I got a pro5 dropped on coils, air intake, exhaust and a new set of rims. its great love it

I helped my friend Brian a couple times build a seriously sick Protege 5.

The MP5T | Some things you need to learn by doing them…

It's a very nice car and the very reason I bought a turbo Mazda.

I got one a few months ago. Fully stock, it's a fun car; reminds me vaguely of my Miata.

Want to get rear sway bar and aftermarket shifter bushings. Other than that and tint, no other mods planned.

Drop it + 1st Gen MS3 wheels

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0054_large.jpg

Nice score seeing as you got the Mazdaspeed Protege front bumper as well!

thanks, i'm glad it had that bumper too!

I've had an 03 model since 2007, now has 163k on it. When do you guys change the timing belt?

You should do it now unless you did it at 100K. It's every 100K or 5 years although my dealer said just wait till you hit the mileage - mine was only at 68K when I sold it but was past the 5 year mark.

Isn't recommended 100k miles and not kms?

Sorry, yes you are correct. It's 100K miles, not 100K km.

the gf traded her ek hatch for one of these a few months ago. i gotta say, these are pretty great cars. much more rigid suspension than the ek, much nicer interior. 4 door hatch makes for tons of room/storage space. pw, pl, sunroof, ac. found in the color we were looking for too. that ligher blue. like a sky blue. very nice color. only paid 1000$ on top of the ek. found a nice mint leather interior on cl too. pretty rare. came with all the door panels as well. looks great now.

only issues i see with these cars is:
-oe wheels paint peels commonly
-vehicle metal is very thin. more susceptible to dents and door dings. quarter panel rust is very commom. but, this is a compromise for fuel efficiency
-head gasket is apparently fairly common. but almost certainly avoidable with proper maintanance.

all in all though, extremely pleased with this car. a tremendous upgrade from the ek

Thought I'd post this here...

Thinking of grabbing one in the next 4-5 months, reason being I need a cheap wagon that seats 5 and can haul a bunch of car parts, while also being good on gas and fun to drive. I currently have an EK Civic, would like a Honda Fit but can't afford one atm, a decent-shape used one is around $8000 and my budget is around $4000. I love the driving feel of the EK, but is is a bit slow and I do need something with 4 doors that can carry a little more.

Looking at one of the later models, 2002-2003, any issues to look out for? Besides the obvious which is high km/burning oil, rust, leaks etc. Will probably get it dealer inspected but it would be good to know what I should be looking for. Only interested in the 5-spd btw.

A very solid car with no really issues. I have one for my winter DD and it has served me good. Just check for oil burning on the ones that are 200,000kms + and check to quarter panel rust.

Ya there aren't really any common serious issues with the P5, most are minor including:

Fast wear on endlinks (causes knocking noise over bumps in suspension), wheel bearings also wear relatively fast (wheel vibration), engine mounts.

Also, I don't know how much faster it would be compared to an EK.

it isn't any faster then a ek, i would suggest to get the 03 as it comes with some stuff personally i like, for example tiptronic, blacked out headlights

Looking for the manual version... I am not good at driving auto lol

If it's not much faster than the EK I imagine it'd be super slow carrying a full load of passengers. Maybe I'll test drive one first before committing, thanks for the help!

Just got an '02 MP5 after having a couple of Civics. I love it! It's needed a new engine mount and I've got some intermittent clunking in the suspension (stabilizer bushings and/or endlinks are probably on their way out, I'm guessing). AC compressor is pooched, too, but oh well, it's Vancouver...

Aside from those niggles, the car is great. It's a hell of a lot of fun to toss around and that's the biggest reason for getting it.