I have either blown up or totaled all the automatics I ever had.

 

I disagree! I had 3 yugos and won 2 roll over contests with them, used 2 for myself after I beat the **** out of it for 8 months. My buddy took the 3rd title with his

 

Well that negates the whole argument then. You modify a mid 90's corolla to the point that it handles better than a Mazdaspeed anything, but does that make it the best handling front wheel drive car ever made? No. And a Focus RS is basically a Road going OEM rally car, it would destroy any stock FWD Mazda without breaking a sweat.

The Protege may handle pretty damn good, but don't get all fanboyish about **** just because it has a Mazdaspeed badge on it.

 

^^^I just met a guy a few weeks ago that had a souped up 4.6 mustang cobra engine in a 90's Toyota tercel... that's a hell of a sleeper. I didn't get to see it though. I did hear it. I was busy with something else. Its not my style, but I must admit that must be one bad *** turd cell. I'm not a ford fan. I just don't hate ford.

 

Wow, that would be a hell of a thing to see take off. Can't say I'm a fan of Ford products either, hell, I'm not really a fan of any car company in particular. I just like individual cars that do what they're designed to do, and do those things well.

 

I dont get fanboysh about anything...i will talk about cars ive owned tho!!!

 

Sorry, most of the Mazdaspeed owners that I know personally are super fanboys, which is REALLY irritating to me, so I'm always on edge. BUT, you did make a claim without any backup proof, lap times, etc. I did find lateral grip for both cars .89gs for the Protege (damn impressive!) and .95gs from the Focus RS. But looking at the slalom speeds the Protege will do it at 70.3mph while the RS will do it at about 64mph. This brings up weight, which is why I believe the Protege did the slalom faster than the RS. The Protege weighs about 2800lbs, while the RS weighs in at 3200 lbs. Then you have power, the Protege makes 150hp, and 150 ft lbs of torque to the wheels, and runs a 15.5 second quarter mile at 89mph while doing 0 to 60 on 7.6 seconds. The RS makes 301 hp and 325 ft lbs of torque, runs a 1/4 mile in 13.8 seconds at 105mph and does 0 to 60 in 5.4 seconds.

The Mazdaspeed Protege is currently the best handling front wheel drive car for sale in the United States, not in the world, so it does not hold the title of best handling front wheel drive car ever made. If it wanted to take that title, It would have to put it's self on a treadmill, lose a few pounds, and ditch the Macpherson struts for something more geometrically perfect, like double wishbone suspension. (That Integra uses this type of suspension)

 

Different cars with different strenghts and weaknesses and u made some good points i just believe the speed deserves more credit than what is given

 

The speed is known for its handling. Also, the regular protege handled better than anything in its class at its time, as well as highway 60-90 and whatnot.

Ask me how I know.