I finally got my pr5 in for its 7,500 mile service and found a gullible salesrep to let me take out their only mazdaspeed protege

initial impressions
-t-25 turbo that can handle up to 10psi of boost before its cfm rating goes down
-intercooler is TINY! the side mount intercoolers from the 2g eclipse turbos was much bigger. the ms protege's was only 4-5 inches wide and a foot tall. only real promising thing is it is a front mount unit and will get some good air flow when the car is moving
-just sitting still in the orange car made me feel silly...the black one should be much cleaner

driving
gobs more power than my pr5 in any gear at anyspeed
-the tranny is also much better than my pr5 as 3rd gear is hard to hit in high speed racing...but compared to a honda tranny it is still mushy and lacks the telepathy you feel in an rsx type s tranny or even a civic si unit
-LSD, you could appreciate it even without spirited driving as it pulls down low due to the small quick spool t25
-the car also handled on par with some well modified civics i've driven and been in (but it is still not an itr)

aftermath
-the msp tranny will be on the list of items i will need to get for my pr5 as it has excellent gearing and lsd and will bolt right up to mine
-the ceramic ball bearing t3 and spearco front mount unit i'm getting for my car are far superior to the msp
-all in all its very impressive and has great reflexes...it has enough power but nothing to humble its driver or passenger