![]() ![]() The Protege has now moved up on the list of possible OTM's. ![]() 5 speed, peppy, handled very well, very solid and tight, and it seemed like it would be a very utilitarian substitute for the soon to be gone Grand Cherokee. I also recently drove a 2002 Protege 5 and was very impressed. I'm curious if the MazdaSpeed Protege's handling is up to par with the MP3, because a guy here at work has one that I think I can get for a reasonable price. They can be had for some reasonable money on the used market and I am now seriously leaning toward one. Just thought I would share with the forum. I must admit that it keeps some pretty impressive company in this article.Īnyway. Then low and behold I came across this article in Road & Track where it was as one of the top 8 best handling cars. Sort of a predecessor to the MazdaSpeed Protege, a factory tuner car if you will, that was ostensibly built around the fact that it had an MP3 player in it, with the added bonus that the suspension was tweaked by Racing Beat. While searching Autotrader I came across a Mazda Protege MP3. Not a bad SUV by the way, but I want something smaller, more fun to drive and more efficient as a daily driver.Īnyhoo. Various smaller and sporty cars from the BMW 3 series to the Mazda Protege and Protege 5 and all kinds of things in between in anticipation of finally ridding myself of the '04 Grand Cherokee. Not a lot perhaps but it shows what a few simple mods can do.I have been doing quite a bit of researching, pricing, test driving, etc. Three relatively simple mods provided an increase of 8% BHP and 5% torque. There were no other engine mods and the intake system (other than VTCS) was completely stock, identical to the standard Protege. Incidently, VTCS can be removed from the stock Protege intake manifold. In the standard protege, this assembly permits the car to have a ULEV emissions classification instead of the LEV rating of the MP3. After warmup is complete, the butterflies are fully open but still provide some restriction due to the presence of the plates and shaft. VTCS consists of a set of butterflies inside the manifold that helps provide lower emissions during cold startup. The part # is FS9N-18-881C.Īdditionally, a tuned Racing beat, low restriction muffler was fitted along with, I believe, a larger crossover pipe.įinally, the intake manifold was less restrictive due to the absence of VTCS (variable tumble control system). Thus, one could run 87 octane with reduced timing for economy or use plus or premium with correspondingly more advanced timing and greater HP output. Unlike the stock PCM, it could "read" the octane rating of the fuel in use and adjust the ignition advance accordingly. Engine mods were minimal and consisted of a reprogrammed PCM that permitted a more advanced ignition timing curve. In 2001 (for that year only), Mazda came out with a special version of the Protege called the MP3. Consequently, I'm reposting it in a separate thread to enhance its visibility. Although I've already posted this information, it's buried in another thread and therefore won't be easily accessible to those searching for this information, in particular. Recently, the question came up of "re-chipping" the 2.0 L engine. ![]()
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