owned a MSP

[Kevin]

you cannot compare the driving experience of a protege to that of a corvette in any respect. i think the main goal in modifying a protege is to derive a little zip out of something thats modest on the wallet in repairs and gas mileage (ie economy). economy can be had alot cheaper than muscle. what seems to be devoid of your judgement is the simple fact, although corvette setups are faster directly from the factory, they're not nearly practical. they handle like **** in the snow, they don't have much trunk space for carrying luggage, and for christ's sake, it's a 2 seater sports coupe. the average american doesn't commute in a corvette, the average american is more likely to commute in a corrolla, civic, or the like. in either case, N/A or FI, any added horsepower you are putting on the motor without going through a rebuild with beefed up internals/transmissions, you're going to cause excess wear and tear on your vehicle, no matter how well you take care of it.

so if you've got the money to buy a corvette.. no matter what the year, and can afford to not have it 1 weekend every month, i'd suggest that'd be your best option for 'horsepower'.
kevin

[Kevin]

to get any serious horsepower, you would have to.. eitherwise, you'd be talking crate motors.. far from what you were originally submitting.

[redcivic]

Well, I have a civic and a CRX that own most Vettes that frequent my track and it was done for less than 20k each. Yes I know with a few mods a C5 would walk my coupe but the feeling of waxing some rich pussies ass after he looks down his nose at you is truely priceless. besides another few grand and I could be low to mid 11's and I think that is pretty impressive for less than half the displacement.


Oh, and my Rex is all motor.

[jnorion]

And of that half a page, only seven items had anything to do with performance. The rest of it is things like replacing gaskets and thermostats.

[McCorkle]

It's not about quantity, it's about quality.

[macdaddyslomo]

this is true, im just saying you shouldnt be drag'ing in economy sedans... why waste your money, theres better sports out there suited for cars like these, and acceleration testing is not one of them


whats a 3'rd gen protege?
Around 2800 Pounds?
5 Speed
say 125-130 hp
and around the same numbers of torque?


1992 Corvette
3200 Pounds
6 Speed
300 HP
325 Torque

actually my dad owns a 92 corvette and it says 250hp right on the console

[BMW ///MPOWER]

ok guys look, i just wanted to say how i raced a guy while i was on my way to school. N/A is for people who are smart and have a pretty dammed good idea of what there doing. FI any one can do. I was just saying since i am able to have access to all the tools i will ever need cuz i work at a shop, N/A is the better choice for me because i can do all the installs my self and I do alot of autoX and roadcorse "open track" days. i dont want to be adding all the weight that comes with a good turbo kit and i dont want to have turbo lag, boostcreep, etc... i want my power now and predictable. its all about balance when setting a car up. O and for the record, drag racing is for no talent queers. any one can drive in a straight line.

[BMW ///MPOWER]

yeah it takes more skill to be able to transfere wieght to each individual corner of your car and heel toe downshift than to handle tourqe steer and launch a car.

[93SuperScort]

I would love to build up my engine N/A but it costs a lot of $ Well it costs a lot compared to gettin a turbo engine swapped for like Under $2000. N/A engines usually have no low end power too.

[McCorkle]

you could argue the same thing about turbocharged motors... with turbo lag and such

What's turbo lag? I hit full tq at only 3500 rpms.

[Kevin]

well.. there's a good point. starting out with 106 to 135 hp as most of us are, to be able to spend 2500 bucks and come home with a car with anywhere from 160 to 250 hp, the investment is well worth it. the route.. forced induction. the concensus seems to be, for a n/a aspirated protege to get to this junction.. you would need:
GTR intake manifold
mandrel bent exhaust
intake
aggressive cams
high compression pistons
very agressive timing
stiffer valve springs
lightened rods and pistons
larger injectors
full standalone engine management
plus you'd effectively have to UP your redline in excess of 8,000 rpms
maybe an overbore?
port and polish
custom header?

i had to ASK to figure this out.. because it's not posted anywhere, just in snippits here and there. more or less, you probably could not achieve this amount of power under 3000. i mean, a turbo setup under that limit that is fully tunned out isn't even a possibility, but would definately up your horsepower to those respective levels. i don't know, it's fair to say in my opinion, the bp isn't a practical engine to bilk horsepower out of with n/a. boost is the favored means because the modifications aren't 'one-off' productions in most cases, and the hp yield per dollar is a little better. these aren't corvettes, you can't just slap an exhaust on and hope you're going to drop on 50 hp. infact, you'd be lucky to see 10 in most cases.
kevin

[redcivic]

So what's your point with posting that Vette, Kenny Tran ran a 8.41 in a front wheel drive 1.8 Litre Civic.

[93SuperScort]

So what's your point with posting that Vette, Kenny Tran ran a 8.41 in a front wheel drive 1.8 Litre Civic

well u could do that with almost any car, but im sure we are talkin about having a limit on spending. I always look for bang for the buck!
I'd rather buy something used for $5000 and put $10,000 grand into it rather than buying a nice stock $15000 car.

[BMW ///MPOWER]

yeah i autocross, thats why i like my engine N/A. that way i dont wait for boost. an engine making 250hp with no throttle response is worthless, its all about the engine response. a big turbo will give you good power, but most it wont be usable....

[BMW ///MPOWER]

yeah, my neighbor is a michilen tire rep, I go with him to all there company events. He's brings his spec miata or S2000. I tell ya nothing like tearing ass in that honda with free tires lol