.

This will probably get way out of hand too just like every other similar thread, so let's not fuel the fire. We love our Proteges for various reasons, and others hate them for various reasons as well. It's like anything else in this world.. some people will love it and some will hate it.. so it's completely worthless to debate these things because we will never see eye-to-eye.

but i'm bored and there isn't anything else going on around the proteges except
people selling them
people crashing them
and people ricing them out


:/
so sadd

 

[SCMP3]

I crashed mine....and fixing it....oh and won Mazda of the month with a wrecked car...lol

 

[jdwk]

You guys want to see the car I settled on that I thought could compare to my MSP in terms of enjoyment to drive and practicality? I test drove just about everything on the market under $100k. (Except a GTR, bastards at Nissan wouldn't let me drive it, although it's not like I could ever justify paying $96k for a Nissan). This is what I decided on:

That's me entering the Nurburgring back in Sept with my B8.5 S4. I still feel like an idiot when I think about how much it cost, but there's been a lot of heated posts about what the MSP is and isn't capable of, and I realized a few years ago, it isn't capable of being an S4. I could tear out every interior piece and dynamat the whole car, felt the wheel wells, forge everything, and build it up to 300+whp, and it could be awesome, but it would be well beyond the soul of what was originally intended. It would just become a game of "what is going to break next?". Also, what would I drive when it did break?

And when I grew tired of playing the game or I needed to sell for whatever reason, most of that money would be gone forever. Modified cars fetch a small fraction of what it cost to build them, usually less than an equal condition stock car. There is of course value and pride in building something yourself and having something unique, but a good condition MSP is already pretty damn rare by itself.

My plan is to hold on to the MSP as long as I can. I have a Megasquirt II that I bought and rebuilt that I really would like to see fully in control of my MSP at some point, and I would love to see a tablet mounted in that double DIN slot to display both MSII and OBDII data (how has no one built this yet?!), but I honestly don't have room for it and not sure how long I can convince my wife to park outside before things get ugly.

I am glad there is still enthusiasm for the car and especially glad people like Chiqles are willing to experiment and give the rest of us more options to remedy its shortcomings, but at this point everyone on this forum should be on the same side. There really isn't a whole lot more to argue about.

 

[o0n8]

While the MSP is a good car, I liken it to a starter house.

It's not with out some faults. More HP and the tranny might not be able to handle it, the poorly engineered oil system to make you go boom, weak stock rods to make you go boom, and the fact that's it's FWD.

That doesn't make it a bad car and doesn't mean people should do builds, I enjoy reading them but it does put limitations on the platform.

 

[JCell]

Its a solid learning car, but eventually we outgrow it and want more.

when that happens... all the little faults we were able to look past start to annoy us.

 

[Alejo_NIN]

i could agree with all those points.

and could posibly add hundreds more.

but man, whenever i think of selling it or trading it...i know i would miss the s*** out of it....

i just cna't bring myself to do that

BTW, mine is a rescued car as it was going to be driven into a junk yard to have all its guts takes out....the car behaves as if it knew i was its saviour....

 

[JCell]

I miss mine too. the lightness of it, the fast response, and the blow off

 

[Alejo_NIN]

btw, what r u driving now?
n u never told me about the gt-spec stuff

 

[BOOSTR]

To me there is no point in trying to reason with some one that dislikes or does not own the car. At the end of the day why should we(MSP owners) give a rats ass. We are the ones who bought the cars and enjoy them modified or not. Most of the problems have been caused by the owners. Treat the car right and it will do the same for you. It was never inteneded to be anything other that what it is. A fun to drive, well equipped sedan that had an MSRP of $20,500.

 

[JaLMP5]

I will say that even though a lot of money is spent on fixing so many issues, there are very few other platforms that give the owner as much knowledge as this one. I've been to so many other forums and have known so many people that couldn't tell you how an engine runs let alone how to mod them. But have EVO's or STI's or whatever and talk like they know cars. Since working on the Protege I've learned 10X the amount I thought I knew about cars, that's why Protege owners stick with thier vehicles because it's not just a car but a learning experience that you can't just buy like other vehicles.

 

[Alejo_NIN]

To me there is no point in trying to reason with some one that dislikes or does not own the car. At the end of the day why should we(MSP owners) give a rats ass. We are the ones who bought the cars and enjoy them modified or not. Most of the problems have been caused by the owners. Treat the car right and it will do the same for you. It was never inteneded to be anything other that what it is. A fun to drive, well equipped sedan that had an MSRP of $20,500.

true, which is the reason why i started this thread...sometimes we need to share these feelings that only a protege owner would know.
i go to car meets all the time where the MS3 is king...i laugh at them and talk s*** about their car then they ask "well...what the **** do you know, you drive a piece of s*** protege" to which i respond..:"i have both...."

I will say that even though a lot of money is spent on fixing so many issues, there are very few other platforms that give the owner as much knowledge as this one. I've been to so many other forums and have known so many people that couldn't tell you how an engine runs let alone how to mod them. But have EVO's or STI's or whatever and talk like they know cars. Since working on the Protege I've learned 10X the amount I thought I knew about cars, that's why Protege owners stick with thier vehicles because it's not just a car but a learning experience that you can't just buy like other vehicles.

yes, i have been around the FS-DE engine for a decade now starting with a mazda 626 '93.
besides welding...i have done everything else to my car..except the mp3, which was pre-built before i acquired it...but then..i got it just a rolling chasis with an engine, thats it.

i enjoy my afternoons modifying parts or making parts from scratch.....
as i said before...it will be very hard for me to let go....now i have a baby girl on the way..it would be bad ass if 15 yrs from now she learns to drive in that car!

 

[SCMP3]

I came so close to parting mine out after wrecking it. But I decided I couldn't see myself without the car. And I miss it every day. And I'm know by a lot of people around here as Mazda mike. And they know the msp. And now I have the miata and the rx7. Miatas a fun car, but it doesn't compare to the fun of the msp. Not for me atleast. So now I have 3 cars....and my Gf has 2.... And we plan for more, but the msp will be sticking around for a very long time. It's at 256,640 where it sits...I wanna see it hit 999,999 and roll over to zero....or do whatever it is the digital gauge will do....

 

[Alejo_NIN]

lol, that's ******* awesome

 

[jdwk]

I just hit 80k. A million is a long way off.

 

[jeffmsp]

999,999 and roll over to zero

same with me.

im at 260,000 KMs now and it will be a race against rust to 1 million kms. Im pretty clean after the first 10 years, but the next 10 the rust might come out to play.

 

[BRIAN_MP5T]

You need to compare the MSP to what was available at the time to determine if it sucked.

2002/3 FOCUS SVT 2.0 L N/A
2002/3 Civic SI (Looked like a space shuttle)
2002/3 Tiburon (Girl Car)

2002/3 Nissan Sentra Spec-v
2002/3 Neeeeeon! (Not SRT-4 that came out the year after)


It Sucks for
Hard to Modify, Weak Rods and Bad Tune

It is Awesome in every other aspect. (Did I mention that it is ******* Cheap to Modify?)

 

[JCell]

You need to compare the MSP to what was available at the time to determine if it sucked.

2002/3 FOCUS SVT 2.0 L N/A
2002/3 Civic SI (Looked like a space shuttle)
2002/3 Tiburon (Girl Car)

2002/3 Nissan Sentra Spec-v
2002/3 Neeeeeon! (Not SRT-4 that came out the year after)


It Sucks for
Hard to Modify, Weak Rods and Bad Tune

It is Awesome in every other aspect. (Did I mention that it is ******* Cheap to Modify?)

exactly!! it looks weak now. but was a solid choice back in 2003.

hell, it was the best looking by FAR!!

 

[jeffmsp]

Here was blkzoomzooms formula to run a 13.43 @ 104mph

3" exhaust w/3" highflow cat,(homemade, turbo-back)
Co2 intercooler sprayer, (homemade)
Motor mounts (front and rear)
ported throttlebody, (homemade)
coolant bypass from throttlebody, (homemade)
ice-water pump through t.b.- (homemade)
k&n panel filter,
wrapped the exhaust manifold w/headerwrap, (homemade)
wrapped the upper intercooler with heat insulation,(homemade)
modified fcd,
Boost controller,
rear spring spacers, (homemade)
light weight flywheel,
act street performance clutch,
205/50/15 g-force drag radials,

Add a MPI and slicks to it and it ran 13.15 @ 105.6mph.

And yes this was with the stock motor, turbo, intercooler, and plastic pipes.

what else do people want? geez. almost a 12 second car with mods most tuners should be able to install