I'm in the market to buy a new car and have in the past looked over the Protege...until today.

I decided to stop into the Mazda dealership today just to see if a new yellow Miata arrived (I'm a 2001SE Miata owner) and for the heck of it took a Protege LX 5-speed out for a test drive.

Now, mind you, recently I've been test driving other cars in the Protege's price range (some a tad more $) ...cars like the Nissan Sentra SE-R, the Acura RSX, and the Impreza 2.5RS.

I've been mostly leaning towards these other three cars and actually having a hard decision deciding which I like. All of them have a problem that I don't think I could live with. Plus, they all drove nice, but I wasn't left with that giddy feeling of wanting to drive it more afterwards.

So, on this whim taking out the Protege, I found myself not wanting to go back to the dealership with it! I wanted to drive more, drive farther, and drive harder. It only has 130hp, but it felt so good! It's not the same road hugging expirence I have with my Miata, but the Protege really is a joy to ride.

There's only three little things that I'd like to see changed on the Protege though:
1.) Shorter shifter. I believe the MP3 has one.
2.) Leather wrapped stearing wheel. The rubber just doesn't do it for me.
3.) Front nose from the Protege5. I really like that more agressive look!

Other than those minor things, I was very happy with the drive and am now seriously considering it against these higher hp competitors.

 

In other words you want an MP3? Right?
I mean it has all of those things that you mentioned.
The shorter shifter...
The lether wrapped stearing wheel...
and the front facia....
Not to mention 10 more ponies and AWSOME Handling!
Too bad most of them are spoking for but I think a few are still around.

 

The MP3 would be great. But, I'm not sure if I'd like the blue or yellow.

I just read the Protege FAQ. It seems the MP3 kit is avilable, and the Protege5 headlights are a direct bolt on.

That's funny, because at the dealership, I specifically asked if the P5 healights were interchangable with the regular Protege and he said "no". Then told me a lot of people ask that same question.

As for a short shifter, I haven't done any research yet to find one if one exists.

If anyone has any links, I'd appreciate it.

 

hey i havent found one as of yet, but im sure if someone throws down enough cash eventually one will appear, oh and btw Nox im not sure whee you are from but there is a Mp3 where i live. Its a Rosenthal Mazda, it is the blue one, speak w/ George Walton III, hes a good guy and will try his best to take care of ya! Tell him Sam sent you!

 

I've also been looking at those same cars. My biggest problem is headroom. Not only being 6'3" and also being an autocrosser (helmet room), headroom is a big problem. Headroom the Protege has in abundance, especially without the moonroof.

If the RSX Type-S could be had without a sunroof, I'd be awfully tempted. The SE-R has that stupid beam rear axle, and nowhere near the HP that they say it has. Plus its just plain ugly, especially the rear end. And the 2.5RS is too heavy, and sounds agricultural (like a tractor), especially with most aftermarket exhausts.

Since my lease on my '98 Accord runs out in a week, I've been looking seriously.

 

I didn't realize this until now, but the Mazda offers some performance parts...no short shifter tho .

They offer some nice upgrades. I'm not sure of the quality. On the downside, coming from the dealer tho, I'd imaging the price to astronomical for them.

http://www.mazdausa.com/downloads/pr...erformance.pdf

I'll check the performance section to see if anyone has installed any of these items. I'm curious how they actually perform compared to aftermarket.