Stock 2002 mazda Protege

[Thetorch821]

I have had my protege for about a year and a half now. The entire car is Stock so far. I've been in one fender bender and fix it myself. It was original dark red but now it had a black fender and front bumper cover.

I want to start modding and tuning my car. What should i do first? Of course i am on a budget.
I plan on getting a muffler delete soon. Any feed back is welcome

 

[concept]

I would recommend against "deleting" your muffler unless you live in a very sparsely-populated area with no police patrols. Magnaflow makes some excellent mufflers that vary in sound intensity from low to very high. None will sound as bad as a muffler delete, in my opinion.

My typical order of mod-progression is something like this:
1. Lowering springs and shocks (if necessary)
2. intake/exhaust
3. Lightweight wheels with Ultra High Performance Summer tires (if your ambient temps don't fall below freezing)
4. Gauges like oil temp, oil pressure, vacuum/boost, voltage. An option is a ScanGauge 2 which can display any 4 of over 16 possible readouts, including air/fuel, intake air temp, coolant temp, voltage, etc. but not oil temp.

 

[Thetorch821]

Do you have any recommendations on budget springs and shocks? Because my ride is exetremly stiff right now

 

[Dpwhitehead1]

Do you have any recommendations on budget springs and shocks? Because my ride is exetremly stiff right now

I have some eibach springs I could sell you if interested, you'll need struts though. There's a number of good brands out there. Most people go with tokico.

 

[Thetorch821]

How far would it drop the ride height? How much shipped 30127

 

[concept]

I would compare the spring rates between H&R and Eibach to see which is less, if you are looking for a softer ride. I had KYB shocks/struts on my MX6 GT and found them to be comfortable - not nearly as stiff as others that are out there. On the other hand, my Mazda3 has Eibachs and Konis and I feel like I am driving a track car - extremely "buttoned down" and aggressive.

See this page (for a Protg ES) on tirerack.com

http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/...del=Protege+ES+2.0&autoYear=2002&autoModClar=

 

[terrytek247]

so far, i do have a k&n cold air intake to let the engine breathe a little better. lemme tell you, the engine does sound a lot stronger with that kit, and it does feel stronger too. it does seem to pull better with the intake. i also advise against a muffler delete. instead, get a racing beat exhaust. they also make one for the normal protege. also, some good coilovers could help. i would suggest kw v3 coils because they're very good coilovers for every car, but they're expensive, nearly 1000 a set.