Yep, so far $6000.00 in damages but **** happends this damn mustang was screwing around in trafic and cut me off switching lanes not knowing that trafic was stopped just ahead so of course he breaked real hard and I locked up (damn no ABS) and smack crunched my front end all to hell. The good news is My Carbon Fiber hood is still late and I am going for the wide body kit also getting Pro 5 headlights instead of stock 2001 head lights, O yea and crome 3rd gen front grill symbol off of the pro 5. bad news because I rear ended this dick head its my fault. Now I really hate the Ford Mustang!!
I will post picks in a day or two

 

Most Mustang and Camaro driver think they drive the best car in the world. Most are too poor to afford a Corvette, and too ignorant to know their car is not as good and think that their Camaro is a Corvette.

 

I agree about the Mustang owners. I own one. Most of the time it sucks. But saying they are too poor to afford a Camaro or Corvette is the same as saying us P5/MP3 owners are too poor to afford a WRX wagon or sedan. They both have good and bad qualities, just not the same.

 

who makes a wide body kit for protege's

 

most people who bash camaros, trans ams and mustangs have never driven one either. for their price they are probably the best performing cars out there (in a straight line). The WRX would be their equivilant

 

Ouch, sorry about your ride man.

Hope you got the Stang good.

 

I'm with azrakain. It is easy to bash a mustang or camaro until it embarasses you off the line. Too many drivers think that imports are the cat's *** and will beat every domestic sports car out there, and that sure is shucks ain't true. A buddy of mine from engineering (who works at a scrapyard) has an 88 Mustang LX (tweaked a bit ) that would embarass every vehicle on this site, turbo, NO2, everything. So I would hesitate to rip stangs and camaros, unless it is for build quality or something.

And Mustang drivers aren't all bad. This morning at a stoplight I pulled up to a 5.0 on some fat 14's with a seriously free flowing exhaust (this car was meant to be on the 1/4 mile), he looked over at me, I looked at him (as I prepared my coffin), and he just politely drove away. If that had been a typical import driver, he would have leaned far back in his seat and tried to race me. Personally, I don't like import drivers too much, nor do I like what they do to their cars. At least Camaros and Mustangs don't go overboard on their trimmings (usually).

 

Sigh, regarding affording different cars, to be totally honest, I'd way, waaay rather have a new Mazda6 when they come out than my ES Pro, but, alas, I'm likely too poor to afford one of those.

Dang they look cool, though...

And regarding Mustangs, Camaros, and 'Vettes; Okay, okay, they can be fast... but only when they're running. The way those pieces are engineered, you'd always be spending money ON TOP of thier initial cost just fixing them all the time. The Vette is the worst car you can buy in that regard, with nothing even coming close in terms of lousy reliability. It blows, and I find that laughable, personally. Yeah, they're really enduring cars...

Another note: The Camaro: There's probably a reason GM is cutting that car after this year, don't you guys think? Good riddance, in my opinion!

The Mustang: Unreliable, and Consumer Reports indicated that, compared to other "performance" cars, it's boring to drive and doesn't have a sporty feel. I believe them, and would far rather have a Porsche, BMW M series, Acura NSX, AMG Benz, 'Sub WRX, Nissan Sentra Spec V, RX-8, or the like. Those are superior cars in every sense, perhaps save brute speed.

And another point about 'Stangs, 'Maros, and 'Vettes? 10 mpg. Greeeaat.

 

Well my 1997 supercharged Mustang with 65,000 miles has had fewer problems and believe it or not, gets better gas mileage than my P5. I'm seeing about 25 mpg in the Stang and only 22 out of my P5. That has been a disappointment to me. But I like the way my P5 drives. Feels better, more comfortable seats, quieter, better fit and finish. Just cars. All different. Each has their good and bad.

 

Have you ever driven a Mustang, Camaro, or Corvette? I don't like the Mustang (because it lacks an IRS, except for last years Cobra), but the raw power in the GT is a thrill to let loose. Can't stand the Camaro, the design has just gotten too damn old. But you can't compare a 20-25k dollar car to 50k+ cars (and the WRX and Spec V do not begin to touch a Mustang GT). But the Corvette is a real sports car, and has been very reliable for the past few years. If you can't believe that then maybe you should try out a C5 /w a 6-speed (better yet a Z06). And btw there is a reason that GM is cutting the Camaro and Firebird. Its called the Mustang. Not profitable to compete in that market with the same company that built your Protege.

 

Straight line acceleration abilities only make up a small portion of a car. Think Miata, MR-S.

IMO when a car outaccels another, it proves two things only, the car can accel better and the guy can shift better.

 

Actually Mazda built my Protege. It was conceived in Japan by Mazda. It was designed in Japan by Mazda. It was built in Japan by Mazda. Ford, thankfully, and after researching the issue over some time, had little, if any, input into this car. In fact, popular consensus is there is only a single Ford made part in the current generation Protege: A seat belt element. That's why I bought this car; superior engineering and reliability over the long haul, untainted by Ford's sub-par input.

Drawing from hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners' testimonials (in Consumer Reports):

The Ford Focus: Worst possible reliability (i.e. Much worse than average)
The Ford Mustang: Worse than average reliability
The Ford Taurus: Average Reliability
The Ford Windstar: Worst possible reliability

In contrast, those vehicles designed by Mazda in Japan:

The Mazda Protege: Best possible reliability (Much better than average)
The Mazda 626: Best possible reliability
The Mazda Miata: Best possible reliability

Other cars in Mazda's lineup were touched by Ford, and made in the U.S. (like the Tribute; Worst possible reliability). They don't hold up as well as those listed above in Mazda's line. Coincidence? I don't think so.

And the Chevrolet Camaro? Worst than average reliability. It's getting yanked by GM, yes, probably because the Mustang is under selling it, but it's also because it sucks to maintain, and it's design is outdated and lame. The current generation Mustang at least looks decent.

To Ford's credit, for those cars that are solely developed there, they've allowed Mazda to remain a relatively independent arm of the Ford owned conglomerate. The Mazda6 is being almost entirely developed by Mazda in Japan, if not completely, and I believe that stems well for it's future reliability. The upcoming Protege, in contrast, is said to incorporate many elements of the Ford Focus, which has, since its public release, been an ongoing and consistent bottom dweller in reliability, wayyy down there, and this is a really, really bad sign for the future of the Mazda Protege. I wouldn't be buying one if it doesn't demonstrate anything other than "Better than average reliability". I doubt it will.

There are those who get lucky in terms of their cars holding up within reason. That's cool, but I don't rely on single experiences. I go by what the data shows in large numbers; we're talking thousands of testimonials. It's not a perfect system, but it's the best way we as people have at gauging a car's likelihood of holding up. And the data shows that Ford hasn't been a leader in that regard. Ever. So I won't buy a Mustang. Or a Taurus.. Or a Focus. In my book they suck and should begone. Begone, peasant reliability cars!

Fast or not, the cars discussed earlier in this thread do not represent sound engineering. And, I take respectful issue, the Chevrolet Corvette HAS NOT demonstrated itself as a reliable car. It's the worst. Worse than any other US auto manufacturer in this class. It's worse than the Mustang AND the Camaro. It can be fast, comfortable, and well designed in other respects (as CR said it was, and I never said it wasn't), but that doesn't mean it won't cost you your living *** paying to fix it all the time. Even with the money I'd NEVER buy a Corvette. Never, I say!!

Anyway, I don't mean to rant or rip anyone -- Reliability is just something that I take more seriously than anything else in a car, and I won't accept anything less than stellar performance in that regard. It's my pet peeve, and, dare I say, it's one that makes logical sense. You save money, you save resources, you keep driving, you don't get disrupted by having to cruise to the shop all the time... or have it sit in your own shop...

 

Point well said, Paolo, thumbs up. It's not the car, it's the driver. It's like playing snooker, bad shot is made by a player, don't blame on the stick (cue).

 

one of the reasons I bought my mazda is reliability. I tried to be patriotic and buy an american built car (a '94 intrepid). The car sucked as far as reliability and fit and finish. When the lumbar control on the seat breaks, that is a problem. When the tranny dies after 42,000 miles that is truly weak. I sold the car as soon as I could get out from under the payments. My mazda has already gone more miles with nothng breaking than my intrepid ever did.

Oh and Chrysler 5 star service is a big joke too ***holes
!!!

 

Maybe you would like to post your "Consumer Reports" reviews? Anyway you should read up on them. I already had a statistics class where we looked at how they were reviewing cars. They leave way too much room for bias. They have been accused of influencing people's reviews, only a small percentage of people sampled actually return them, and their sampling method is dubious at best. Statistical sampling is serious business and for all intensive purposes they have failed. Unfortunately, they have managed to create an environment where the American car is loathed by consumers. So to put it simply Consumer Reports is only right when they are lucky and their "reliability" ratings are a sack of crap. The only reliable reports you can get is from the mechanics themselves and unfortunately they do not have the infrastructure necessary to currently keep track.

As to Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette I had already stated I did not care for the Mustang or Camaro in particular. But the Corvette is a piece of work. Try one. You will understand what a REAL sports car is. Its a fire breathing V8 powered beast made by the largest car company in the world. And the reliability has gone way up from the previous generations, when it was in fact a piece of crap. Try a car that hasn't put on extra weight so it can be a convertible (unless you want the convertible, then by all means take it) or try one that has a lost a few pounds and gained a few ponies. In Autoweek the Corvette Z06 was one of the fastest cars throught the slalom, and would have been faster if it didn't have so much power that it went wide at the slightest hint of accelerator input.

And it is stupid to attach a car to a class of drivers. I've ran into a few jerks here driving P5's (no sedans yet) who thought they were Mark Martin. I've seen nice people driving Civics. And I've seen ugly people driving Ferraris. The car does not make the man. Just blame it on dumbass drivers in general.