Does everyone else's P5 run at slightly under 3000 RPM's when you are going 100 km/ph? (manual transmission) Seems a little high to me. Is this normal?

 

Approx 20MPH per 1000 revs speedo vs revcounter but the speedo is about 4% out (reads low).

So 3000 rpm for 62MPH sounds about right.

Fith in the P5 isnt exactly an Overdrive is it

 

The only way to be under 3000 RPM for me is to be around 60 mph. If I go to 65, it jumps up and seems to keep going up until I reach my usual max speed of 70-75 mph (about 3500 rpm). I assume that decreases the fuel efficiency.

 

needs a sixth gear....

 

it just seems really bad on the engine to take this car on long road trips (i've been on several) cause if you want to sustain like 85+ mph the engine needs to be at 3500 - 4000 rpm..... which is really high.... and for like 3-4 hours non stop.... is it really bad on the engine?

is this true?

 

no. if it was bad for the engine, mazda owuld have made the final drive lower for highway cruising.

 

and if your worried about reving high, just change the oil more frequent to ensure engine protection. i got the '96 92 hp 1.5 LX and she revs at like 4000 when i'm doing only 80, but i change the oil every 2000 to 2500 miles.
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Roll Blunts

 

Oh no, folks! It's time for me to rip again!

The high RPM issue is something I've long been unhappy with regarding the Protege. As if noise wasn't a big enough issue in this car, and as if it already didn't sport the worst fuel economy of any of the main Japanese auto makers (due to poorer, less modern engine design), Mazda added insult to injury and shoved in a transmission that's inefficient, irritating, and totally unnecessary. You won't find a single current small car out there, not one, that turns such high RPM's at boring, standard highways speeds as does the Protege. Not one.

Many have noted that the Protege sports excellent torque for a small car of this size. Be that true, then it wasn't necessary for Mazda to force the engine to turn that fast in it's top gear. In my personal opinion, this is an irresponsible, thoughtless design on Mazda's part. As said, it worsens engine noise, and it certainly worsens fuel economy.

In terms of working the engine excessively, there may be precedent for that theory, but it's not definitive at this point. Reliability records for the Protege have consistently been "Much better than average" (as in, as good as it gets), up until this last year. Since then, reliability has dropped to "Better than average" (a step down from the best, but still very good). Whether this has to do with the lousy transmission ratio remains to be seen. It certainly doesn't help the situation, though.

Despite all of this, the Protege remains a reliable, reasonably efficient (although worse than it should be), car.

That transmission, though, functionally (although I like the crisp feel of it when shifting) is totally unnecessary and I hate it.

 

damn if you think 4K is bad.. don't drive a civic/prelude/integra/RSX

our engines love to rev unlike sunflowers and cavaliers, its not hard on it at all just don't expect 50MPG gasmillage

 

Actually, Mazda reduced the 5th-gear ratio on the Protege from 0.775:1 to 0.755:1 when they introduced the 2.0L engine, and all DOHC 1.8L and 2.0L Proteges have the same final drive. This means that your car turns slightly LOWER rpm at highway speed than the earlier cars.

So much for your theory.

 

I just bought my P5 and think it's great...except for the way it drives on the highway! Unfortunately they don't let you take it on the highway for a test drive at the dealship I bought mine at. I have a 2002 civic and it seems to be much quieter and has lower rpm's at higher speeds

 

I couldn't agree more

 

depends if the transmission is an automatic or manual...

 

Whatever the damn case is, we all love our Pro's. I couldn't give two craps about how high she revs, cause you know what, i love my Pro and i don't care. I'm a true Mazda enthusiast - true they may not exactly be comparable to like a Honda or somthing, but who cares. this is my company!
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SexFloWeRR cam

 

The high revs are not working the engine any harder than low revs would. As long as you're not hitting the rev limiter, there's nothing to really worry about (well maybe bad fuel economy). My friend's MX-3 V6 has a damaged automatic transmission that he didn't bother to replace (because it would cost more than the car itself is worth). The car only has 1st and 2nd gear and he's been driving it around like that for about a year and a half now. You think 3000 rpm @ 60mph is bad? My friend does 5000+ rpm @ 60mph for hours on end. Needless to say his engine still runs with no problems at all. In fact, I was amazed at Mazda for making an engine that can withstand such abuse without breaking anything. That was another one of the numerous selling points for Mazda.