What engine to swap into a Mazdaspeed Protege?

The g trans in the MSP is stupid fragile, and the fsde.....

In what way? I've never looked into it but after a brief google search it seems like the trans has a diff failure that doesn't even break the trans case. Ok, do what everyone who doesn't have a limited slip in the first place has to do and buy a diff. How does the engine break? Unless the block or crank are breaking then it's a piston and maybe rod upgrade. Engine management problem? Thank god there are more EMS systems than surviving MSPs.

I'm definitely no expert but I get the impression the MSP is 'fragile' mostly in terms of people who don't know how things work having things break for reasons they don't understand, and then not knowing how to fix it. 15 years ago. 

What about a 2.3 Duratec out of a later Focus or Mazda 3? They make 150ish hp factory and Cosworth had a few upgrades available in cylinder heads and trick intake manifolds. There is a Cosworth 2.3L Duratec that makes north of 280hp N/A and the parts are available from Cosworth....

What about that 2.5 from the Fusion that gets stuck in the 3s and NCs?

Vigo said:

The g trans in the MSP is stupid fragile, and the fsde.....

In what way? I've never looked into it but after a brief google search it seems like the trans has a diff failure that doesn't even break the trans case. Ok, do what everyone who doesn't have a limited slip in the first place has to do and buy a diff. How does the engine break? Unless the block or crank are breaking then it's a piston and maybe rod upgrade. Engine management problem? Thank god there are more EMS systems than surviving MSPs.

I'm definitely no expert but I get the impression the MSP is 'fragile' mostly in terms of people who don't know how things work having things break for reasons they don't understand, and then not knowing how to fix it. 15 years ago. 

Every one I ever ran into has a bad habit of ejecting its guts over more than about 250whp. There were more than one of them like that in Minneapolis when I ran with the Mazda crowd, and they were constantly fragged. 

Vigo said:

Pros is it has an aftermarket. Cons is it has a powerband optimized for a truck until you modify it and they have been known to blow up in near-stock trim due to a combination of inadequate fueling and boost spikes. I honestly wouldn't go through the trouble unless this somehow costs you way less than upgrading the MSP motor, or you're going somewhere the stock motor/trans can't easily go, like 500hp.

You can get 400 or so out of the MS3's stock block before things start to go bad. The K04 is only good to 300-315 WHP a turbo swap will be required for more. You actually need aux fuel or meth to get north of 350hp as the injectors run out of steam around there on 93 octane (literally where mine sits at the moment) if you have access to corn juice you can get it a bit higher.

The transmission is good to over 700HP and 650ish ft-lbs if you swap the clutch.

If you can get a complete one the ECU is pretty much completely cracked by Cobb and Versatune so they will be able to flip off all sensors you don't transfer over.

The cons are:

• It needs to be driven a specific way to make it last. Lugging the engine causes the ECU to do some really unexpected fueling things and empties the block into the oil pan.
• The stock K04 turbo is a an unknown quantity.
• They're also a bit expensive compared to Honda tuning and Miata tuning, but not as expensive as hotrodding a rotary.

untchabl said:

What are the transmission options with the KLZE and BP-T? The stock transmission is pretty fragile in the MSP so I'd like to get a stronger transmission with whatever engine swap I do.

With a G-series and power goals over ~300 lb ft, you’ll strip the teeth off of 3rd and 4th gear with ease.  Not sure if you’re aiming that high or not.

If you are, and you decide to go BP-T, I have a solution… adapt to a Toyota E-series, basically the most rugged FWD transmission out there.  I make/sell the adapter plates for this conversion: https://www.facebook.com/RielPerformanceParts/

Edit: FYI the MSP/FS, KL, and BP transmissions are all nearly identical internally.  None are really any stronger than the other... the early BP transmissions (pre ~95) are a little weaker with a narrower final drive gear, that's about the only variable.  Other differences are just bellhousing/mounting hole differences.

The0retical said:

The transmission is good to over 700HP and 650ish ft-lbs if you swap the clutch.

What trans are you talking about? 

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

The second gen MS3's transmission. There's a couple done up for drag racing. I was mostly responding to the engine/trans swap suggestion from an MS3.

I guess I should say that they at that power level for at least a bit. I wouldn't run one for a long period of time at that power level, but it's rare for anyone under 500HP to do much to it.

I don't expect the MSP transmission would tolerate it.

Ah, okay.  Yeah, the G-type and H-type Mazda's wouldn't stand up to someone talking about 700hp while standing near one.  Thank-you for clarifying.  

Ok I’ll be that guy - LS power out of the fwd cars?  Bellhousing converter of some kind?

84FSP said:

Ok I’ll be that guy - LS power out of the fwd cars?  Bellhousing converter of some kind?

You bet... my friend is running one of my adapter plates on a stock bore & stroke 1.8 BP, making over 900 horsepower through a Camry gearbox.  This video is older, he's down to 9.0x at this point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN5Pwq1RLVU