Thoughts/Opinions '88 Prelude or '01 Protege mp3?

Since I've moved away from the Porsche 944 and thinking about something to fit all the r-compound tires I have lying around in the basement I've been looking at other cars, namely:

1988 Honda Prelude si: Good shape, low km's and I know they are decent autocrossers

Or

2001 Mazda Protege mp3: Obviously newer but with much higher km's but great little car on the track. (Problem here is I believe the mp3 comes with 17" rims but I know you can pick up Protege rims fairly cheap that are 15")

Any other car suggestions? All my tires are 15" and are 205/50's. I have some nice 4 bolt rims with RE01R's on them, these are 195/50/15's.

Thanks

The answer is mk1 Capri.

Lude dude.

I vote Prelude. It's what I would get. Still my favorite prelude out of all of them.

Protege come with 17's...will the 15's fit over the MP3's brakes?
Said another way, "does an MP3 have larger brakes than a typical Protege?" Do these larger brake disks necessitate the use of larger rims?

I don't think there are any 5-lug 15" protege wheels. IIRC all the 5-lug non-MP3 protege wheels for that body style were 16". If you want 15" cheap Mazda OEM wheels you'll want to look at the 2nd-gen MX6 LS and Probe GT wheels. GD-body wheels (88-92 MX6 and 626) have too small of a center bore, again IIRC.

Yeah, rim selection on the 5-lug Protege pretty much makes it a no-go for your purposes.

+1 for Prelude.

IIRC, Protege MP3s were hampered by really small turbos and weak transmissions.

A 3rd gen Prelude gives you Honda reliability and parts availability; they're fun to drive, too. Performance pieces are a bit hard to find, but its' a lot better than what you find for earlier models.

oldsaw wrote: IIRC, Protege MP3s were hampered by really small turbos and weak transmissions. A 3rd gen Prelude gives you Honda reliability and parts availability; they're fun to drive, too. Performance pieces are a bit hard to find, but its' a lot better than what you find for earlier models.

The smallest turbos in the world, you might even say.

I'd go with the MP3 in this case. It doesn't make much power, is non-turbo, the trans won't really be an issue with the power it makes, it'll handle better, is newer, less likely to be rusted to hell and back, and 15" wheels are cheap and easy to find if you're ok with looking to the aftermarket.

Swank Force One wrote:

oldsaw wrote: IIRC, Protege MP3s were hampered by really small turbos and weak transmissions. A 3rd gen Prelude gives you Honda reliability and parts availability; they're fun to drive, too. Performance pieces are a bit hard to find, but its' a lot better than what you find for earlier models.

The smallest turbos in the world, you might even say.

Yeah, you're thinking of the Mazdaspeed. The MP3 was just a slightly warmed over plain Protege, with a handful of Racing Beat parts and a better sound system. I think it was only sold for one year.

Make sure you can fit in the Prelude with a helmet on. My girlfriend had one and I could only drive it with the sunroof shade open.

I'd go with the MP3 in this case. It doesn't make much power, is non-turbo, the trans won't really be an issue with the power it makes, it'll handle better, is newer, less likely to be rusted to hell and back, and 15" wheels are cheap and easy to find if you're ok with looking to the aftermarket.

I agree. Realistically, it's in a very small class of cars that are small, light, handle really sharp, get good mpg, look decent, are still pretty useful, and isn't very old.

Wow, I never would have expected everyone to say Prelude. btw, I'd recommend that too, but I'm a bit biased. ;)

Doesn't the FS-DE motor in the Protege have oil starvation issues when autocrossed, or am I making that up?

I had an 02 Protege, and the car was an absolute hoot to drive. I believe it had 17" on it, I don't remember it getting out of step in a corner.

Run_Away wrote: Wow, I never would have expected everyone to say Prelude. btw, I'd recommend that too, but I'm a bit biased. ;) Doesn't the FS-DE motor in the Protege have oil starvation issues when autocrossed, or am I making that up?

I believe you're making that up.

SlickDizzy wrote:

Swank Force One wrote:

oldsaw wrote: IIRC, Protege MP3s were hampered by really small turbos and weak transmissions. A 3rd gen Prelude gives you Honda reliability and parts availability; they're fun to drive, too. Performance pieces are a bit hard to find, but its' a lot better than what you find for earlier models.

The smallest turbos in the world, you might even say.

Yeah, you're thinking of the Mazdaspeed. The MP3 was just a slightly warmed over plain Protege, with a handful of Racing Beat parts and a better sound system. I think it was only sold for one year.

Yep, I was wrong in forgetting the specs on a car that had such low sales numbers that it was abandoned in short order. Don't get me wrong; the MP3 was a cool car and I love tarted-up sedans, but it didn't appeal to enough people to warrant continued production. Parts availabilty issues can make buying and modifying a base Protege a more plausible alternative.

Or, a gen3 Prelude.

oldsaw wrote: Yep, I was wrong in forgetting the specs on a car that had such low sales numbers that it was abandoned in short order. Don't get me wrong; the MP3 was a cool car and I love tarted-up sedans, but it didn't appeal to enough people to warrant continued production. Parts availabilty issues can make buying and modifying a base Protege a more plausible alternative. Or, a gen3 Prelude.

I'm sorry, what? What parts availability issues are there? It's just a regular Protege with a mild body kit and a few bolt-ons. Also, production was never "abandoned" due to sales, the car was supposed to be a limited edition of a few thousand from the get go.

It really seems like you're just making assumptions and expecting them to be right instead of doing any real research.

No one said "Miata". Huh.

The ZX2 will take a 205/50-15 nicely. Mazda BG (Protege) chassis. Cheap Ford 'consumables' for brakes etc.

Swank Force One wrote:

Run_Away wrote: Wow, I never would have expected everyone to say Prelude. btw, I'd recommend that too, but I'm a bit biased. ;) Doesn't the FS-DE motor in the Protege have oil starvation issues when autocrossed, or am I making that up?

I believe you're making that up.

I did a bit of googling, and it seems I was actually correct (weird! that doesn't normally happen )

Seems like this is the most popular forum, got the most hits