Hello. I lurk here now and then checking out this car. I've always liked it since it came out. Something about itsbizarre CUTE-SPORTY-UTILITY factor has always enamoured me to it.

The only thing I never cared for was the 'adequate' power. Although I'm no speed freak, I find the 0-60mph 7-8 sec cars nice minimums (coming from a '91 Si and '96 Z24). I always figured the utility and looks was a good tradeoff... not to mention the supposed handling attributes, which brings me to the main question:

Q: Has anyone here ever owned an '89-'91 CRX Si or Civic Si... and also own a P5? How would you compare the P5 to those stalwarts of featherweight econocar fun?

I actually MAY be considering taking advantage of the rebates now, but was curious about what I should expect. I'm not much for test driving, because it's always a headache for a guy who is 33 and looks like he's 17 to get any respect at a dealership.

Also... are there historically major problems with the car that Mazda has never bothered to address (ex. VW and the Golf's notorious window regulators or Cavaliers and their notorious water pumps on the twin cam motors).

Thanks

 

well first of all i've been test driving cars since i was 18, from toyotas to BMWs. Walk in there like you own the place and they will stand on thier heads for you.

i felt the same way as you about the P5, looks great but doesnt have enough power. When i decided i was going to get a cheap car with some cargo room i considered the matrix, civic si and the P5. After driving the P5 there was no question in my mind that the P5 owns all of em.

go to your dealer and make them respect you, take out the P5 and see for yourself. If it was RWD i'd be willing to say it handles on par with my BMW.

 

I drove a '95 Z24 (automatic) before I bought my 2002 P5 (manual).

Acceleration - The stock P5 was pretty close to my old Z24. Once I upgraded the intake/header/exhaust, the P5 was just fine for what I needed to get around town agressively.

Handling - No comparison. The P5 BLOWS away the Z24. I took the car to the race track and it could take corners as well as some of the race-ready CRX's. It put a big ol' smile on my face.

Looks - I like it... but it's up to you in the end.

Utility - No comparison. I bought a 19" monitor not realizing the size of the box. No problem for the P5, I would never have gotten it into the Z24.

Problems - I haven't heard anything from the board that was consistenly going wrong. My car's been perfect. The 2.0L engine is apparently very reliable.

Hope this helps.

 

acceleration- not that great, seems like it takes forever to
reach redline.

handling- very good, especially with eibach springs and
rear swaybar (19mm). nothing lacking here other than
grippier tires. i tend to forget im driving an ecno-wagon.

looks- very good, all i get are compliments.

utility- very good for a small wagon, ample room.

problems- hard to shift when the ac is on, i get occassional
grinding 1-2 and 3-4, fly wheel is very light, motor not
very powerful...both contributes.

 

The Protege5 can stack up to the CRX as it is just a blast in the twisties, it does wiegh a bit more (~2800lbs?) but has one of the best suspension setups in the business.
As for issues, there really are none. Some people have had problems with their trannies, this has been fairly rare and a good portion of the time it's becuase of abuse. Our trannies are fairly prone to bent forks and things like that if they're treated a bit rough, no fault of mazda really. Most of the main gripes I've seen are small, locations of switches, a bad resistor for the fan switch that makes the ac not work, power, etc.
If you want power for the protege, the Mazdaspeed is the way to go and is fairly cheap to be had, (currently being advertised for $18500 US around here)
Take one for a test drive, now really is a good time to purchase one as the Mazda3 is coming out and there are a lot of deals coming out as the dealers need to get the protege's off the lots so that they can get the 3.

 

What about the thread going around about peoples' cars stalling at idle? It seems like more than a few people have run into this problem and nobody has completely resolved it. Would that be considered a common problem?

 

my wife's 02 Camry SE (4cyl) eats my P5 for lunch, then ***** it out as she leaves me by four or five car lengths until mine hits 5000 rpm and I can't rock back and forth in my seat anymore.

 

With a couplefew go-fast bits of course, intake, exhaust, header, ecu, wires, etc... Trying to sell it, haven't been really motivated to do that, s'pose I really need to. Drove it again the other night after getting used to the P5 for a month, and came to a couple conclusions... the civic is fast, it's quite easy to notice the weight difference. coming around corners and standing on it is pretty damn fun still, however it's kind of in that unrefined, sorta beastly mannar, it moves quick, but it's mroe work to do so, and really not allthatmuch good for anything really. Plus that thing is tiny and noisy. I take alot of roadtrips for Mtnbiking and such, and I VERYMUCH appreciate the room and the comfort, not to mention the ride's super smooth, but still corners well. My honda cornered damn well with a swaybar, but it's a bit more nerve racking.

Overall I really like the pro5, perhaps I'm jsut getting older, but it's a much more functional, useable vehicle.