[ram123]

What do you guys think of the speed protege? I may be getting one. Any of you guys that have or had one what did you think of them? I test drove one and realy liked it. I just thought I would get some feed back. Thanks in advance...

 

[msumlin]

I have one and they are a lot of fun to drive. There are a number of aftermarket parts and tuning available for it as well. I am upgrading mine this winter, larger intercooler, hard pipes, BOV and AWR motormounts. If you plan on increasing the bosst on the car, you will need to replace the internals, as they cannot handle anything over 10 psi stock.

 

[ram123]

Hey Marlon you know who this is dont you? You are one of the only guys I know with a speed protege. I should have called you first. How is everything? Are we doing mid Ohio again? Oh I would also be getting the spicy orange as well.

 

[msumlin]

Hey Marlon you know who this is dont you? You are one of the only guys I know with a speed protege. I should have called you first. How is everything? Are we doing mid Ohio again? Oh I would also be getting the spicy orange as well.
[/b]

Wassup Rich, yeah we are going to do Mid-Ohio again. Actually, we are going to having a track event next Spring @ Nelson Ledges Road Course, I'll keep you advised. The Speed Protege is a fun car and the handling is great, styling is sweet and there were only 500 Spicy Orange made.

I love mine, just starting to make it better and you really don't see a lot of the Speed Protege's on the road that much. I have only seen 4-5 here in Ohio, there are more, just don't see that many.

 

[ram123]

I actualy have a friend with a blue one. He loves his.

 

[Justins6s]

I had the Protege MP3 and man was that car fun! My brother has a 03.5 MSP and all I can tell you is be careful when upping the boost

 

[ram123]

I had the Protege MP3 and man was that car fun! My brother has a 03.5 MSP and all I can tell you is be careful when upping the boost
[/b]

Thats what I have been hearing. If I do getthe car I think I will be happy how it is. I would be getting it from a dealership. The guy that owned it before has already done a lot to it. Some of the things include Intake, BOV (Dont know witch kind), Lowering springs, after market sound system, exhaust, and bunch of other stuff. I REALY WANT THIS CAR. I already test drove it. The only downfall is I will trade in my 6 for it. The protege has more miles than the 6 but I dont realy care. What is the stock boost anyway?

 

[msumlin]

Thats what I have been hearing. If I do getthe car I think I will be happy how it is. I would be getting it from a dealership. The guy that owned it before has already done a lot to it. Some of the things include Intake, BOV (Dont know witch kind), Lowering springs, after market sound system, exhaust, and bunch of other stuff. I REALY WANT THIS CAR. I already test drove it. The only downfall is I will trade in my 6 for it. The protege has more miles than the 6 but I dont realy care. What is the stock boost anyway?
[/b]

4-5 psi

 

[smokeU6s]

4-5 psi
[/b]

I thought it was 6.9psi. According to Mazda I think.

Decent cars but I don't think its worth trading the 6 in for one considering most MSP's are going for more then a used 6 (around 16k from a dealership) plus you will pay higher insurance. I already checked cuz I was looking at one a while back.

 

[Raynman]

Methinks Rich started to fall in love with the MSP when we linked up with the convoy at Toledo.

 

[bumpin_blazer]

msp's are cool but there are at least 9 or 10 here in town and i've toyed with 4 of them. i beat 3 of em' but the 1 i lost to has exhaust and other goodies under the hood.

 

[msumlin]

I am in the process of upgrading mine, ordered a larger SMIC, Aluminum Hardpipes, HKS SSV BOV, AWR Motormounts and a few other goodies. A fun car drive, handles extremely well and with the upgrades should get even better.

 

[GoBackToSleep]

It's just got to be good! My brother's bottom-of-the-barrel (except for AT, A/C, and CD-player) 2003 Mazda Protege DX has decent pick-up and great handling (even with messed-up alignment) in itself. In 2003, the base models has the 2.0L 130-hp motor and, of course, I believe they weigh somewhere around 2700 lbs.

 

[bumpin_blazer]

yeah but the MS protege only had 170hp i believe so they didn't add much to em' in the terms of power. although same can be said for the MS6 vs. 6s it's only 54/85 hp/tq more than stock but they put AWD in it.

 

[msumlin]

170HP is correct, using the same 2.0L engine, but the handling is far superior to the other Protege's, RB Sways, exhaust, Tokico Blues....You an easily increase the HP and TQ with a few simple mods, i.e intake, downpipe, larger SMIC?FMIC

 

[GoBackToSleep]

170 hp for a car that small and lightweight is a godsend, actually. Just as someone said above, with a few simple mods, that car can fly. If I'm impressed enough with an automatic, 130-hp Protege base model, a Mazdaspeed version has got to be at least somewhat amazing stock.

 

[J Dragon]

I will tell you this....The Mazdaspeed Protege is the BEST tuner car Mazda came out with so far. It's lightweight, Powerful with mods, Has Good Gas Milage, Suspension is superior to the Mazda6 and the Mazda3...
Comes with a Kenwood sound system...that is Kick ass

The Mazdaspeed3 Will not live up to the monster that was a MSProtege...Sure the mazdaspeed3 has high hp, but it's a Hatch, and you don't feel like you got all the bells and whistles that you get when you drive a MSProtege...

Only flaw on the MSprotege is that the engine should have been internally forged from factory....

 

[6Venom]

I will tell you this....The Mazdaspeed Protege is the BEST tuner car Mazda came out with so far.
[/b]

+1

 

[Stretch]

I think the Mazdaspeed3 is better because it is a hatch and thus more practical. It's also more refined, modern, powerful, etc but with a 310lb weight penalty.

The MSP is an incredible car. The low beltline makes for good visibility and the car feels very light on its feet. It's not a car I would buy for the engine, though- I'd buy it for the handling. They are very fun to drive.

 

[bumpin_blazer]

i'd say the 93-95 RX-7 IMO is the best tuner car mazda built but that is b/c it's my favorite car of all time.