Had a 94 Ford Escort GT before my 02 Mazda Protege. Heard the Escort was based on the 2nd gen Protege. I had the 127hp GT (believe it was an old Mita Engine).

Anyone know the similarities/ differences between the Escort GT and 2nd gen Protege?

Matthew

 

The Escort ('91-'96) was based off the first gen Protege platform. From '97-the end the wheelbase was kept the same on the Escort with length increasing about 4" (thanks to CR for that wb and year info). The second gen Pros grew both in wb and length for the '95-'98 generation...so it seems to me the ties were broken after 1995 with Mazda updating and improving their vehicle and Ford doing whatever they did with the 2nd gen Escort. Your '94 will match up very well with the first gen Pros, naturally. The second gen Pros are, uh, a unique generation. The 1.5L is specific to the car, as well as a dearth of aftermarket available parts...but the cars are still awesome. If you haven't had the chance to research around, try that or hop to the first gen section. They'll know more...dang, I sound like a customer service rep...."we'll transfer you to another department........"

 

Thanks for the info. Had a lot of fun in that car! Quick with sharp handling and a great engine. GT had the 127 horse Mazda engine (in place of the 88 horse Ford in other Escorts). Terrible ride and lots of noise, but I still think it was quicker than my 02 Protege (guessing less weight).

I'm not sure what Ford did to the post 94 Escort. The were ugly and I'd never want to own one. Had a Focus for a rental. That was a fun car too. Never want to own one though, horrible reliability and less refined the my Protege.

 

no problem. first gen Pros were known for the sporty handling, so i assume the Escort GT would have inherited at least some of that character. it probably had the dohc bp (1.8L) if it had that much power.

the first gen...well only really, but the first years especially the Focus (and i'm guessing the zx3 and later zx5 hatches) was known for fun handling and all. i've opened the door on one, sat in it, started it...ya...refinement is not there. my car feels really solid.

was the GT a stick and the 02 Pro an auto? weight is a very good possibility as that's what usually happens to cars as the generationally progress.

hopefully someone can answer your questions in the other section (and that i didn't just dump you into the oblivion of no responses).

 

Escort GT did have the 1.8 with a 5spd stick. Traded that in for my current car the 02 Protege ES 5spd stick. Hard to find an ES with the stick, my dealer in San Diego had the car tranfered down from Irvine CA (an hour and a half away).
Very thankful I held out for an ES 5spd stick. That and the P5 wagon are the best models in my opinion (disc brakes on all four corners and reasonably quick with the stick). Plus the ES weighs less that a P5 wagon (P5 wagons are based on the ES).

 

cool stuff. nothing like a larger, torquier motor with a five speed in a light car. more fun.

 

There's only body and interior differences in the escort and 1st gen pro. The protege lx(90-94) cam with the chassis code bg. Same goes for the 91-96 escort gt chassis. The 2nd gen(91-96) escort gt and the protege also share the same motor, 1.8l dohc bp05. This motor was found in the following cars:

90-94 protege lx
91-96 escort gt/lx-e
94-97 miata
94-97 kia sephia (if you have a chance grab the tranni and axles from this car because they are told to be the strongest tranni)
91-97 mercury tracer lts

The 2nd gen protege es (95-96 i believe) came with the same motor but had some small differences besides the obd. All miata internals are swappable into a escort/protege motor. I can go on all day lol.

 

thanks for the education. dang, that's a lot of engine sharing.

 

Oh there's tons more info on the 1st gen. motor/tranni's/suspension/ect. Hell even a nice klze v6 swap

 

hmm, i read that there was like a 1.8l or 2.0l mouse of a v6 that went into 2nd gens in some market (ha, not here i know that!) which is only slightly amazing that they got 2 banks of cylinders into that small engine bay.

i wonder how difficult it would be to import an awd model, unless the floor pans of both are the same...oh wait, my gas tank's in the way. it wouldn't work.

 

not sure about 2nd gen models. There were 3 different models of v6s that fit in a 1st gen bay with room to spare. 1.8l 130hp k8 was in the mx3. Its not worth the swap if you already have a bp05 . Theres a 2.0l kfze Approximately 165 HP. Then there is 2 different 2.5l. the klde came in the 93-96 ford probe gt/mx6/626. these were about 165-170hp. Then theres the almighty 2.5l klze. this was rated 200hp. In a 1st gen any of these engines is a breeze to drop in. I have be thinking about this for some time now and I think I will next year.

 

interesting. yay for the first gens ("they get everything!"). i wouldn't mind one if my car wasn't so dang reliable (a very good thing it is).

i knew about the 164ish hp 2.5 in the mx-6/probe but didn't know if they could be swapped into anything else--though logic says look at the base 4 cylinder and see what other cars it might have been in. hmm, i read an fs20...looks like a Mazdaspeed Protege engine could go right in...at a stock 6 hp more than the v6...

 

thread sounds like my transformation.... going from an escort zx2 to a mazda 3.

 

do the front suspension parts inter
​​​​chage from a 200 zx2 to a 1995 protege