Essentially, the 2003 MazdaSpeed 3 is last year's Protege MP3 with more power, thanks to a Garrett T25 turbo lashed to the 2.0-liter, DOHC, 16-valve four. Callaway Cars, which built turbocharged Corvettes with Chevrolet back in the '80s and '90s, engineered the turbo installation on the Protege, backing up the ensuing 170-or-so hp (up from 130-hp naturally aspirated) with a heavy-duty clutch and pressure plate, the stock five-speed manual and a Tochigi Fuji Sangyo limited-slip diff.
Racing Beat has tweaked the front suspension with specific MacPherson struts, a strut tower brace, higher rate coil springs, custom Tokico shocks, and a larger diameter anti-roll bar bracket and bushings. The rear end has been re-tuned with new coil springs and a larger anti-roll bar. Bolted to that is a set of Racing Hart 17x7-inch five-spoke wheels wearing P215/45ZR-17 Bridgestone Potenza RE040s.
Naturally, additional power can never go unannounced in a car, so the MazdaSpeed 3 wears plenty of zoom-zoomy plastic pieces on the outside and Sparco drilled aluminum pedals and aluminum shifter knob ball, a Nardi leather-wrapped steering wheel and silver-faced gauges inside. Maintaining the ear-blistering tradition of the MP3, there's also a Kenwood sound system aboard with a new in-dash CD/MP3 receiver feeding a 450-watt system that includes a subwoofer under the rear package shelf.
The MazdaSpeed Protege will be available only as a sedan and only 2,000 of them will be made. Expect the first ones to show up in dealers during the final quarter of 2002 and further expect that with Mazda now addicted to the aftermarket, that there'll be even more special edition Proteges after this one.
Chrysler Joins The Fun
Forget import racing as a small-time independent endeavor. Almost all the factories are involved now. DaimlerChrysler has joined the fray with sponsorship from its Mopar Parts division for the Dodge Neon run by North Carolina-based Team Phatridz in the NHRA Hot Rod class.DCX joins Honda, Toyota, Ford and GM in providing overt and/or not-so-overt support for import-style race efforts.
The Neon Team Phat has been campaigning-piloted by Mike Crawford-is a two-door model Dodge no longer bothers building. With the turbocharged, four-door Neon SRT-4 soon to enter production, the Phat ones have decided to build a race version. Crew chief and co-owner Darrell Cox will once again be handling the engine building chores, which have become easier now that DCX is building a reinforced block for the turbo 2.4s it's slamming into the SRT-4 and PT Turbo.
"We're not yanking the engines out of Caravans and Strata any more," says Cox in a phone interview. "The new engines are a lot stronger." Despite 30 psi of boost and a 200-hp nitrous whack, Cox will build the SRT-4 to run on gasoline to keep tuning consistent with last year's car. Cox is also getting some help from Mopar engineers who are hoping the extreme stress of the race environment will help them improve the production SRT-4.
Info on what's going on with Phatridz, including the latest photos of the new SRT-4, should be up on its Web site at www.phatridz.com.
By Britt Trevathan
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