Hi all!! I was just wondering what your MP5's run at for RPM's on the highway?? I was running at 115kpm at 3350 RPM. That seems a little high for me, what have you guys noticed?? Keep in mind, this is a factory setup with no mods... Thanks!!!

 

120k is about 60mph isn't it? I beleive 3300rpm to 3500 is pretty common with our engines/tranny setups and tends to be a common complaint. You might want to try a search it's been talked about a lot.

 

This is a well documented issue with ALL 3rd gen. Proteges. I consider it the Pro's most irritating, wasteful, idiotic characteristics. There. I said it.

Anyway, since my intial period of being majorly annoyed and pissed off by this issue, I've since become somewhat used to it. It's still unnecessary, wasteful (read, it burns more fuel than we should have to at boring-***, slow highway speeds, leading to another very commonly noted issue: Among the worst fuel economy in our small car class; worse than Corolla; worse than Sentra; worse than Civic), and leads to irritating engine noise at relatively slow speeds-- But it doesn't **** me off as much as it used to.

Even though you won't find any other car in our class that runs this fast at standard highway speeds, I guess Mazda just doesn't really care. So you might as well try and get used to it, also.

 

i'm not sure if people have realized... but the protege's like higher rpm's. these cars hate being driven at anything less than 2700rpm, they're slugs at that rpm. i've never found it irritating, or to even be a problem. granted, i'm a very agressive driver and i prefer keeping it in a higher rev range.

 

120 kph is actually closer to 75mph. And short gearing is a common Mazda performance car problem. 1G Protege LXs turn about 3k at 60mph. Each successive generation has gotten slightly better, but still awfully short. The MX-3, MX-6, and Probe GT are similarly short. But compared to the Miatas, the Proteges are geared tall. My friend's '99 Miata turns about 4k at 70 mph.

I personally wouldn't mind having to downshift occasionally for hills for better freeway mileage (usually 28-32mpg, around 30mpg at 75mph). Having a 5th that will pull from 20mph is ridiculous. And I have 183k mostly freeway miles (other than all the autocross miles) on mine. The gearing was a lot more appropriate when the speed limit was 55mph.

 

I almost bought a Suzuki Aerio SX hatchback. It had a great engine but the suspension was too soft and the gearing set up for fuel economy and not performance.

I think Mazda is doing the right thing. They are matching a great suspension and handling with a performance oriented gearing. With their gearing they in effect get the performance of a bigger engine. The higher rpms do not bother this cast iron block engine one bit. You sacrifice a little fuel economy for better performance. But to get the same performance at lower rpm you need a bigger engine and econmy goes down. Also, higher rpms keep the 4 valve/cylinder engine running cleaner.

I've got a 2001SE Miata. With Mazda, you need to think in terms of Honda CBR600, not Harley V twin long stroke.

 

volkswagen has always had cars that run fast and quite and smooth in the low rpm range ... the gti/golf/jetta are all good examples. I am still currently trying to decide between a vw, a se-r spec v, or a protege 5

 

well id say the spec v dude, but you're gonna have to get some work done on it soon, cause those loose some nice power at the wheels that can easily be fixed with the removal or whatever of the knock sensor

 

Totally agree. These engines crave high rev's for power more than others it seems. Sometimes i find myself haiving to shift into 3rd on the highway to really get goin past those 90km/hr driving vehicles(in a 100 zone). Below 3000 you dont have much punch, my favorite thing to do it sit in first and rev it to about 4000, then gun it. The sound and the feeling when it hooks......so so good !

Also goin 60 in 4th and then havin someone pull up beside you in a Civic or whatever....droppin it to 2nd....seein his face drop as you take off....mmmmm, never gets boring LOL!

On a side note. My dad was tellin me that manufactures wont cover harsh driving, as in if i go in at 50,000k with a busted engine(no way this will happen guys, hypothetical here, i dont drive it that hard!)they will tell me "well you drive it too hard, your fault". My outlook on it is if im not redlining its fine. If the dealership didnt want me goin that fast they would have put the limiter sooner. Just my opinion, a car is made to be driven.

 

Just thought I would let you know that I have the Protege ES and a Hyundai Elantra. When I'm doing about 70 my Elantra is doing about 3,250 rpm. I also have a 2.0L 16V engine. I think that high rpm's wqith 4cly is quite normal I would worry if it were spinning 4,500 rpms doing 60mph. just my $.02

 

Ye!!!! Ye!!!!

MazdaSpeedRacer, I drive exactly like you, thas how i love it.

I like keeping my car in a higher RPM range, cuz I luv the sound of the engine revving!!!

I've raced once in my life, and it was against a civic,

late at night tho, like 3, hehe, we stopped, and i revved to redline, and when the lights went green i let it go, the burnout that i done was awesome, the civic had an auto, so he took off, but i stayed doing about a 2 - 3 sec wheel spin.....damn it was sweet, and when the wheels gripped, the car took off, a quick shift to second, and i was cathing up, then i shift to 3rd when 2nd redlined, ha and i was right behind him, damn it was sweet, i passed him in 4th, he had nothing on me!!!, hehe, we hit about 140km/h, then i slowed down, I was about a car length in front of him, then i slowed down to 80km/h, speed limit was 60km/h, and he passed me, hehe, he seemed pissed off, lol, i went down the street a little further, and he was pulled over by cops...LMAO!!!


He still felt dry!!!, so i dun really have a problem with the engine!!!!, i can't wait to mod it

I'll be doing allot more races like this hehe, I'm still; pretty young (17), so i still need to gain some experience, but i loved that one race i did.

hehe seems as if that should be posted in the other section but oh well!!!

I think its alrite for a car to be around 3300-3500RPM @75mph

it still hits 190km/h b4 the speed limiter hits in hehe

 

Not that i do it a lot, actually i have only done it once to see...but i hit 210 before my limiter hit. Straight highway at about 4am with no one else in the car. Any thoughts though guys? Can Mazda get out of fixing mine under warranty if they think it is "user damage/hard driving"?

 

All my cars love to be revved. It is true VW and BMW make engines that have lots of torque down low because they are set up for maximum driveability combined with fuel economy. In the P5, Mazda sacrificed a little fuel economy for performance in its gearing and possibly the engine isn't tuned to have quite as flat a torque curve as the German cars. Just like my Maxima, just like my Miata, the P5 is engineered and built to tight tolerances such that banging the rev limiter is no problem.

Now, lousy shift technique, that's a problem. High rpms exaberate problems caused by lousy shift technique. Learning to shift is like learning to draw and fire a pistol from a holster. Start out slow and strive for precision. The speed comes later. Never sacrifice precision for speed.

 

You got a link to such an article or just copy and post here.. or rather in a new thread.

 

I think the high reving in 5th is a love/hate kinda thing for me.

I like cruzin the highways at 120 kph, with the rev's at about 3,500 RPM. When i need to go, i just step on the gas and i'm gone, and if i need to, i'll dowshift to 4th..

but a few times i had to keep up with my buddy in his 98 sunfire with the 2.2L, he's doing at least 140kph+, that is when i hate the high rev's cause then i'm just revvin at 4,000 rpm's+ which i don't really like..

Nor do i like to go that fast on the the highway or anywhere...