Just noticed a disturbing trend across Mazda's entire passenger car lineup which demonstrates consistently poor side impact performance, as shown in the NHTSA's latest crash test data.

A 3 certainly isn't the worst you can score, but I find it troubling that their flagship sedan, the Mazda6, which by virtue of it's larger size alone should be a safer vehicle, offers no advantages over their other offerings, such as Protege and Miata. Mazda clearly isn't paying enough attention to side safety in their vehicles; behavior I consider reprehensible.

Safety should never be cheaped out on for any reason whatsoever, and Mazda has some damage control to attend to, and hopefully correct. This kind of consistent performance is clearly not the kind of press you need.

I'm glad I at least opted for side impact air bags. Mazda should respond to this issue by making these air bags standard on ALL of their vehicles. All of them. They responded to deficiencies before, even in mid model runs (people may recall the addition of side turn signal markers, adjusted front cup holders, etc. in the Protege). I believe they should respond to safety like they’re serious about it and do something to make them stand out in a, you know, favorable way.

But that's just my perfectionist opinion...

 

So what's it going to be?

If you look at the other cars in the "2002 light passenger car" list in NHSTA's website, you'll see the Protege outscoring the Toyota Corolla, Chevrolet Prizm, Daewoo Lanos, Ford Escort, Hyundai Accent, and the Kia Rio. The other other cars the Protege was not able to 'beat' in the side impact performance category all had side impact airbags. The Mazda NHSTA tested did not have SAB!

I don't feel saftey was "cheaped out", as you put it, in the Protege. Two air bags, with SAB as options, door bars, ABS and EBD, combined with good steering control and fine braking distances all add up to a safe car.

Buy a Volvo S80 or better yet, stay inside.

 

I partially agree with you PP5. I personally don't understand why the Pro5 does not come with ABS as a standard option and I personally spent the extra money for the ABS/SAB.

I think more and more people buy vehicles for reasons outside of safety. Style, performance, luxury and "features" are some of the features that most people consider when searching for a new car. Included in these categories are gas economy, handling, acceleration and maintenance costs. How many people walk into a dealership and ask:

"How many stars did this score on it's side-impact crash rating?"

Better yet you'll get this...

"How many ponies under the hood?"

 

The 2002 comparisons you've drawn aren't current.

The Toyota detailed in your comments refer to the previous generation Corolla, the Ford Escort is no longer sold, nor is the Chevrolet Prizm (which is just another previous generation Corolla, by the way). The Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio are proverbial bottom dwellers, and on a level I would hesitate to even compare to the Protege-- They're more along the lines of the old Ford Aspire, etc., which are poor vehicles by any measure-- Even smaller, and nary even mentioned in the same sentence as Protege because of their striking differences.

Protege's loss to the likes of the Hyundai Elantra in side impact analysis may indeed be attributed to that vehicles inclusion of side impact airbags. That said, you can't get, nor could the NHTSA have tested, an Elantra any other way: Side impact protection is a standard feature in that car.

Enough said.

 

I think the side air bags have a lot to do with the ratings. And as mentioned before, they are available as an option. But when you look at cars in Mazda Price range- you have to give and take. To get performance, you have to give a little. If you want it all- you usually have to pay for it all.

As a racer, I prefer a lighter car. Safety stuff is the reason why cars are so heavy.

Jesse rolled his car in a high speed accident and was OK- so I believe the Protege can hold up- I'm not going to test it to findout though!!! If you just drive with some sense and are aware of the drivers around you, you can usually avoid an accident.

Later,

 

The 2002 examples are more complete than the 2003 table provided on the website. 11 cars were subjected to side impact crash investigations in 2002 as compared with 5 in 2003. The Protege's results were not different between 2002 and 2003.

The Hyundai Elantra is not in the same class as the Protege, so let's not compare the two cars. Or would you rather have a Hyundai Elantra?

If you're going to use side airbags in a comparison, all cars that are compared must have them in order for the comparison to be fair. SAB being optional equipment is hardly an excuse for excluding it from the testing.

According to you, the Protege performs poorly in terms of crash safety. If safety is such a big concern of yours, why did you buy the Protege in the first place?

 

Hopefully NTHSA will test a Mazda6 w/ the SAB/SACs...3 stars IMO doesn't cut it for a brand new car on a new platform.

The Japanese crash tests had the Mazda Atenza rated pretty well in all of the crash tests - here's a link to the thread I posted about it:

http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...threadid=25931

 

did you see the pontiac sunfire .grand am, alero? they all got 1 star for drivers side impact rating. i would be very nervous to drive one!

 

Hmm, re: ABS...very odd that Canadian P5's all come with ABS, it's standard, not an option, as opposed to the US models.

BTW, have you thought of the fact that NHTSA tests are not the holy grail? Their frontal impact focuses on hitting a STATIONARY object, which is kinda useless in simulating the dynamics of a head-on. Plus, what is the impact absorption / crumplability of a concrete block they drive into your door for testing?

Besides, if you ( G-d forbid ) get hit by one of them Ford Excavation Ejaculator 4X4 Mid-Life-Crisis machines, stars is where you'll be no matter what you drive in this class. The whole point is you hope you can use your agility, vs thick walls.

 

I would like to see how it does in an IIHS test, they don't have one posted yet. But the Camry and Accord are both "best picks". I don't think the 6 has it in it to do good on those tests, I'm sure they will check it soon though. I know one thing, for a sticker price below that of a similarly equipped (but with not as much stuff still) 6 I have a car that if I get into an accident has 8 airbags throughout the cabin. And it got a 5-star rating all around with only 2 equipped. And after seeing so many accidents here in Houston that has to be important to you, because you know some dumbass is going to hit you someday (or vice versa) and better to be alive.