170hp Mazdaspeed Protege... This Is Why Power is Limited
June-28th-2002, 01:38 PM
#1
Passion for Zoom Zoom!
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 372
170hp Mazdaspeed Protege... This Is Why Power is Limited
I just heard from a little birdie (a different birdie from where I heard the $22k price tag) that the reason for the Mazdaspeed Protege's rather conservative 170hp rating is the tranny. Apparently, our trannies can't take a huge amount of power and Mazda wants to ensure that the trannies will last. They tried boost levels that brought power well into the 200+ hp range, but it destroyed the tranny in their test mules. And, designing a beefed up tranny wouldn't be feasible for such a limited run without boosting the price much more than it is.
I'm sure there's some room for improvement... but the Mazda has to take longevity (at least until the warranty is up) into consideration.
-Jerry
BTW, the California Mazda Protege Meet is tomorrow and I still have room for 9 more vehicles on my permit. We'll have food and drink, awesome raffle prizes from Kartboy.com, and some goodies from Mazda. Check out this thread for the full details on what's going to be there and check out the website in my sig below for directions and other pertinent information!
-Jerry
I'm sure there's some room for improvement... but the Mazda has to take longevity (at least until the warranty is up) into consideration.
-Jerry
BTW, the California Mazda Protege Meet is tomorrow and I still have room for 9 more vehicles on my permit. We'll have food and drink, awesome raffle prizes from Kartboy.com, and some goodies from Mazda. Check out this thread for the full details on what's going to be there and check out the website in my sig below for directions and other pertinent information!
-Jerry
June-28th-2002, 02:31 PM
#3
P.A.C.T / P.A.APC Member
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Smyrna, GA
Posts: 269
I think they consider all reliability issues under worst case conditions for people that can't drive for ****. The good thing is that it's a factory turbo car. Much easier to mod when the basics are already there. I'm sure you can 'tweak' it a little and get it in the 200-230 range and still be reliable as long as you aren't abusive on the car. I'm looking forward to them coming out and may end up getting one if nothing else is more appealing.
June-28th-2002, 03:06 PM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: PA
Posts: 2,339
Originally posted by rodslinger
I think they consider all reliability issues under worst case conditions for people that can't drive for ****. The good thing is that it's a factory turbo car. Much easier to mod when the basics are already there. I'm sure you can 'tweak' it a little and get it in the 200-230 range and still be reliable as long as you aren't abusive on the car. I'm looking forward to them coming out and may end up getting one if nothing else is more appealing.
I think they consider all reliability issues under worst case conditions for people that can't drive for ****. The good thing is that it's a factory turbo car. Much easier to mod when the basics are already there. I'm sure you can 'tweak' it a little and get it in the 200-230 range and still be reliable as long as you aren't abusive on the car. I'm looking forward to them coming out and may end up getting one if nothing else is more appealing.
June-28th-2002, 03:39 PM
#7
Who's yo daddy
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Miami
Posts: 197
Roger Foo's P5 touring car is putting out 230 horses from his FS motor, i beleive he is using a stock G-15M-R tranny the same that is equiped in our cars. I've watched all the races he's been in and he has not had any problems with his tranny and he beats on it pretty hard. Besides the fact he has skill.
June-28th-2002, 03:53 PM
#8
Cripple Fight!!!!
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 1,944
Originally posted by boostedmp5
Roger Foo's P5 touring car is putting out 230 horses from his FS motor, i beleive he is using a stock G-15M-R tranny the same that is equiped in our cars. I've watched all the races he's been in and he has not had any problems with his tranny and he beats on it pretty hard. Besides the fact he has skill.
Roger Foo's P5 touring car is putting out 230 horses from his FS motor, i beleive he is using a stock G-15M-R tranny the same that is equiped in our cars. I've watched all the races he's been in and he has not had any problems with his tranny and he beats on it pretty hard. Besides the fact he has skill.
June-28th-2002, 04:35 PM
#9
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 1,122
Another point: horsepower does not break trannies, TORQUE does. Race-prepped FS-ZE's may put out a lot of power, but the powerband is way up in the rev range (6000+ rpm). The turbo on the new Mazdaspeed Pro is going to have relatively low boost, which means it will probably spool quickyl and put out more low and midrange torque than an FS-ZE.
June-28th-2002, 06:18 PM
#12
Likwidated
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Canada (formerly Yugoslavia)
Posts: 2,159
Originally posted by ZoomZoomH
didn't he HAVE tranny problems that bogged him down in the first race at Sebring? or am I smoking too much happy weed?
didn't he HAVE tranny problems that bogged him down in the first race at Sebring? or am I smoking too much happy weed?
June-29th-2002, 08:57 AM
#14
Protege God
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Evanston, IL
Posts: 1,525
Roger's P5 isn't the only Protege in the series. There are about 7 others that race in the series pretty regularly. Granted, they are all built up normally aspirated engines, which probably won't produce the same torque an 8psi turbo system will, but they are using them in highly stressed situations. So far most of the issues I've heard people complain about with Mazda's transaxles are bent shift forks, or damaged synchromesh. Both of those problems can be easily avoided by proper driving techniques, such as not slamming the shifter from gear to gear, and matching engine and vehicle speed properly for each gear. I'd like to hear from someone who has broken a GEAR or SHAFT in either the F or G type transaxles, or even a drive shaft for that matter.
June-29th-2002, 11:29 AM
#15
Protege Enthusiast
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 484
Originally posted by proman
you say that now..............
you say that now..............
I'm sure they can make a 4 liter V8 P5 and slap a $50K price tag on it. But I wouldn't buy it.
