I am looking very seriously at the Mazdaspeed Protg as my next car to autocross. I am a current Miata owner that has campaigned that car in the New England region SCCA for the past 3 years and had a decent amount of success with it winning SM2 and CSP class championships. I am a decent driver I have taken five Evolution Performance Driving Schools and instruct with a few clubs but I think it is time to move onto a new challenge. The Mazdaspeed looks like a great overall package plus it will be easier to live with everyday unlike my CSP car.
Pros: lsd, wide wheels, good factory suspension, low end grunt, relatively narrow
Cons: Weight, limited front camber, mac strut suspension, power, offset and coil spring cup limit tire width. ABS issues
So I have been reading about the prior attempts to make the Protg a D class contender and I want to push that a little farther and put more setup time into the car. I have great competition to test the car David Gott, Matt Murrary (Multi time national champ) GJ Dixon (National Champ) Sam Krauss (multiple National Tour and Pro Solo wins)
Future Plans:
Wet rebuild Koni DAs
Larger front sway
Alignment specs borrowed from the work that was done to the 6th place finishing car
17 inch light weight wheels (Enkei, Volk, SRR)
Tire size? Can I fit a 245 on the front end of this car? A 245/40/17 is available from Hoosier and would provide tremendous grip. Run allowable spacers on the front and leave the rear tires a 225 size tire to get heat into them.
The competition is tough over the last 4 years at nationals ITRs represented 52% of the top 10 finishers while BMW was 25%. Dodge, Eagle, and VW made up 5% of the class finishers. Lexus, Mazda, and Subaru each scored 1 top ten finish or 2.5%.
Are there any large performance difference between the 03 and 03.5 Proteges besides rear wing weight difference?
Looking for any suggestions or ideas on things I could change or worked on your car for autocross wheels, tires, sway bar?
Pros: lsd, wide wheels, good factory suspension, low end grunt, relatively narrow
Cons: Weight, limited front camber, mac strut suspension, power, offset and coil spring cup limit tire width. ABS issues
So I have been reading about the prior attempts to make the Protg a D class contender and I want to push that a little farther and put more setup time into the car. I have great competition to test the car David Gott, Matt Murrary (Multi time national champ) GJ Dixon (National Champ) Sam Krauss (multiple National Tour and Pro Solo wins)
Future Plans:
Wet rebuild Koni DAs
Larger front sway
Alignment specs borrowed from the work that was done to the 6th place finishing car
17 inch light weight wheels (Enkei, Volk, SRR)
Tire size? Can I fit a 245 on the front end of this car? A 245/40/17 is available from Hoosier and would provide tremendous grip. Run allowable spacers on the front and leave the rear tires a 225 size tire to get heat into them.
The competition is tough over the last 4 years at nationals ITRs represented 52% of the top 10 finishers while BMW was 25%. Dodge, Eagle, and VW made up 5% of the class finishers. Lexus, Mazda, and Subaru each scored 1 top ten finish or 2.5%.
Are there any large performance difference between the 03 and 03.5 Proteges besides rear wing weight difference?
Looking for any suggestions or ideas on things I could change or worked on your car for autocross wheels, tires, sway bar?
