The turbo swap

Well as I said, I really wanted more out of the car...so what better way than to do an entire turbo setup swap?

Everything I got for this I pieced together from different places and it actually took quite a long time to come up with my pile-o-parts for her...

Most of this had to be cut to fit especially the I/C piping that isn't pictured here. I went with 3" open downpipe for the exhaust and 2" I/C piping. As you can see from this picture, the new turbo is quite a bit larger...

I also went from an internally wastegated turbo to an external which is one of the main reasons for the upgrade. The one on the gt25r had a nasty habit of sticking open which makes boost a bit of a pain in the ass. After about 12 months of gathering parts(and money...I'm not rich ya know?) it was time to put it all together which proved to be...difficult.

The initial mock-up seemed to fit fine...and then there was this.

Oops. For this one I ended up having to bed the downpipe I had purchased as well as "customizing" an aftermarket thermostat housing...which no longer fits a thermostat in it. I had to cut to fit all the I/C piping as well as "adapt" the oil feed lines together since none of the fittings match up. I had to remove and cut some of the piping that was on the existing CAI and turn it into just a short intake due to fitment issues and went ahead and threw a K&N filter on there while I was at it...

More pictures/updates to come soon.

First round of mods

Well first things first, to fix up some of the existing issues...

Of course a new JVC headunit so I can listen to CD's since the OEM one skipped...a lot.

Some new Enkei j10's in a 16" for the street rims...still haven't gotten a set for the track yet but it'll be something wider maybe in a 15"

The new HKS SSQV III...quite a story from this one.
I replaced the Perrin BOV that was on the car with the fancy new HKS. On the very first night driving around I shift and BLAM...a horrid noise that no one likes to hear and the car shuts off...great. So I pull over, fluid spilling all over the place and my brand new BOV laying in the middle of the road...had the clip fallen off? NOPE!

Clip still in place on the car the flange cracked and it slipped out from underneath it...how awesome right? Even better is...

When it came off it punched a hole in the radiator....ugh. What fun! So the next day I limp the car to my dads and she sits for quite some time...while I buy another car because I'm angry at this one. I know, I'm weird. Anyways so after I'm done being angry at an inanimate object I buy a new radiator...

52MM aluminum radiator from corksport...fits like a charm!...Kind of. Very tight squeeze but a lot better than that stock one that was in it that's for sure. Also added on something else fun...

Weapon-R coolant overflow and a Perrin front plate delete.

At some point in time in all of this( I honestly can't remember when...) I brought her to a local car show and dyno'd her.

Highest 245 whp/243wtq...not too shabby seeing as I found a nickle sized hole in the intake pipe and a big crack in the downpipe after this.

I drove it for quite some time like this, she's actually extremely reliable...but it just wasn't enough! So in the next section it's time for some more upgrades...

Protege5 Introduction

This blog is to go through the long, and never ending journey of my Protege5 project car.

I realize this isn't the most common car to boost, but hey...what fun is there in being common? So first off here an introduction of where she started.

I bought the car back in 2009 and it was a work in progress that a friend of mine had started. She had around 80K Miles and I picked her up for an easy $5K. Not so bad for a car in the shape she was in...

Under the hood. Already had a Mazdaspeed Protege manifold, gt25r, and corksport downpipe. Running a Perrin FMIC as well as deleted the AC/PS.

Short shift kit with a nice weighted shift knob

Lowered, stock wheels on her though

Still looked pretty mean stock in my opinion...

Anyhow, she had a pretty good start but had some drive-ability issues, boost leak, exhaust leak, and some really terrible neck-snapping fuel cut. The plans for the car are a street driven 1/4 mile beast. I've done a lot of work from here, but will leave the introduction as this and post again with the first round of updates...