Ok so I'm going to be purchasing my pro here soon. But I've been a little bit confused in the Pro DX/LX/ES vs. a Pro5. The car I'm going to buy will be used for autoxing as well as my everyday driver car. Basically I'm wondering what the differences are between those. I've looked all over and theo nly difference I can tell on the Pro is that the ES comes with foglights and the DX doesn't and the LX is optional. And the pro5 has a bit more hp, but not a huge difference.

I'm lost, I hate to sound like the newbie that keeps asking questions, but I'm at the end of my rope on this one. Everyone has a different opinion about the car, but no one has really told me the differences to form my own.

Keep in mind there are only a few pros in my area I can really go out and drive to measure them against.

 

Do you want a sedan...or a more "wagon-esque" type vehicle? I guarantee you that you will get many more looks driving around in a P5 than a regular Pro!

 

actually all 2.0L protege have the same power except for the 2001 MP3 and the 2003 MSP.

As far as which car would be better autoX It's a toss up. The P5 chasis is a lot stiffer and has "sport tuned suspension" installed. However it's a little heavier.

If it were me I'd buy the cheapest 5spd 1.8L-2.0L sedan I could and spend about $900 on suspension upgrades...new struts, springs, sways, motormounts. buy a nice 16" wheel package with a nice low profile WIDE tire. and even on your stock engine you'll out perform most every other car on the track.

 

p.s. you sure you wanna list your phone number on the internet like that??

 

Cough ^^**BIASED**^^ Cough
I think my sedan is faster than a P5 and my guess (although I don't know) is that it is a bit lighter as well. Frankly speaking, the wheelbase and suspension, IOW all the components that you'd use for Auto-xing, are pretty much the same between the two cars and it comes down to an issue of style and personal preference. I'm more biased towards the sedan, mostly cause I own one and I'm not a fan for station wagons. Good luck, I'm sorry I was vague, but in all honesty, there is not a huge difference between the cars and you couldn't go wrong either way!

 

Lol whoops, I work in a call center and I was asking someones phone # who called in and I forgot to remove it from the post lol. Shhhh keep that between us

 

Hrm, if it boils down to that, I think I'm looking at the stationwagon if I can find one within an affordable price. I've been aiming at spending around 9 for a manual 2.0 Pro. Around 02 or so. I've not been having any luck finding any local that I like, plenty abroad (theres a dealer here who has a MASSIVE ammount of cars that they could ship from dealer to dealer, called Carmax) but I still need to find a manual pro in my area to drive so I know if I like it or not :P

My hang up on carmax is that I don't know the quality of cars.

 

Sure I'm biased...but so are you. I see lots more sedans around than wagons around here. I guess us okie-folk don't like 'em. Tee-hee-hee! I actually wanted an MP3 model, but there were like ZERO in this state available. I'm glad I got the wagon though, people always tell me that they think I have the nicest Focus ever

Definitely don't buy anything until you've been able to test drive it...sedan or wagon!!

 

Dominion, you should get on www.autotrader.com or www.cars.com and do a search in your area.

Buying from an individual is almost always going to save you thousands. If you need any help with the paperwork or details just let me know.

 

Lol on the focus. I agree and there-in lies the hangup. There are nearly no pro's in the area for the money that I can drive/buy. There are a few (a couple pro5's I'm going to attempt to drive soon but they want around 13k for them...don't think I'm willing to go that high, or will I be able to afford that).

The nearest ones that hit my numbers are a hundred miles away or so. Hrm....thinking the best course of action at the moment is get pre-approved then start driving cars away from me :P

 

I live in B'ham AL and there are several used/clean proteges here in the 10's...several p5's I should say.

 

The two here, one they want 12,9 for and the other they want 14,9 for...granted the 14,9 is an 03 but I think the other one is a 02.

 

yeah 02's book out in the 11-12 range....i was shocked.

My MSP was worth almost nothing after 1 yr of ownership....my p5 is worth more now than I paid for it new.....a year later.

 

That's rediculous. I paid 15 for my 03 BRAND NEW.

 

Just found a white 02 ES with 20k miles on it for 10.9. I figure I'll go check it out, see how I like it. Only hang up, it's white :P

But I guess if I get can possibly get the car I want in white I can always change that later :P