just wondering your opinions on your cars. ie what did you have before and how you like/dislike the mazda comparativly.

 

I've driven a turbo P5 quite a bit. It's fun but still slow. Haven't driven a MS yet though.

 

I have a MazdaSpeed Protege. It's a nice car, but If I had to do it again, I would easily choose either the SRT-4 or a VW Jetta 1.8T or VR-6.

As for the Mazda, the car is built solid, and is quite roomy on the inside. I honestly think that the Speed has more room in the rear seat area than my wife's Honda Accord.

The suspension is Tight to death. This car will hold it's on in any autocross event, given a good driver and good tires. On the street, its a little too firm at times, but very predictable at the limits.

The party stops where the engine starts. Lots of pulling power for a daily driver. But a very rough A/F ratio and a shitty ass side mount intercooler cause lots of hesitation in the heat. Upgraded FMIC/and exhaust goes a long way, as well as upped boost. The rods are hella weak and 10lbs is pushing the limit. Some people run 14 lbs. but the life of the block won't last long. With a better set of pistons/rods, and good eng. management, this car would def. be a street/strip contender..

 

sounds good, im thinking of building a P5, but hadent really considered the MS because of the bad things id heard about the motor and trans.. sounds like you like yours though!

 

my brother has a P5 and it handles pretty well. it's kinda slow but very fun to drive.

 

do you have a turbo P5? id like to drive/ride in one before i completely commit to getting one.

 

Nah, we had one come through my work as a trade-in. We still have it but now it's minus all of its aftermarket parts. Someone bought it, took it to Florida, stripped it, and he left it to get repoed.

 

you might as well get a MS then, my boy drives a MS with FMIC, Apexi exhaust, turbo timer, intake, and a Greddy BOV........its pretty quik but like B18tuner said they have a shitty EMS and it run rich as shit! other than that its prettty nice inside and out!

 

The MS and the Protege 5 have the same engine. The engine code is FS-DE and the engine is terrible for boost imo. The rods will buckle under anything greater than about 8 pis if run hard often. I have seen plenty of blown engines. You can, however, buy rods and pistons for the engine. Next weak point: the tranny. I grenaded one on an essentially stock protege 5. I did autox it a few times, but nothing that should have caused the failure. They also had a TB for their clutches.

 

jesus. John, how long do you think Tre's is gonna last? And I wanted to get one too...