Mazda Protege 5 Track Car project: Finally back on track in 2023…

After the bad day at Atlanta Motorsports Park back in December in the cold rain.  I was back out at Road Atlanta with power steering and the chance to fully enjoy the LSD without battling with the steering wheel.  The first track days back after having the car apart are always the worst.  I try my hardest to drive the car on the street and driving the car to the track helps shake down any other issues that may come up.  As always the Protege felt great..

The first session for me was a workout.  It had been months since I had been on track and jumping back on Road Atlanta was completely overwhelming.  I forgot how involved and how much concentration it takes to focus and get in the zone.  I was forgetting to shift, afraid to brake too hard, missing shifts, forgetting what gear I was in, and still nervous about the car holding together.  

The next session I had shook the nerves and I trusted the car much more and I was able to get back to feeling comfortable in the car again.  After driving al last year without power steering I never got to fully enjoy the LSD.  With power steering back, I could focus more and carry much more speed out of Turn 3, 5 and 7 without any understeer.  It also helped keep the rear planted and I felt much more confident.  I managed to best my previous times during the second session.  During that session it had started to sprinkle, and soon after the rain moved in.  I had no plans on putting the car into the wall again I decided to sit out the rest of the day and call it a day.  Check out the video of my best lap from my 2 sessions.. 

As excited as I was to test out the wilwoods I had sent them out to Flower Shop Coating to be powder coated.  And I wasnt able to get them back in time for the track day.  So I ended up running the Mazda 6 brakes and the Koseis one last time.  

The calipers were in good shape, and were not leaking, but I wanted to rebuild them since they had not been used for 10+ years.  

And it also gave me an opportunity to make them look cool..

Flower Shop killed it on the calipers.  After me changing my mind several times we settled on this blue to accent the livery.  They were able to file down the wilwood logos brush them, powder coat and then laser etch “SF” into the calipers.  Like I said a few posts back I wanted to make the Protege a little more appealing and represent the brand a little more.

Fresh seals, and fresh brake pads.

Hit the hats with a fresh powder as well…

This time I was able to finally install the brakes permanently and be bound with 17″ wheels forever!  The blue stood out just enough, but was not over bearing.  the dark color in the ZE40s still is growing on me, but I do wish sometimes that they were a little brighter.  

I decided to re-install the Autoexe racing wheel back on the car..

Autoexe used to include this masking tape with their aero.  Customers started to ask for it by itself so much that they started to give it out to visitors and sell it for a limited time.  One of my friends took a trip to Japan and visited Autoexe and got me a roll of the tape.  I felt creative one day and put it on the spokes of the wheel.

I was finally able to get my hands on the silver carbon fiber Autoexe shift knob.  One of my favorite shift knobs that they no longer offer!  

Verified shot of the Autoexe / Maxim Works header

Another stage of the Protege 5 as it sits.  Extremely pleased with the car, and thankful that I have been able to get it to this point!  I am looking to make it out to 2 more events the end of the year in December.  After those dates I am going to be diving back in for a few big changes and drivetrain upgrades.