Well, this has taken forever, and it's going to take a little longer still. I have all the parts necessary for my Protege5's Stage I suspension mods:

-Racing Beat (MP3 prototype) springs
-Tokico HP struts
-MSP front upper strut mounts
-MSP rear trailing links
-MSP bump stops

This setup was chosen to preserve the utility and driveability of the P5, given that it's my daily driver and I expect it to handle adverse weather and rough dirt roads.

Currently I can do all kinds of stupid things in the middle of a corner and the rear end stays planted. With any luck this setup will provide more neutral handling (a little lift-throttle oversteer would be nice), and I won't have to mess with aftermarket swaybars. If it still pushes, I'll consider swaybar options for Stage II mods.

I'll be in Korea for the next three weeks so the installation will have to wait until after I return, but I've attached a photo of the car in its current state...a little baseline data for the upcoming drop.

 

To rid your car of it's understeer, the only REAL remedy is a rear swaybar. It looks like you're going the Mazdaspeed route, so try looking around for a MSP rear swaybar. It'll make a HUGE difference, and you'll definately get rid of that frustrating understeer.

I have a 21.5mm AWR bar on my P5, and it works great!
http://www.awrracing.com/pages/pro/prosusp.html

 

The MSP rear sway bar doesn't get rid of the understeer nearly as much as I expected

 

I'm confused, Chris. You recently reported that your car is way tailhappy--and didn't you post a wtb thread for an MSP front bar before you were b&? I figured you were trying to balance it out.

Adding the MSP rear bar is a convenient fix, but it seems too aggressive. The RB springs are pretty stiff out back, so they might do the trick alone--we'll see.

 

Way tailhappy.. in the rain

 

Initially I had my car (ES sedan) set up with Tokico HP suspension kit (with their progressively wound springs), Mazdaspeed front/rear sways and front strut bar. After I installed the AXR rear clunk fix (a must have for the Speed rear sway, relocates the bushings to where they should be and lets the bar work properly) the car was bouncy over road imperfections. My gf complained so I swapped out the springs for a set of RB MSPs. The car as it sits now is great. I don't drive it as much as I do my Speed6, but everytime I do I smile. Tossable cars FTW!

 

It makes sense that your ride is less bouncy now, given the Tokico rates are 185lb/in front and 145-200 rear, while the MSP springs are 158/117--they're ~20% softer.

 

I figured it was more due to the fact the rear sway was actually able to work as designed so it was feeding more into the chassis. I am sure the lower rates did help. Also the Tokico springs are progressive which I have read isn't optimal for handling.

Now I just have to try getting my Speed6 to a similar level of handling. Within the limits of reason of course.

 

You back yet?

 

Got back yesterday but still on Korea time.

 

Current thoughts: RB springs drop the rear a little more than the front, which I fear will exacerbate the current high front end condition the Protege5 suffers from. Now I'm thinking of running Tein H-Tech springs up front and RB springs in the rear.

Both H-Tech and RB front springs are linear and have the same stiffness--162lb/in, but the H-Techs drop the front about half an inch more than the RB springs.

 

why not just run H-techs all around?

 

nah, just get AWR coilovers, no more worries about uneven ride height.

also no more cartilage between spinal vertebrae after 5k miles.. it's fun!

 

Because they barely drop the rear at all--see attached photo.

 

looks like they barely drop the front at all too...