SUSPENSION
Racing Beat, a well-known tuner of Mazda vehicles for more than 30 years has most recently created exciting performance and aftermarket products for the Protegé, MP3 and Miata, was asked by Mazda North American Operations' Research and Development team to lend its expertise in the creation of the new MAZDASPEED Protegé. Working together as they did with the MP3, Mazda and Racing Beat focused their efforts on chassis refinement, suspension upgrades and a high-performance rear muffler. The result is a sport compact sedan with even better handling and overall performance than its predecessor.
The MAZDASPEED Protegé comes complete with specially engineered front MacPherson struts, a strut tower brace, higher rate coil springs, re-valved Tokico dampers, and larger diameter stabilizer bar bracket and bushings. The rear suspension boasts Racing Beat-tuned independent struts with Twin Trapezoidal Links (TTL), coil springs and larger stabilizer bar.
The special Tokico dampers on the 2003 MAZDASPEED Protegé have been designed to improve steering feedback and response, control excess chassis motion and keep the tires planted firmly on the road surface. The twin-tube low-pressure design uses a multistage variable-aperture sandwich-valve system consisting of precision spring plates and angle-drilled piston ports. This sophisticated oil-flow-management system provides just the right amount of resistance at a wide variety of suspension motions and velocities.