I turned 16 in Jan. and my parents bought my first car for me in March. Its a used 1999 Mazda Protege ES. It has the rear spoiler and auto and 6 disc changer. Since then I have added a RActive weld on exhaust, taken out resonator and the catalytic converter. This was good for about 20hp+ and a sound that'll make anyone deaf. I have added the 6 color indiglo's from Procarparts.com and a custom cold air intake based on the AEM made for the Integra GSR. I will tell you though... even with how much hp i've gained this thing is still slow. The best i've done 0-60 is still 8 even and with stick i would have been able to pull a little more. But before all of that even got put on the car it didn't run correctly. When i started the car it would shake and bob and make a whistling noise and all power was gone. What I'm saying in a nut shell is my Mazda dealer had the car 6 times and charged $1280 to mazdausa and still didn't fix the problem. But what me, a 16 year old kid with a little imagination came up with any idea! Why not pull more cold air in and push more hot air out? Wow I really showed them. I no longer trust that dealership with my car. Anyone with similar probs. feel free to e-mal or reply!

 

lol....I'm sure its loud, but you probably got more like +5hp. maybe 1 or 2 more. Congrats on the first car though.

 

Yeah, I'm not so sure about the 20+ HP gain.

 

Yeah maybe 5 hp tops.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by premdrumusr
I turned 16 in Jan. and my parents bought my first car for me in March. Its a used 1999 Mazda Protege ES. It has the rear spoiler and auto and 6 disc changer. Since then I have added a RActive weld on exhaust, taken out resonator and the catalytic converter. This was good for about 20hp+ and a sound that'll make anyone deaf.
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WTF!!! You removed the catalytic converter and altered the exhaust. Great, you are now producing the emissions of about 250 cars and causing noise pollution, too. Will your Mommy & Daddy be buying us all clean air?

This is an excellent example why people your age are considered "children", both legally and sociologically. Apparently, your mental/emotional capacity precludes you from considering the effects of your actions.

 

even a straight pipe back will not get you 20+ hp.


so this problem with shaking and bobbing and whistling went away after you modified the intake and exhaust?????

yet another spoiled kid that is modding his car into ruins because he didn't pay for it

 

Dear god... please tell me you're being sarchastic. A 4 banger w/straight pipes MIGHT produce the exhaust of 250 weed wackers.

Noise Pollution??? What are you doing on an automotive enthusiasts board with concerns like this?

It is possible to be concerned about environmental issues and not sound like some green freak liberal... please make this one of your personal goals

 

yea ok.. i'm just a spoiled kid who works 2 jobs (delivery person at a flower shop and a camp counselor.) I work for my mods, my parents refuse to pay for them. I paid them back for my car and everything! Don't go judging me when you don't even know me. And also, what about emissions? How do you think my car passed emission tests required after a modification like this. You know, I thought you people would actually welcome me into the protege family. Just because some of you are too lazy to get a job and work for your mods don't bash me b/c you don't even know me! to everyone who's been polite and accepted me into the protege family... hi and everyone who's been ******.. heh i'm not gonna let you bother me... peace!

 

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You dare suggest personal goals for someone else? Is this supposed counseling? True, your Mommy and Daddy may try this tactic with you, but then again, you are just a child...

Noise pollution is a serious problem, unfortunately, you are too self-absorbed to care about anyone else. Perhaps the cops may "enlighten" you.

I suggest you investigate for yourself the emission reduction realized by the catalytic converter. Of course, you do not have any regard for the sulfur and nitrous compounds eminating from your car, so I doubt you'll actually do anything proactive.

Yes, I am a green freak (I drive that ULEV) and a liberal, rather than an ignorant, lout!

 

If your car is a '99 it should have an OBD2 compliant ECU. So if you removed your cat, your ECU would throw a code and put the car into "limp" mode. BTW, 20hp by removing the resonator and cat is not possible unless your Protege had about 400hp to begin with.

 

OK buddy....
a) I also drive a ULEV vehicvle
b) I'm not the one who did the mods in question to my vehicle, therefore; I've not broken any environmental laws, & the police have nothing to teach me of "noise pollution" as my vehicle is no louder than the day it was made.
c) Its all well and good to have social conscience and political/environmantal concerns... but its morons like you who give those causes a bad name. You'll do your cause a lot more good by NICELY explaining to the young man in the post that there are perhaps more environmentally sound ways of gaining power. Instead, you jump down his throat & call him names. When ******* activists go yelling in peoples faces, you do nothing but **** people off and make them care even less about what you have to say.
d) I noticed you're somewhat new here... take it easy. This can be a wonderful place full of comeradie and information. If you flame someone, you may get flamed back... but thats not what its all about. But most of all, don't go making assumptions... you'll only make a bigger *** of yourself.
"True, your Mommy and Daddy may try this tactic with you, but then again, you are just a child..." I left mommy and daddy for a LONG time ago, kiddo.

I wish no disrespect so I'm sorry if I seemed harsh. But honestly, it seems contradictory to show concern for social issues, but at the same time show disreguard for your fellow man.

 

ok everyone take a nice big deep breathe.

Environment = good (i only trust air i can't see)
Protege club = good (obvious)
fighting = bad

come on guys can't we all just get along. More objective critisizm and less subjective

 

hey hubbmp5.. thanks for taking the time to be kind to me and tell me your side of the story. My car does have mods done by a professional. I know nothing about engines or anything like that but anything taken out of my car I walways be sure to know about it and what it does. I have made sure and passed all emissions tests as required by the professional and what goes out gets put back in, in another form he says. I don't know what that means but you see, I dont care what he did. All that matters is the vehicle passed the smog and emissions tests. Why must everyone feel the need to criticize me abotu what I do to MY vehicle. All that matters is my vehicle complys with all the regulations correct?

 

Well, with emissions, that is something that is ultimately a concen for everyone worldwide. In all likelihood, though you're wtill within legal tolerances your emissions are probably worse than they would be at factory spec. But, its good that at least you still meet those guidelines.

I'm not wholly condoning your actions, but I do feel that as they are YOUR choices- even though they ultimately effect more than just you. What I will say is that perhaps now that you've seen that the performance benefits aren't terribly dramatic, maybe you should draw the conclusion that those benefits do not outweigh the environmental concerns & therefore you should revert to putting the cat. back on and perhaps just doing a cat-back. Or, at the least, look into a high flow cat.

I just think yelling at people and calling them names is, in itself, childish (ironic, eh?). But, moreover, its counterproductive.

 

HubbMP5... The good thing is I never throw my old parts away. I know that I would never be able to get the same amount of money from my car witht he mods on it as with original equipment. Call me a pack rat but it pays off especially with things like this. I've went with what you've said and tomorrow I'm going to make an appointment with the person who did my exhaust and put the catalytic converter back on. I will however, leave my resonator sitting in my garage at least until I can find some more money. At this point I have enough to pay for my oil change and the cat. to be put on. Today though my factory CD player broke so I have to get that changed tomorrow also. So it will get put back together with time and a little bit of over time but have no fear, I've taken your constructive criticism into mind and your politeness and decided its for the better. As for the Ractive muffler.. I'll keep it until i can find the $500 for some borla catbacks or something. Thank you for helping me realize I was pretty stupid for agreeing to let the shop do that. Thanks!