Hey pro freeks wsup. Lately ive been thinking about trading my pro 5 for a wrx wagon. Dont get me wrong i love my pro 5 its looks, handling and so on. One problem with it not enough power ive dumped about 1000 bucks into her for cams, intake ,custom exhaust, and other little accesories still not enough though. I was thinking on buying a turbo kit for her but i dont know how reliable it will be. I believe adding a turbo would also void warranty on my pro 5. Thats all i need is a sweet looking pro 5 with a popped motor and no warranty. I dont think so. Im confused and dont know what to spend my tax return on. Down payment on a fast out of the showroom wrx wagon or a bolt on turbo kit for my pro 5. give me some feedback im really confused and i got a need for speed

 

I would just go with the wrx sedan the wagon looks fugley to me.

 

yeah sedan and coilovers ,, and a blow off valve ,,, get blue so I can love it and wish it was mine lol
Bruce

 

definately blue but im into wagons for some reason. i have to look at the sedan and wagon side by side if i decide to go with the scooby .

 

I can tell you now I have a friend with a WRX and he has only sunk maybe 500 bucks into it and he makes about 220 at the wheel. Try making that power with 500 bucks on our pros....oh yeah BTW you have already voided your warrenty by installing the J-Spec cams

 

I've read on this board that the jspec cams don't void the warranty. In fact, some ppl say that their mazda dealership will even install them into their protege.

The WRX's are great cars but they certainly don't look as good as the P5. Also, a WRX wagon costs around $25,000 doesn't it? The P5 is around $17,000. For that different in price you could totally mod your P5 and have a totally original vehicle, like no-one else's.
I suggest you do the regular bolt-on performance once it is available, i/h/e. Then do some internal work(forged pistons and rods, port, polish). You could mod your fuel injection system too. Then in time, you can slap on a supercharger and everything you have already changed is still good(except your intake). $7000-$8000 can go a long way.

The WRX has the AWD which is nice. The P5 is a really nice car though.

 

yeah its voided but i have the original cams i can swap back in if some thing happens. as far as taking the turbo out for a warr issue if my motor pops f$#% that too much work

 

i called my mazda dealer before i changed the cams and they said it would not void if they installed them. but they tried to hit me in the head when it came to the price for the change. me and my boy got busy one sunday and changed them ourselves .was alot cheaper.say so long for the warranty

 

You have betrayed us ! LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just kidding dude i drank to many red bull energy drinks

 

oh, ok. Do you remember how much they wanted to charge for the labor? I know people who could do the swap for me really cheap if not for a case of beer, but I'd like to keep my warranty.

 

I'd go for the WRX, definately sedan, not wagon. P5s are hella nice, but they need power. If you have the cash, go for the WRX.

 

Well, let's see here ... the WRX is about $10K more than the P5 to start with. The wagon version, while I really want to like it just is not well thought out at all... so go for the 4-door definitely.

For that $10K you could probably bring that Mazda 2.0L very close to the Subaru's base power level .. and aren't people talking about Mazda coming out with their own turbo'd MP3? In which case there would be an OEM turbo kit that you could bolt on and may not void your original warranty.. just have to wait and see.

Definitely go for Subaru if you can spare the cash, but I don't know if you should give up on the Protege so easily It looks like it's just a matter of time.

 

FWIW my vote would be for the WRX. First of all, it's AWD so you won't suffer from the traction and torque steer problems you will run into when you add lots of power to a FWD chassis. Second, it puts out more power in stock form that you could probably get from a P5 for the $6,500 price difference without seriously compromising its reliability. Even more power is just a twist of a boost **** away 8-) Third, the WRX will probably have better aftermarket support in 6 months than the Protege will EVER have. The past versions of the WRX have a huge worldwide following.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Pro, but the WRX is a better performance starting point if you can pay the bucks. IMHO it is probably the second-best performance value for the dollar on the U.S. market today, after the Camaro Z28 / Firebird Formula, but it's a much better everyday car than an F-body. The Pro is a great, inexpensive, sporty and entertaining economy car, but it does not have the performance genes of the WRX.

All IMHO of course

 

Before you make a decision check out the Ford Focus SVT coming out in February. For a MSRP of 18,000 it looks like a great value. 170hp, 6 speed manual trans. 4 wheel disk brakes, ABS, 17 inch wheels and tires and all the aftermarket parts already available for the Focus, like exhaust, turbos, super charger, etc. makes the Focus a strong candidate to replace my P5 if it comes to that. Check this Sport compact car link about the Focus SVT.

Focus SVT

 

i'm no mitsubishi expert, but i read yesterday that canada is getting the 252 hp turbo Evo flagship with AWD in the next 12 months. if we're getting it, maybe you're getting it too. might be worth waiting for.