I have upgraded the handling to MP3 specs and now the things handles awesome. As for the power issuse, I have a hard time believing that adding 30 or 40 more horsepower would cost the company that much more. I think it is all about marketing. They want to give us a low level of performance in a small car so that we have no choice but to move up to the next, larger model if we want more power. Having a small powerful car that costs more than a mid-size with less power hasn't made sense to them.

The WRX seems to have changed that thinking. In 2004 or 2005 we are supposed to get an all wheel drive Cosworth Focus with 25o horsepower, and since the focus and the Protege are going to share a platform, there may be a Protege equivalent. The BMW 1 series that will be available with somewhere around 250 horsepower and possibly all wheel drive. Of course there is the 210 horsepower Neon that's coming out soon. There are some others, but I think I've made my point.

I agree that our cars are a good value, but part of the reason that I bought it was that I didn't want a larger car to go with the larger engines most companies offer at around $25,000. I bought the protege planning on upgrading so I could have everything I wanted: a small car with useable back seats that looked great, handled great, and had a powerful engine. Now that the car companies look to be producing the kind of car I want, I'm hesitating about dumping more money in to the protege.

 

Aren't the rear windows power windows? And about them rolling all the way down, isn't that because they hit the side of the wheel well cutout and physically can't move any farther? For them to get the window all the way down, they would have to redesign the doors et al. Too much coin.

I would like stock:

A decent stock stereo (the stock sentra blows it away, though this would cost coin)
Better paint thickness or strength (more coin)
Shorter throw shifter
Rear cupholders
Better aimed fogs
Infinitely variable wipers
Heated mirrors (i hate friggin winter here) (tiny bit of coin)
Laser Beams
More aftermarket support (come on Mspeed)
And of course auto moonroof.

 

Of course not. But when my chauffeur is driving me to work in the morning I do so love to have a warm coffee in the back seat.

Seriously, guess I'm a lame *** or something but the only people that ride in my back seat always seem to be people I don't really like anyway.

 

Funny but alot of the things that many of you want I could live with out...that is except for the extra horsepower..
I dont know
but the only thing i reallly dont like about the P5 are the tailights
i like the tailights that are found the on the White AutoExe P5 we constantly see.

 

actaully i ment the hatch window.. anyways.. about the stock stereo.. i was hopping it would be crappier to cut the cost of the car down by a little more, i always change out the stereo in all my cars, i could care less if it came with an AM 8track deck
________
For ****

 

No Way, I love the P5 taillights. Especially the reverse lights, they're so bright. The other day I was playing basketball with my son just by the light of the reverse lights.

 

???????? Huh??????? How and why was you car in reverse while you and your son were playing basket ball? Wouldnt it have been better to use the headlights?

 

And why on earth would you not let anyone drink in your car? It's a freakin protege, its not a Viper, or a Ferrari or sumthin. If I ever got into someone else's economy car and they told me not to drink in there I would look at them like "your ******* kiddin me right?" I drink all the time in my car, Faygo, tea, beer... well beer is bad, but I let my homies drink in there. We eat in it, fire up in it. ITS A CAR..enjoy it.

 

Q: What should the P5 Have?

A: A loving mommy and/or daddy who:
1) accepts it for what it is, and
2) Doesn't complain/bitch about its shortcomings
3) gives it frequent, gentle baths
4) provides plenty of proper nutrients
(Mobile 1)
5) Takes it for nice drives in the country

The parent should also becoming more learned in the art of Mazda-rearing. In lieu of "Dr.Spock for Protege Children", this forum will suffice

 

his engine was probably off, key is turned to ON pos. gear is in REV or he stalled it in REV,
________
R1200c

 

In regards to the ridiculous transmission configuration of the Protege:

I AM.

This is the 21st Centry; 2002.

With an engine of this size we should be getting nearly 10 more mpg; but that's not happening. Compare our efficiency to that of the Civic? Protege loses. To that of the Corolla? We lose again (and big time). The Corolla sports equal HP and comparable torque, yet it's a smaller engine and gets 40+ mpg on the highway. The FS-DE is a poor engine in regards to comparable efficiency, noise, and refinement. That's among the reasons Mazda is replacing it with a totally new engine line...

Anyway, I've long hated the manual transmission of the (3rd Gen.) Protege. Since it was new it has loosened up, so now it's actually pretty smooth and nice feeling, but there's nothing we can do to fix the lousy revolutions we have to turn at boring *** highway speeds. As if our engine wasn't outclassed enough the way it is (in another discussion this has been discussed: Engines from Nissan, Honda, and Toyota are just plain better than the 'DE), Mazda had to add insult to injury and tack on a transmission that's inefficient, and leads to even MORE noise from the engine when moving at standard freeway cruising speeds. You won't find a single modern small car that turns the same high RPM's as our Proteges. Not Acura, not Subaru, not Honda, not Toyota, not Nissan. None of them. This was a poor decision on the part of Mazda and I've been resentful of it from day one.

That's not to say there aren't a lot of good things about the Pro (wouldn't have bought mine, otherwise), but there is massive room for improvement; especially that God damned transmission.

Othere things that the Protege should have had from the start?

*Recessed door locks (like they USED to have in the 2nd gen.). Why the hell they changed the design to have the door lock stick up out of the door is totally, and irrefutably, moronic.
*A power lock switch ON THE PASSENGER SIDE.
*A center arm rest that's good for something. The current one is too short and low to be of any use. It's pathetic.
*A light that indicates when your fog lights are on.
*A light that indicates when your cruise control is on (on the 2001 up to 2002.5 Pros). The old control wand cruise control, like on my 2001, can easily be left on all the time; just like lame-*** GM vehicles. I find that irresponsible on the part of Mazda.
*This was noted by others: An off timer on the friggin' rear window defogger! I mean, duh!!
*MUCH better noise control. The Protege is still too noisy inside; from the engine, to wind, to road noise. It's louder than my old '91 Nissan Sentra, a car 10 years older! I think it's quite evident that Mazda cares little about building noise competative vehicles. Even the new Mazda6 is said to have poor road noise characteristics. Whether you like them or not, the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra; even Hyundai Accent; are quieter than the Protege. This is a poor showing on the part of Mazda and it must stop.

 

yikes guy, thats alot of gripes

Road noise? well then get some squishy poor handling suspension

Gas milage? look at performance cars and see thier gas milage. i dunno if you test drove the civic or the corolla but i know i did, and even though on paper the specs are pretty similar the feel is very different IMO

and the fog and cruise the button is either down or its not, and its not that hard to tell.

 

I agree. I just test drove a loaded Honda Civic Si (Canadian equivelant to the HX Coupe, not the Hatchback) on the weekend, and I must say it was the most un-inspiring car I've driven in a long time. The engine may boast a similar horsepower rating, but there's no torque and definately no zoom-zoom. I took another P5 out for a nice long test drive tonight, and I'm so in love it's not even funny.

I see a lot of gripes in this thread, and I gotta say that if some of you drove my 9 year old SUV around for awhile you'd realize how awesome your little cars are

 

LOL too funny man!!

You know.. i have yet to try the wonder pop that is Faygo.. We don't get it up here in Canadaland...

 

Heh, yeah I was wondering if any juggalo would catch that line. Props to you man. But that sucks you don't get Faygo. We just got it here on the west coast recently. **** I had to fly 7 2-liters back from Detroit last year when we went to the Gathering Of The Juggalos in Toledo. I got Rock 'N Rye, Moonmist, Cola, Root Beer, Fruit Punch, Candy Apple, and of course Red Pop. Faygo tastes great, and its even better when it gets all over in your hair and clothes and ****.