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 FunForget 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.
Rado UpdateA disappointing no-show at the NHRA's season-opener was Christian Rado's radical, factory-backed Celica. This is the tube-frame blaster Rado hopes will be the first front-drive drag racecar to run a 200-mph trap speed in the quarter-mile.
"We were still working on it," says Rado who instead piloted Craig Paisley's old Supra to a win at Gainesville. "But we should be ready by the summer." To prove work on the car continues, Rado sent along these photos. Looks sweet, looks nasty, looks fast-but looks don't count for ka-ka in drag racing.
By the time you read this, Rado's Celica should've performed in competition at least once. And, if Rado's right, set a record doing so.
NOPI, Universal and Microsoft Go RacingNOPI, or Number One Parts Inc., has been a big supporter of import drag racing over the years. But NOPI isn't content to put on just the occasional race, so in May it re-launched the NOPI Drag Racing Association (NDRA) race series as the "NOPI The Fast and The Furious Racing Series" in association with Universal Studios Consumer Products Group. Plus, it also made a deal with Microsoft's XBox to be series sponsor. In fact, the top points winner in the NDRA will get to hoist the "XBox Cup" over their head as champion.
Beyond titling the series with a name ripped off last summer's hit movie, Universal will also develop "co-branded" merchandise and display props from the film at events. There are also rumors that the upcoming sequel "The Fast and The Furious 2" will be set amid events at the NOPI series.
Even more information about the NOPI shenanigans is at www.nopi.com/ndra.htm.
2K2 Supra Meethe Supra 2K2 meet in Houston was by far the largest Supra meet in history with Supras coming from as far away as Florida and Arizona. Put together by Peter Blach and MVP Motorsports, the event took place March 22 to 24, and consisted of a dyno day, an autocross day and a trip to River City Raceway for a day of drag racing between Supras, Vipers and 'Vettes.
The weekend started by at a local Houston shop to dyno 30 of the fastest Supras at the event. Eighteen spots were held for cars making at least 550 whp and 12 spots for the rest. A few of the cars actually had to have people sit in the trunk to hold the wheels to the dyno rollers. The top four cars put down more than 840 whp. These are corrected rear wheel numbers.
| 1. Jesus Rivera (T88H) | - | 858 whp (903 whp actual) |
| 2. Tommy Banh (T78) | - | 851 whp (896 whp actual) |
| 3. Darren Strunk (HKS twins) | - | 844 whp (890 whp actual) |
| 4. Peter Blach (T72) | - | 840 whp (904 whp actual) |
With the first day wrapped up, it was time to travel south to Hitchcock, Texas for the autocross at the Blimp Base. Supras easily took the top three spots in a field of Supras, Vipers, 'Vettes and a lone Ferrari 550 Maranello. The top three times of the day were:
| 1. Andi Baritchi | - | 48.783 (Supra) |
| 2. Shane Duvall | - | 49.954 (Supra) |
| 3. Jay Brown | - | 56.229 (Supra) |
On Sunday there were 40 Supras, 20 Vipers and 20 Vettes at the drag strip-all ready to race. Thankfully, the Texas weather wasn't too hot, but the track was sticky enough to break a few axles. One Viper even puked up a rod.
Many of the street-tired Supras were running low-12s to mid-11s. The serious action was in the Unlimited Class, where Supras running slicks, wicked up boost and nitrous really hauled the meat. The class results are as follows:
Class 1 1st Place - John Hein - 12.34@115.23 2nd Place - Mark Mitias - 12.85@116.82
Class 2 1st Place - Augie Hidalgo - 11.53@137.02 2nd Place - Joe Calabrasi - 10.88@133.65 (red-lit)
Class 3 1st Place - SW (C5 Vette) - 10.59@119.36 (missed fourth gear) 2nd Place - Stacey Barnett (C5 Vette) - 13.79@62.31 (missed third gear)
The overall fastest time of the day was set by SW from Austin, Texas in his daily-driven stock bottom-end six-speed Supra, which ran a 9.8 at 154 mph. The fastest Viper turned a 10.44 at 139.23.
To purchase a DVD of the event, logon to mydigitalvideo.net or call (713) 457-4338. -Joel Dow Pickelland
Returns To Infinitiemember the Infiniti M30? That early-'90s two door was a re-badged Nissan Leopard and about as square and upright as a coupe has ever been. And if you remember it, you're in the minority.
The letter M is returning to Infiniti even if the car itself isn't, in the form of the 2003 M45 sedan. With the 4.5-liter, DOHC, 32-valve V8 of the big Q45 sedan in its nose (which is rated at 340 hp in the Q), the smaller (slightly larger than the G35) M45 promises to be one of the quickest sedans available at any price. Infiniti plans to sell it for about the same price BMW or Mercedes gets for their six-cylinder models (think $40K).
Geared more for luxury than the G35, the M45 carries dual-zone automatic climate control, Xenon headlamps, a multi-functional Vehicle Information System with an LCD screen, "Sojourner Luxury Leather" seating, and a Bose eight-speaker audio system. Luxurious though it is, there's also a five-speed manual and standard five-speed automatic transmission.
The M45 is scheduled to go on sale this fall as a 2003 model.
Burnout Of The MonthJustin Rutkiewicz, Wells, MaineJustin didn't tell us much about his turbo-equipped '91 Nissan Sentra SE-R. All we know is that the car is black and it can burn its front tires down to the lugnuts.
Someone, somewhere is destroying their tires at this very moment. Maybe it's some Kiwi in New Zealand shredding a set of recapped Kumhos. Or a Russian blazing the balonies on his Lada. Whoever and wherever this person is, we hope they're going to send us photos. You should send us burnout photos too. If you do, it might be chosen as "Burnout of the Month."
Remember, while we encourage this sort of wanton behavior, we're not paying for it or explaining it to the cops. You can send us digital media as an e-mail attachment to sccnews@mcmullenargus.com or you can send us regular old faux-toe-grapes through the haphazard U.S. Postal Service at SCC Burnouts, 774 Placentia Ave., Placentia, CA 92870.
Video ReviewBest Motoring International Vol. 04There are some things in the Japanese-produced "Best Motoring International Vol. 4" (we'll just call it "Vol. 4" from now on) that would be considered racist caricatures if the tape were made here. So what. Get over it. What really comes through on this tape is an undiluted enthusiasm for cars and driving them really fast. And that translates into any language across every cultural barrier.
Since this tape was obviously made in Japan for Japanese enthusiasts, be prepared to read subtitles. Dubbing the voices may have been an option, but that may also have meant replacing the banshee VTEC wailing of various hi-po machines in here too, and that would have been unacceptable.
The 65-minute tape is broken into five segments. The first dedicated to a drive in a turbocharged NSX racecar intended for Le Mans. The second is a comparison of the latest NSX Type S with great NSXs of the past. The third, a match race with all those NSXs, an RX-7 and an EVO VII. The fourth includes a bunch of tuner VTEC cars tested and thrashed. And the fifth segment is an on-track battle of tuner machinery.
If you like watching great Japanese cars bash along tracks at insane velocities, then this tape is a solid entertainment. There's not much in the way of tech info here, and the particular humor offered is unfathomable by at least us Westerners, but fast cars earn a thumbs up instantly. The video quality is excellent, the editing professional and fluid and the sound track a spine-tingler. We'd have preferred more angles on the cars, but we'll deal with what we can get.
All the Best Motoring videos are available from retailers linked through the company's Web site (www.bestmotoringvideo.com) with prices starting about $19.95 for a VHS tape. We've seen no mention on the mother site or retail sites about DVD versions.In an ideal world, "The Speed Channel" would buy these tapes and run them so we could get them over cable. Bottom line, we were glued to it.
Saturn IonSaturn started with a roar back in the early '90s, then settled to a quiet hum. And now, for the first time since the brand's inception, it's completely redesigned its entry-level Saturn, a model now called the Ion.
Based on GM's new Delta platform, the Ion maintains some Saturn traditions such as the plastic body panels and dispenses with others. Instead of a unique Saturn engine, the Ion gets the same 137-hp 2.2-liter "Ecotec" four used in the Chevy Cavalier.
About 2 inches taller and 6 inches longer overall than the car it replaces, the Ion "Quad Coupe" features two traditional doors and two rear-hinged smaller doors like an extended cab pickup for better rear seat access. The sedan, on the other hand, is pretty much a sedan. Under both the coupe and sedan is a rather conventional front-drive chassis with MacPherson struts up front and a torsion bar "semi-independent" rear suspension. However, GM swears this platform is significantly stiffer than previous.
Behind the Ecotec is either an optional continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), which is also used on Saturn's Vue SUV, a five-speed manual or a conventional four-speed automatic.
Of all the elements in the Ion, however, it's the interior that will ultimately prove to be the most controversial. In lieu of placing the instrumentation directly in front of the driver, Saturn has put it atop the ventilation and radio controls in the center of the dashboard. If you tend to drive with your head permanently cocked to the right, this is the car for you.
The Ion should show up in showrooms this fall.