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Mazdaspeed Protege. It was a great little sport compact when everything worked right, the problem is, it never actually worked right. I picked up this car over a civic si and I regretted it.
Charge Pipe - would routinely blow off. You N55 guys that lose charge pipes have nothing on this car. And by routine, I would carry all the tools I need in the glovebox to reattach the pipe to the turbo on the side of the road. Also, speaking of charge pipe, it had an accordion section which would actually expand under boost because the plastic was so weak. The result was a pretty erratic engine performance and power.
Heatsoak - the intercooler was hilariously tiny and a side mount. Also since it was parked next to and behind the radiator, it probably heated up the charged air more than it cooled it.
Suspension - Had a weird problem where the rear of my car would be higher than the front. Had this kind of funny drag car rake to the profile. Rear suspension replaced under warranty but sort of didn't matter. It would self destruct bushings at an alarming rate.
Tune - The engine management was so piss poor Mazda eventually recalled it to install new software. When they tuned it, it was pretty obvious all they did was add more fuel to the existing map NA protege map. It ran so rich that plugs would foul at crazy low mileages and people were blowing out stock cats well before they should have. They called it the "surge" because it would run so rich, then the ECU would adjust, then you get power. It had the lag of a T4 turbo but was actually a T25.
Wheels - the Racing Hart wheels it came with were basically made from play dough. Granted the stiff suspension that destroys bushing don't help, but bent wheels were common. Eventually replaced with a forged set which eliminated the problem.
Sound system - came with a kenwood system including a sub which was super cool for young me. The downside is that the amp wasn't up to the task and was mounted upside down (this was intentional) in the trunk. Because it was bolted onto a cheap plastic housing amp would overheat and then slightly warp/discolor the plastic housing it was on. Turns out the cooling fins really only work when facing up and shouldn't be mounted in a plastic tub that traps in heat. Also, head unit failed under warranty and Kenwood stopped making that model. So was replaced with a different model, which also failed. Eventually replaced with an Alpine unit.
Anyhow, all the problems were a great learning experience. It forced me to be hands on and actually taught me how to take care a lot of these problems myself. I would never recommend this car and it completely turned me off to the Mazda brand, but it made the car enthusiast you see today, for better or for worse. But seriously, fuck that car.
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