Power brokers. (Design).

According To Reeves Callaway, founder and CEO of Callaway Cars (Old Lyme, CT), "it's not that the OEMs don't want to create vehicles of their own. It's just that, by the product reaches the market, conditions have changed, the vehicle needs some tailoring, and their engineers are working on the next project." That's why Callaway and other tuning firms recently found themselves hard at work modifying Mazda's Protege sedan, with Callaway given the task of increasing the car's power output to competitive levels.

Mazda recognized that the Protege couldn't compete on equal footing with the Subaru WRX, Ford Focus SVT, or Honda Civic Si, which lowered its credibility with Mazda's target audience. To rectify this situation, racing and aftermarket suppliers -- Racing Beat, Racing Heart, Sparco, Tokico, Kenwood, and Callaway Cars -- were asked to develop parts for the Protege so that Mazda could drastically reduce the time and effort necessary to get a factory-built performance variant to market. For some of the suppliers, it was simply a matter of providing parts that were already developed for sale in the aftermarket. Callaway, however, had to develop the powertrain modifications from scratch under the watchful eyes of Mazda engineers.

"We studied the problem, determined where modifications were necessary, and what systems would be affected," says Mike Zoner, managing director of Callaway Cars. "We had just six months from the start of the project until production, which means we had to utilize a concurrent process for design, development, durability testing, purchasing, and build."

The Callaway-sourced parts (Garrett T-25 turbo, inter-cooler, underhood plumbing, etc.) were designed using Pro/ Engineer software, and the files sent directly to Callaway's rapid prototyping machines in order to produce parts for validating the build process in Japan. "Some of the parts are pre-assembled and installed at Mazda's engine plant," says Zoner, "while others are installed on the assembly line. The only way it would work was if the process was created while the parts were being designed."

It didn't end there. Callaway Cars also modified the engine computer, identified the need for 2.0-mm larger driveshafts, and sourced the heavy-duty clutch and pressure plate assembly, as well as the limited-slip differential. While all this was taking place, Zoner also had to verify that the modifications would meet Mazda durability standards in order to get approval from the company's engineers. "It's all pretty typical for this type of program," says Zoner. And one Callaway expects to repeat in the future.

"The market for specialty vehicles is small but growing," says Callaway, "and much of what we do to produce vehicles like the Mazdaspeed Protege to OEM standards, and in such a short timeframe, is so far beyond what the OEMs' are used to that it can't be done within their engineering and production systems." Which keeps the phones in Old Lyme, Connecticut ringing.