Rep Power: 328

I wouldn't worry about the chassis being rigid if your mainly concerned with drag racing...that's more an aspect of a good handling/cornering car. The civic chassis is fairly decent for handling though.

250+ hp is attainable with a K20 and FI I'm fairly sure of, but I'd be worried about how much the tranny can hold. That may be your weak link.

 
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Mazdaspeed Protege I Like The Interior A Lot.. The Only Bad Thing Is The Lack Of Sunroof But Hey Turbo Sound Makes Up For It

 
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Si got for it or an 2000 Si

 
Rep Power: 328

The reason why the MSP doesn't have a sunroof is to keep structural rigidity in the chassis. Cars with sunroofs have alot more body flex, and are heavy as well.

 
Rep Power: 304

Come on man! Cars with sunroofs do not have that much more body flex, the RX-7 has a freakin sunroof. You make it sound like the diff is night and day. We are also assuming that the chassis had to be lessened("cut") to incorperate the sunroof which isnt the case in the RSX or civics. S2000 doesn't even have a roof and its chassis is crazy rigid. (Mazda miata as well)

 
Rep Power: 328

S2000's and Miatas are CONVERTIBLES. Roadsters. The RX-7 has an OPTIONAL sunroof. You'd be hard pressed to see a track driven RX-7 with a sunroof. There's a big difference there. Do a little research and you'll see why the MSP and the ITR both do not come with sunroofs.

 
Rep Power: 304

I know the ITR doesn't come with a sunroof. I understand that the cars are lighter but I have a hard time believing that body flex is so great in a car with an sunroof, that you will notice a huge chage in handling. I mean you have cars that are convertible the darn thing doesn't even have a roof and its rigid.

 
Rep Power: 320

I'd test drive all 3, i'd prolly go for the mazdaspeed, but even the Si is faster than my EX so im sure i'd go for any of em, I havent looked much into the Nissan, so who knows. but as of now if I had to choose, i'd be the mazdaspeed ..


vrrrrroooooooooommmmmmmm ppppppssssssssshhhhhhhhhhh ... someday I will get a car w/ a turbo and a nice exhaust, then I can hear the sound I love so much everyday..

 
Rep Power: 328

Because that's the way the cars were designed. As Roadsters. You have to remember sunroofs are basically afterthoughts. Added as an option. I'm not saying it's a huge difference, but I am saying there is a difference to some degree. Body flex is increased with the addition of a sunroof. Every car will experience it differently. Some more than others. There have been MSP's who added aftermarket sunroofs who claim they feel the difference and others who say they notice nothing. In any case, it's something to think about.

 
Rep Power: 320

speaking of turbo'd cars, I was at a stop light and saw an Evo ... I think it was 7? take off, damn those are nice cars

 
Rep Power: 304

(BTW its cool of you not to get heated up after some of my coments)

Cool know that's out of the way..

I heard the protege 5 engine is good engine to boost. is that true? Someone told me the engine built to handle it.

 
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i don't want a sunroof anyway, so the MSP's lack of one doen't bother me in the least. i have a sunroof on my ex, and i hardly use it honestly. maybe tomorrow after work i'll head back over to the car dealers and test drive those babies.

p.s. - the only time i found the sunroof to be worth getting is the time i was taking pictures and two of my female friends were sitting in my car and i took pics from the outside looking through the sunroof, nice angle if you know what i mean

 
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oh thank heaven i never the Si for 17k. i would have beat the **** out of myself.

either way, i have seen some of the track races on speed channel and it seems alot of the cars doing will are mazdas and bmw 3 series by a long shot. haven't seen nissans on there but 160hp/160tq at wheels with cold air and exhaust is more than enough for me.

everyday i go on the freeway to and from work. from work, the onramps are so short, like 75ft and i literally have to floor my civic to merge with the rest of the cars going 60-75

edit- nissans have ugly butts and so does the spec v. also, handling is bad compared to mazda

mazdas, the new ones are dead sexy esp in red or orange. also i might a mazda cuz there is a local fanboy group of mazda guys who are actually pretty cool. not ricers all have clean cars and i see them alot at the auto shows.

02+ si- = no. honda did fall short and was last in the article. it seems that hondas mini-minivan is sucky for racing. the dealerships are letting them go a few grand cheaper cuz people think they are crap.

 
Rep Power: 328

The protege 5, protege ES, MP3 basically all have the same engine with the exception of the MP3 having a better ECU good for about 10 extra ponies. The MSP is basically an ES engine with a different ECU, and a callaway designed, (yes callaway, the same company who tunes corvettes), turbo system. The suspension is different on it as well, in that it's tuned by racing beat. I think there was something like 1000 different modifications, small and large, that set it apart from the regular ES. You can turn the ES into a MSP fairly easily as well...

So to answer your question, yes the P5 engine is good for boost to a degree. Once you get past a point, pauter rods, JE pistons, and a haltech would be necessary. But this is the same for almost any car. The only ones I can think of that has good internals off the top of my head for up to 500+hp are the SRT-4, RX-7, RX-8 "maybe", and the Supra. I'm not sure about the EVO or Sti, maybe they can too...

 
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heres how the top 4 manufacturers went in the last season of speed channel's world-challenge in the touring car class:

1st: BMW; 69 points
2nd: Acura; 54 points
3rd: Nissan; 34 points
4th: Mazda; 27 points

and keep in mind there is only 1 nissan car on the track and it still beat out mazda who runs 10 cars from various race teams.