More like physics and economics. You can make a FWD car that has a small amount of torque steer. It's just too expensive for Mazda to redesign the protege to deal with the extra power of a turbo. Hopefully there will be more foresight with the 3. As for handling, active suspensions will help improve handling while giving a decent ride. Again it's a question of money.

 

Wow - Turn your back on a thread and look what happens! I realize with more power will come torque steer but the common statement/criticism has been why only a 30 hp gain with the turbo. True it is more power but fairly modest so the torque steer was a surprise. A lot of it had to do with poor surface, whooped tires and the turbo kicking in after you are rolling. I certainly did not mean to criticize anyone for their choice - I was just expressing my opinion. As far as the harsh ride goes I autocross and certainly would err on the side of good handling & harsh versus soft and squishy. I was merely surprised that it rode more harshly than my wagon with lowering springs. I would want to track the car to evaluate whether the harshness was worth it. Harsh doesnt equal good handling but it can be a by product for sure. For me I felt better because I did not walk away from the car saying - WOW! I am missing out. For those of you MazdaSpeeder's out there God Bless. Its a beautiful car and very competent handler no doubt. I just won't be trading in the wagon for one. Now if a turbo kit happened to fall off the truck on my street - Well.............