Took Mom's Eclipse out tonight, its a bone stock GTS (215hp) and found a Mazda Protege, it was modded (exhaust is all I could tell). Anyway he was quicker then me but from 100+ I could pull him in. We raced from ~65 to 120 and stayed between 110-120 for 2+ miles. It was the best race I'd been in in months.

Glad I didn't have the T/A, would have been no fun

NOTE: Anyone know any specs on the Protege?

 

If it was a MazdaSpeed Protoge, it came with that exhaust and also a turbo. They only run 15.50s stock but since it's a turbo I guess there are still plenty of quick easy mods. I think it's 170 hp with the turbo.

A standard Protoge would have had no chance in hell. They're like 120-130 hp at the most.

 

I thought it was a Speed version. Seemed modded, he had neons, altezzas, etc so I wouldn't doubt some tuning/downpipe/etc to help that turbo motor out. IIRC, Eclipse GTS's will only run low-mid 15's too.

 

They do - maybe 15.20s. I can't wait to get one at the 1/8 mile track in my Grand Marquis. It runs 9.9 @ 73 - that ought to surprise 'em