How many mazdaspeed proteges were produced

That's what the zoom-zoom ad campaign is all about. It's equally clear the Miata can't sustain this image building all by itself. If zoom-zoom is going to have credibility, some of the other Mazdas gotta get some zoom, too. That's this car's mission. It's conceived to demonstrate Mazda's commitment to fun-to-drive, and also to help establish a new performance subsidiary that will sell stuff to young owners who want their cars to stand out from the herd.

In our most recent econobox comparison test "Little Cars 6. A little over a year ago, Mazda took its first cut at this project, enlisting the services of Racing Beat, the longtime Mazda tuning shop, to handle suspension development. The result was the MP3, a brilliant blend of supple ride and athletic handling that emerged as the winner of a five-car hot-compact free-for-all "Budget Banditos," November And it prevailed despite a serious shortage of horsepower.

We compared it to "an aspiring welterweight fighter with all the moves but no punch. So here's the sequel, and this time the kid packs knockout power. Although the cast of characters is essentially the same -- Mazda, Racing Beat, RacingHart, and Kenwood -- there's one new player on the team this time around.

Callaway adapted a Garrett T25 ball-bearing turbo with an integral waste gate for the project, developing a unique turbine housing for this application. A revised Visteon engine-management program increases fuel flow. By limiting boost to a maximum of 6. It was like a little race car with seating for five. The steering felt perfectly tight, but Hiraishi said they had to give up just a little bit of feedback when they switched from the European-spec rack of the MP3 to the U.

He also said they kept the castor and camber but added one degree of toe-out front and rear vs. We took many a lap on the old runway, around a big slalom course set up specifically for the MazdaSpeed car and us.

The added power of the turbo had us gaining plenty of speed before we realized it. Consequently we whacked a good many cones for the first several laps and even spun a couple of times, which was tremendous fun, of course. There was nothing to hit and we had the green light from Mazda to wear the rubber off the tires, so there was no reason not to, no steel Armco or concrete K-bar to worry about hitting.

Ask any autocrosser: On a slalom course, no one can hear your tires scream. The tires were quick to hit their limits of adhesion at high speeds; there was not a lot of warning, but they held on mightily up until then.

It was a very fun package. In straight-line performance, Hiraishi said Mazda got a All that performance will cost you, though.

Or at least make it optional. Where will you go to get one when they arrive in late-September or early October? It wanted to make sure it got only performance- and racing-minded dealers, not just the ones willing to cut the checks to be purveyors of MazdaSpeed. Which is another good sign about the company. The final good sign? This could be the golden age of Mazda yet.

Car Life. Pretty sure it may be close. Is it bad that I've had my MSP since 07 and never once looked up the production number.

If I never look it up no one can tell me otherwise. Perro del Sol Member. Daily daily driver. Titanium still cruising the streets of jersey nana. Steven Member. Valk Member. Please log in or register to reply here. Similar threads Y. How much do Mazdaspeed Protege Wheels usually go for? Replies 1 Views Sep 20, njaremka. Armando Oct 23, Mazdaspeed Protege Forum. Oct 25, jeffmsp. New to MazdaSpeed World, need a little help.