---

---

The MP3 is still sitting in my cold garage awaiting the days for the Dollar to regain strength so I can save some money buying PAR Engineering gears from Australia. Currently the price is around $2,600, but has been as low as $2,350. Once I have enough money saved, I will be going the ultimate route with the PAR gears to ensure this doesn't happen again. I'll be going straight cut to eliminate some twist that may occur in the transmission housing with the helical cut gears. I'm quite excited, but realize the car may not be on the road for the 2009 Summer (June-August). We'll see! The installation of the gears is slated to be performed by SpeedCircuit Performance out of New Jersey this time.

 

If you weren't aware, I suffered transmission failure (AGAIN) after I put just 1,700 miles on the new unit. It was built by Protege Garage, who promptly denied having any responsibility. The unit failed while driving on the highway at 110mph. While its not obvious if it was not assembled right, I can only assume that is the case since the day I installed it, the unit would NOT move the car for several hours, then pop and it worked. Third gear also pops out to this day. The car will not be running for quite some time again.

 

 

Hi everyone and thanks for checking out my 2001 Mazda Protege MP3! Wow... 170,000+ visitors! I'd like to thank EVERYONE who has stopped by and given me feedback on my whip, even those who have been critical. Every comment has been invaluable to me in deciding what route to go next with the car. First off- what the heck is an "Mazda MP3"?! As some of you may or may not know, it came as one of the first "factory tuned" vehicles. It came from Mazda Japan with several upgrades, taking the name "MP3" for the first car ever to include a MP3 player. The MP3 also benefits from factory upgrades such as an upgraded ECU, suspension equipment, lowering springs, sport spoiler, 17" wheels, and obviously the vivid yellow color that grabs many people's heads.

You will find a ton of stuff here, including pictures, guides on how to build a Protege, and all sorts of documentation and pictures that will help Protege owners turn their car into a beast. Be sure to check back often... I pour my life and soul into this page! I hope you enjoy what you see here. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, sign the guestbook!

DYK? Road and Track rated the Mazda MP3 the 8th best handling car ever . Check out the article here!

I couldn't be happier with how things went. Pics!

 

 

The Mazda Protege MP3... from concept car in 1999 to my MP3 today... pictures are below. Its fun to see how the car has changed each and every year. If you notice, I try and keep it CLEAN! Sometimes I need a graphic for the sponsors, but hey, what can ya do? For curiosity sake, I have about $30-35,000 invested in this thing over the 6 years I've owned it (not including the cost of the car... $20,000)!

There is a story that goes with the pics too, so make sure to read up!

2000: Concept Car as seen as the major auto shows! Beautiful!

2001: Bought the MP3 9-18-01 at Borgman Mazda in Grandville, Michigan from Bernie Lenau. Bernie is a great guy to deal with. I should know- my family has purchased 9 Mazdas from him over the years (5 Proteges, 1 Miata, 1 Mazda6, 1 Mazda3, 1 Mazda 323).

2002: Daily Driver... so many people were caught looking at this new Mazda! I slowly started to learn more about the 3rd Gen platform, asking a lot of questions to Paul @ Borgman Mazda Service Dept. Heck, I'd like to thank him for all his time and willingness to answer when I call to ask questions. That service is priceless to me. So many dealers rip-off people, but Paul is a great service guy to deal with.

2003: Light modding... just the tip of the iceberg, but who knew? Intake and NAWZ... I started to realize how great this car was, yet how slow it was and that it needed more power. I started to buy parts and thats when my "addiction" started. I've been working on it and spending time on it whenever possible.

2004: Addiction begins, the world is beginning with a turbo... a GT28R to start. At this stage, I'm learning from other Mazda Enthusiasts I've met- Another thank you to all of them because without them, I wouldn't have the knowledge that I have today. I also wouldn't have been able to do all this installation work by myself, so thanks are due to Ryan George, Jamie, Patrick, and many more!

2005: Turbo/Engine buildup- I'll never look back at 6psi. A few things persuaded me to continue turboed. First off, my experience with Nitrous Oxide was rather short. After my piston #4 cracked and lost 100lbs of compression, I decided that NO2 wasn't for me and took it off. After 2004, I was sure the turbo was the way to go.

2006: Moar B0ost! It gets more addicting than crack- 15psi please! Once you go turbo, you should definitely be able to sympathize with how I felt.

2007: Bigger & Better then Boom! Transmission failure at 26psi... but that means bigger and better parts! Quaife, Flywheel, Clutch, and more to be installed for the '08 season.

2008: I-75 in Detroit ATE my stock radiator, so I upgraded it to a HUGE (52mm) Corksport Aluminum Radiator... compares to the 16mm core the stock unit provided... wow! Also had many sensors installed or moved and cleaned up the engine bay!

2009:
COMING SOON? (Pending new transmission!)

Here are some time slips and dyno charts from back when I was only running 15-18psi. I'm now at well over 20 (and breaking stuff)

 

 

 

Thank you to my partial sponsors

......You can find my car featured on Corbeau's Sponsor Gallery at this link: My MP3 @ Corbeau.com ......

The transition of engines and turbos on my car: The story behind this is that I've had a history of small issues that cause me to go bigger and better. Since 2005, my motto has been "Do it right the first time". While this costs more, it ends up saving money in the end. The first pictures are from when the car had Nitrous, then I removed that and added a entry level turbo kit from Mental Addiction, then I swapped out motors for one I built, then I swapped out the major turbo components for a bigger and better kit from Mental Addiction. Try to pick out the major differences!

 

 

 

 

 

FAVORITE MODS! On to a new set of images. These are pics of my absolute favorite mods on the car. Some of them cost a pretty penny, some were better than I thought... without further interruption!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COMING SOON/TO BE INSTALLED ON THE MP3: Here's the part of the page to see what I've got coming up! Either ordered, on order, or received... here is what is soon going to be installed on the MP3! These pictures will change as parts are installed and more parts ordered, so stay tuned! Updated 1/09.

 

If you like what you see here (this is just a brief snippit) I would encourage you to spend 5-10 minutes reading the blog I've kept on CarDomain the last couple years! (It actually just started as me updating my page, then I dated it and put it into a timeline). Its kinda cool seeing the ups and downs of owning a heavily modded car, so check out pages 9-14!

 

 

 

The above is just SOME of what you'll find if you read and look at all my pages. Please take advantage of my hours of hard work and slaving. I didn't do it just for me! I listed all the information, took all the pictures so that OTHERS could do it too! Enjoy!

Page 1 Introduction to the MP3
Page 2 How to Build a Protege
Page 3 Current Modifications
Page 4 About Me
Page 5 Random Photoshoots
Page 6 Mazda Meet Photos
Page 7 Miata (SOLD!)
Page 8 Friends High HP Mazdas
Page 9 Blog Updates from 2003
Page 10 Blog Updates from 2004
Page 11 Blog Updates from 2005
Page 12 Blog Updates from 2006
Page 13 Blog Updates from 2007
Page 14 Blog Updates from 2008
Page 20-26 Protege Service Manual