Hi, I'm new here and new to mods.

I own an '00 Protege ES. Its nice and fun but I am frustrated by its slow performance off the line.

To give some perspective, I am not interested in racing/going to the track. I just want to make the car more fun to drive.

Where to start? Intake/headers/exhaust/pully?
I am looking for bang for the buck.

I would also like to know what implications, if any, these mods will have on future engine life.

Thanks...

 

Welcome.

Not to be a jerk or anything, but if you ran a search you'd find
a lot of info. Almost anything has been covered already.

 

Turbo = best power and acceleration, but lots of $$ and good bye engine warranty

intake = just buy the 'ebay' kind (search it) and you might like what you get for the amount you spedn (around 50 bucks)

cams ... good bye engine awarranty again


headers+exhaust (basically a WHOLE new exhaust) you will get a better sound and more power....

hope thats a start

 

You are saying that the 00es is slow of the line. I have a 99es and I think that our cars are actually pretty quick of the line for the amount of horsepower that they have, maybe you are not getting a good launch.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't our 1.8's quicker off the line than the 2.0's because of our shorter piston throw and less weight?

I just wish there were more aftermarket engine mods made for the 1.8 .

 

How do you define/do a "good launch"?

 

I aint no expert but in my opinion a good launch is one in which you get of the line with a slight chirp of the tires. Does your car hop when you get off the line, I use to do that all the time. What are the rpms when you launch your car.

 

i gotta 2k2 ES protege...and i think i can drive it pretty quick for being completely stock and given its specs...i race my friends all the time (crazy driver) i can beat my friends 2k2 ex civic with vtec almost everytime and our cars are very simular...i came pretty close a couple of times to beating my friends 97 subaru legacy gt which is a lot bigger and faster than our protege's...so i guess im pretty good with the stick..? (not 2 brag, im sure they're r people that r better but...just saying) n e way..to get 2 the point...basically what i do off the start is let the clutch catch at about 3 - 3.3 rpm's aprox. wait a tiny tiny bit 2 get sum traction then floor it...and it works pretty good. just my opinion.

 

and yea, like what green mazda was sayin, you should get about 3 tiny fast chirps everytime (er,er,er)...thats how i know i did it rite..

 

hmmmmmm it sounds like you have a good idea as to how to launch your car. as long as your not boggin outa first, or on the high end spinning the crap outa your tires, you should be all set.

 

perhaps if you got some drag radials and did a really big burnout...that might help you faster 'off the line'

 

That would be awesome and just wondering how much is it for drag tires.

 

try doing a search at discount tire direct or tire rack...we have the BF Goodrich G-Force DRs.

 

Go w/ nitrous..you can get upto a 75 shot..that's 75 horsie's for about 500dollars!!

Best bang for the buck!


Chas

 

not related to the topic but I was wondering at what psi did you accomplish those numbers on the focus and by the way your www doesnt work, I found when you posted the pictures of the car. And what size is the turbo.