Rhys's 2002 Mazda Protege SE

[Rhys_Mazda323]

OK, thought i'd finally post my project up

This is my 2002 Mazda 323 Protege Limited Sports Edition
One of 250 Sold In Australia
Got it November 2006
Currently my Daily Driver





Current Mods/Features List

-Exterior
Advanti Racing 17” Stalkers
Pedders Lowered Suspension
SP20 Bodykit
DGM CF Grille Paid For
DGM CF Eyelids Syle II Paid For
VRX Rear Spoiler
Custom Chrome Side Indicator Gills
Plates [BLUPRINT]
Painted Brake Calipers – Soon

-Interior
Momo Carbon Fibre Gear Knob
Momo Racing Pedals
Nardi Leather Steering Wheel
Carbon Fibre Dash Inserts
New Floormats

-Stereo
Pioneer In Dash 7” Touch Screen DVD Player
Pioneer 6” Splits + Tweeters
Pioneer 6x9’s
Pioneer 2CH Amp Bridged to Sub
Kenwood 12” 1000W Sub in Genuine Enclosure
Pioneer IPod Adaptor Cable


-Navigation
Pioneer Portable Sat Nav Unit

-Lighting
Footwell Neons
Underbody Neons
Xenon Halogen Headlight Globes

-Performance
K&N Cold Air Intake Pod
Unknown Brand Muffler - Hate the Thing


I'll add details of the mods im planning as the build develops
It will be quite a slow build though, want to do it properly

You Can View Photo's Of My Car in my Photobucket Album:
Rhys_Mazda323 - Page 1 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Cheers, Rhys

[Rhys_Mazda323]

currently awaiting the parts ordered from the US
thanks again Marc for organising the GB

CF Grille



CF Eyelids



iv also got a bid on a rare silver Mazdaspeed Oil Cap, Rupe is kindly looking after the bidding process for me as he does for so many members here
hopefully it goes well



i'm hoping to get a pair of Bride Leather ErgoII seats when I can find them for a reasonable price
pending on that could be a couple months, hopefully not to long




after these few things are done i'm going to get the car in for the exhaust to be done with extractors and cat
currently it only has the oversized muffler on it from when i bought it
it must go haha


any thoughts or feedback much appreciated

[Ice88]

first post

in regards to exhaust, get the header done as well. Biggest gains on our cars is the header in the exhaust system, the stock exhaust believe it or not doesnt flow too badly.

[Rhys_Mazda323]

cheers mate

well if that's so then I will get that done as well

i havnt been unhappy with the stock exhaust, it's just the oversized cannon the old owners put on i dislike
gets some negative attention lol

[marcs_sp20]

Woah, they are hip hugging seats! No way I'd be able to fit my fat ass in those

Props for spending the hard cash on mods, it aint easy sometimes

One suggestion, you should grab the K&N typhoon CAI from rupe (have a look in his stuff for sale thread, 1st page ), would look and sound hella good

[Rhys_Mazda323]

will consider it but i think im spending enough $ for just the moment haha

[Ice88]

Theres an aussie mob that make a set of 4-1 extractors there not bad, certainly not great however for the price you cant really go too wrong (from memory there about 400)

Good headers for our car are about 1600 AUD.

The difference will be negligible and the cost not worth while for stock head and cams.

[Rhys_Mazda323]

so what sort of power increase would you expect from new head, cams, extractors, and exhaust?

if you spent the right amount of money..

[Ice88]

about 150hp at the wheels id think (id be suprised if you fell short). Theres a guy with similiar mod list as detailed above who nailed it.

Stock you have about 96 at wheels (estimate).

[Rhys_Mazda323]

so def worth the $

cheers mate

that will be on the cards for the second half of this year

[Ice88]

Im not sure if he raised compression as well though, his threads a bit all over the place last i read.

He was doing x then changed y and back to x, was confusing to say the least. Some of this you may know some you may not. Im assuming that having a SP20 like body kit means that you have the FS (2litre). The FS-DE is limited to about 7,500 rpm after that AFAIK your stock engine will start flying apart.(If you wish to know why ask, its rather detailed as to why though) I believe quite a few people have revved that high however it will wear the engine out quicker. Going for stronger internals will help however thats getting rather expensive and pretty big build.

Our stock ECUs wont really handle aftermarket cams very well (zappy had a bitch of a time trying to get stock to play well with some lumpy cams) so an after market ECU will be needed to control the engine at that point.

You can do a fair bit to improve the engine without having to splurge on cams and ECU, which would probably be my suggestion and then if still not happy progress to cams and ECU. Without touching anything inside the engine the following can be done (and prolly should be done first IMO):

Upgraded Intake Manifold - Stock one doesnt really flow that well specially in higher rpm bands. Common and good replacement is believe it or not the 626 intake manifold from 2000+
Header - Theres a australian company that makes a header to suit our car its not really tuned length but better then OBX headers, and most of the headers available. (For the life of me cant remember who atm :/)
CAI/Short Ram - Depends on the person tbh, some people prefer short ram others CAI.
Exhaust - 2.25 inch mandrel bent OR RacingBeat exhaust if you have the dosh (have to order from america ) there the best exhaust available for our cars (off the shelf anyways).
Engine Mounts - Medieval Mounts are great in that they dont increase vibration when at idle and yet still provide same level of stiffness. However another alternative is AWR mounts they do however increase engine vibrations. If your upgrading to cams id suggest some after market mounts. Engine Mounts are good in that they decrease wheel hop and in theory reduce energy loss through mounts.

However if you wish to do some research mazdas247.com has answers to pretty much everything, just isnt always that easy to find at times

[BG1.8sp]

Very nice looking ride mate,
keep us updated with some pics.

[Rhys_Mazda323]

cheers guys

that info is great mate cheers
i'll definately use that post as a reference

[Ice88]

No problems.

Ill be looking at sourcing my IM in the next few weeks so ill let you know how i go and any troubles i had.

[Rhys_Mazda323]

some never used Soundstream headrest monitors have become available to me cheap

might mould one into the passenger side of the dash and put the other away for use sometime further down the track if i decide to do a full on boot install

[DVS]

Originally Posted by Ice88

The FS-DE is limited to about 7,500 rpm after that AFAIK your stock engine will start flying apart

fs-de dont rev to 7500rpm standard

[Ice88]

If you get a retune then the highest you can go on stock internals realistically is 7,500 after that you run into all sorts of problems such as Mean Piston Speed, Reciprocating Mass and the biggest killer for FS-DEs Piston acceleration.

[bourbon]

Originally Posted by Rhys_Mazda323

-Exterior
Custom Chrome Side Indicator Gills

should of got the standard ones (i mean proper mini ones)...and put the SP20 badge on the grille bit

[70NYD]

your car is very very sexc i love everything on it but the neons few years ago i would of loved them but i am over them cus of my previus car.. apart from that excelet color, beautifull tint and very stylish rims i like it

Originally Posted by Ice88

If you get a retune then the highest you can go on stock internals realistically is 7,500 after that you run into all sorts of problems such as Mean Piston Speed, Reciprocating Mass and the biggest killer for FS-DEs Piston acceleration.

forged rods mate

[Rhys_Mazda323]

the neons are never used apart from the odd occassion when i go out for some photos

dont worry im not into them either, my friend did them for me cheap