Larger front-and-rear stabilizer bars, along with Tokico (nonadjustable) dampers complete the suspension upgrades, while the entire package rides on Racing Hart 17-inch wheels wearing 215/45ZR17 Bridgestone Potenza tires. Custom-engineered MacPherson struts, a strut tower brace and stiffer coil springs up front are balanced by a specially tuned Twin Trapezoidal Link (TTL) independent rear suspension. The goal was to take that model's highly capable suspension and improve it further for the Mazdaspeed version. Backing up the increased thrust is a heavy-duty clutch and a Tochigi limited-slip differential, along with beefier driveshafts.įor handling duty, Mazda turned to Racing Beat, the same tuner company that assisted it with the MP3. A free-flowing Mazdaspeed muffler assists exhaust flow. (of Callaway Corvette fame) boosted the standard 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine with a Garrett T25 ball-bearing turbocharger and an air-to-air intercooler. The tuning wizards at Callaway Cars, Inc. The credentials to back up that claim start with a 30-horsepower increase over the 2001 MP3 and a sub-7-second 0-60 time. that's earned the right to wear the Mazdaspeed nameplate." As North American operations president Charlie Hughes says, "This maximum performance Protegé is the first road-going Mazda in the U.S. Referred to as the "quintessential Mazda" by company spokespeople, the Mazdaspeed Protegé combines a look, feel and overall balance that targets the ever-expanding "pocket rocket" market segment.
And let's not forget the upcoming line of Mazdaspeed-tuned production cars, starting with the Spicy Orange Mica example shown before you. That's going to change in the coming months as the name appears on everything from dealer-supplied street performance parts to billboards at Laguna Seca to shirts and hats. Now Mazdaspeed is the company's official in-house tuner, and although it's been supplying parts to dedicated racers for years, most Americans have never heard of it. By 1983, the team was known as "Mazdaspeed," and with help from Mazda Motor Corporation, it managed to score that overall Le Mans win (the first and only by a Japanese automaker). A team of hard-core Mazda racers established its spiritual beginnings in 1967 under the name "Mazda Sports Corner" in Tokyo. Not that the Mazdaspeed name is entirely new. Mazda clearly recognizes this, and despite an overall win at Le Mans in 1991 and the purchase of Laguna Seca Raceway in 2001, the company's most serious effort (since the 1993 RX-7) to establish its performance-car presence in America will begin this fall with the launch of the 2003 Mazdaspeed Protegé. In a world of AMGs, SVTs, TRDs and M cars, it's tough to be taken seriously as a performance car company if you don't have a dedicated performance division.
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