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    Convince me to keep my car.

    Alright, I have a 2003 Lazer Blue P5.. It's got 8000 miles on it from the four months I drove it to when I lost my license. Ever since I bought it I've been wanting more power. Not too much, only like 250whp. I know this can be acquired with turbo and proper tuning and $$ but lately I've been checking out another option. The Dodge SRT-4. See, boosting the P5 was always something I wanted to do, but lately I've been getting a bit more worried about it after reading some of the stories of blown engines and stuff. I don't have the money to replace an engine if something like that happens.

    Now I like my Protege 5. It's a great car and it's fun to drive and all, but the more I look at the SRT-4 the more appealing it is. Right out of the box they're getting 220whp and then the Mopar upgrades just make it even better. Just stage one and clamping the MAP give around 250-260whp so I've seen! I know a lot of you are going "why did you even buy the P5 in the first place then?" and yeah, maybe some of you are right that I should have waited and saved the extra five grand to get the SRT-4, but I fell in love with the P5. That was my first mistake.

    So I come to the problem that I want to trade in my P5 on an SRT-4 when I get my license back. I know I'm going to end up grabbing my ankles if I do so because I bought the car brand new.

    All I'm asking you is to give all the input you can to convince me to keep my car. It's a harder decision than trying to pick out wheels. My car is stock with the exception of some hyperwhite bulbs, so that even gives me more of a reason to want to trade it in. I haven't really invested any more than just car payments into the car.

    HELP!!!!

    #2
    Forgot to add.. Ever since my car had an attempted break in, a set of keys stolen, and the paint around the door all messed up, I feel somewhat detached to it. I mean before it was my prize and my baby but now I feel like I've been violated and it just doesn't mean as much to me anymore. I already need to spend around 500 bucks for a new lock set and to fix the paint. That just adds to my dilemma.

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      #3
      Personally I think the pro is more fun to drive than just about anything else even though it may not be as fast, but that's subjective. As far as boost goes, there are a lot of people on the boards who have boosted p5s without any problem with blown engines, as long as you keep it to reasonable pressure.

      I think if you need other people to convince you on another car, that means you probably should keep the one you've got.

      Comment


        #4
        financially, you didn't help yourself buying the P5 new.

        why anyone would ever want 250whp from a FWD car is beyond me, but if thats your game, the SRT-4 is the only game in town.
        "Never run out of real estate, traction & ideas at the same time"
        -93 MR2, 129 ES
        ClubProtege.com Tech Articles

        Originally posted by WTF
        Remember low compression makes more space for AIR, HEEELLOOOO!

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          #5
          I know I didn't help myself buying it new. But back when I got it it was either get a used one with around 10% APR and pay 300 a month, or get 0% financing and pay 300 a month. I opted for new thinking I was going to keep this car for at least five years.

          I'm talking like that's about what I want my horsepower to sit comfortably at. I had a 400 horsepower Mustang and then I had a 00 Celica GT-S with around 180 after mods. I want it to be a bit faster than my GT-S was, but not ridiculously fast.

          and jnorion, you're right. I keep thinking I should keep my car.. But it's almost painful when I'm driving in the mountains, on an incline, with the pedal on the floor, and I'm still slowing down. Maybe I will just boost it and call it a day, who knows.

          thanks for the input so far

          Comment


            #6
            those who can't afford to replace a motor should not push the upper limts of tuning of a piece of junk motor like the FSDE...

            just my 2 cents.

            deal with the payments and get a SRT-4, and sell it before the warranty ends.
            "Never run out of real estate, traction & ideas at the same time"
            -93 MR2, 129 ES
            ClubProtege.com Tech Articles

            Originally posted by WTF
            Remember low compression makes more space for AIR, HEEELLOOOO!

            Comment


              #7
              Well, part of the reason that's convincing me not to sell my car is my insurance will be 150 dollars a month more expensive with the SRT-4. If I get the SRT-4 when I can drive again, my P5 will be paid off.. And then I'll probably get like 12K from the dealership from my P5 according to current values. I'll still owe another 9K on the SRT-4. If I can't sell it before the warranty ends then I'll be stuck, because even right now people are only getting trade in offers of 12K for a brand new SRT-4 that they bought 2 weeks ago for 21K.

              Comment


                #8
                then buy a used one for 15k....duh
                "Never run out of real estate, traction & ideas at the same time"
                -93 MR2, 129 ES
                ClubProtege.com Tech Articles

                Originally posted by WTF
                Remember low compression makes more space for AIR, HEEELLOOOO!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by N2OInferno
                  Well, part of the reason that's convincing me not to sell my car is my insurance will be 150 dollars a month more expensive with the SRT-4.
                  Do you really mean per month? $150/month is $1800/year - for that much money you could easily get a turbo and some other things well before you would have paid the neon off. Plus you wouldn't be getting ripped-off on the trade-in. Just my opinion.
                  Personal 1/4 mile: 57 sec @ 14 mph
                  Haven't tried with the pro yet...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I say just boost... you don't even need much, don't push your engine. 6 or 8 psi will make it plenty fast enough to go up hills but won't hurt anything. I don't really like Dodge, or most American cars for that matter. Every one I've been in (although I've never been in the SRT-4) has felt like a rental car; it's nice enough, but has no personality. Mazda's always feel alive.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      my opinion prolly doesnt mean much but im more into looks and the P5 is way more sporty looking than the srt is....they are crazy fast though....Also this guy here in belleville, owns a shop called Creative concepts, specializing in forced induction and he had the same dilemma as you....but he kept his p5 bought the srt and, i dont know what hes doing but the p5 has spent about a month on the lift...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        **** it buy a neon, if your looking for straight line spped thats your best bet.
                        .....HELLO MY NAME IS BEN...



                        186.08whp
                        225.94wtq
                        torque monster!!!!
                        dyno graph 8-10-and 12psi
                        http://www.msprotege.com/members/THE...no%20graph.jpg
                        http://videos.streetfire.net/player....0-C19CA06AF01E dyno vid

                        blahblahblahblahblahblah

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I once looked in to replacing my Pro with a Tacoma PreRunner but the thing that worked against me is that I had too much equity in it. The pay off at the time was around $13K and I would be lucky to get $11K on a trade in. As for selling off, I used Auto Trader and even was able to use a lot of a local garage to park it up front. I got a few people interested and test driving it, but it never sold. Every one seems to want trucks and SUVs nowadays. I then saw the PreRunner, but because I owed more than the car was worth, I would have had to add a couple of thousand on top of whatever the purchase price was of the truck. The particular saleman at this reputable dealership advised me not to do it because payments would have been higher and I would be paying more in the long run. Not many people in the car business would tell you that!

                          Bottom line is that not only do you have to consider the 150 more a month difference, but also the insurance hike and whether or not you will owe equity on the P5. That alone may be a decisive factor.
                          2001 ES (Featured at SoundDomain)

                          Pioneer/SoundStream/JBL/Coustic/Elemental Designs/Focal/
                          KnuKonceptz/Lightning Audio/SoundQuest/Tiff/
                          Gel America/Dynamo Deep Cycle Battery/
                          Groundkit

                          Comment


                            #14
                            My friend has an srt-4 and to tell you the truth , yeah its fast but it doesnt handle as well as you would think and there are little things that bother me with it that they did to save money. some examples, the back windows are manual not power , the shift knob is plastic the side mirrors are black not body colored, the brake calipers are red on all colors so it looks stupid unless you get a red one. and last but not least the pipe that your blowoff valve would be mounted to is plastic/rubber so your only option is the mopar one unless you feel like getting a custom pipe made.

                            The waste gate actuator on the srt-4's is also not very well designed not a single srt-4 is running the same boost as another they all get different amounts of boost. and my freinds cd player crapped out a week after he got it ... if none of that is a problem to you for the speed then go ahead but i hope that is convincing enough

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                              #15
                              get the srt...
                              Da SR20 Beast

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