It really sucks because we were about to drop the hammer on our long-termMazdaspeed Protegé when we had to say goodbye a few months early.Plus we lost a free ride.
We even considered changing the name of the project to Project Perplexedbecause the car's response to the performance parts we installed was baffling.The feisty four would run off-the-chart rich. Engine additions addressingrestrictions exiting the engine and enhancing the charge air entering the enginedid little to raise the air/fuel ratio. Even a factory-mandated ECU reflash failed tohelp. What's worse is that the new programming took away some of theprogress we made.
These photos and dyno charts outline the highlights of Project Protegé.Relying on the factory ECU for tuning we coaxed an additional 61.1 whp out ofthe Mazda and can report it was eager to shred rubber in first, second and thirdgears. Overall, the Mazdaspeed is a great project platform.
We installed an iON cold-air intake designed to work in conjunction with theFMIC. The piece made righteous power and added an aggressive intake soundunder full boost. | 
At 24x6 the iON Performance core dwarfs the factory 10x5 unit. The iON'soptimal front-mount placement is far superior to the stock unit's hidden mountingpoint adjacent the radiator. The trick move here is to scrap the stock cooler andradiator and install a Protegé5 radiator that runs all the way across theengine bay. | 
With the iON Performance front-mount intercooler installed we were happy to seea bump in power to an average of 159.98 whp, lets call it 160. Of moreimportance is how the power held throughout our five-run, back-to-back barragethat amounted to dyno abuse of the MSP. |
While tuning is heading to the software side, some hardware can still deliver thegoods. Running an exhaust system from the turbo back relieves a multitude ofrestrictions, opening the door to big power gains. | 
Baseline testing prior to installing the iON system revealed 163.9 whp. After-installation runs vividly illustrated that all our efforts were worth it as the iONStreet Spec turbo-back exhaust delivered a healthy 186.1 whp. That is a peakgain of 22.2 whp but the system showed big gains from the moment the samplebutton was pushed. | 
Power: with only straight-forward bolt-ons and a boost controller we were able toentice an aditional 61.1 wheel horsepower out of the Mazdaspeed Protege. Aswe understand it, a piggyback tuning computer would allow 15 psi; as far as oneshould push the factory internals. |
Torque: On the torque side of the power equation we generated a gain of 46.9 lb-ft of torque at peak. There we crazy gains throughout the powerband. | 
Along with obvious increase in pipe diameter of the whole system, the iONPerformance one-piece downpipe vividly illustrates how the aftermarket canmake power by reducing restriction. | 
We added a boost gauge at the same time we took the Protegé in for afactory-mandated ECU reflash. The new program did not deliver the performanceinfusion we were hoping for. |
The Mazdaspeed Protegé was quite at home on SP Engineering'sDynojet. The car made a total of 67 passes. We were impressed by the Mazda'sexcellent build quality, use of nice interior materials and outstanding handlingcharacteristics. It is a lot of bang for $21,000. | 
Boost controllers are easy power. They allow you to turn up the power liketurning up the volume on a boom box. Just watch that air/fuel ratio...go too farand the boom will come from the engine not the box. With the AVC-R set to .50kg/cm2 (7.36 psi) the MSP belted out 191.0 whp. With the max boost set at .60kg/cm2 (8.82 psi) the Mazda pumped out 210.2 whp and .70 (10.29 psi)delivered 219.3 whp. Despite some detonation we jumped the boost to .80 (11.76psi) but were blind-sided by the factory fuel cutoff. The party ended at 225 whpbut extending the graph of that run showed we were on a 242-whp pass. | |