Interested to hear from those who went from a 3rd Gen Protege (1999-2003.5 BJ Chassis) to a Mazda 3. Looking for comparison of handling, braking and other performance info. Know Mazda 3 has more horsepower, but I'm wondering if the handling is as connected, if braking is improved and if the car feels heavier.

Have an 02 Protege and love the new 3's.

 

We own a 00 Protege ES and I use it as my commuting car. We own a brand new 07 3s-GT and it is my Fiance's all-the-time car. Obviously, I've driven the Protege much more than the 3, but here are my impressions:

Chassis
-the 3 feels rock-solid when compared to the Protege.
-the Protege definitely exhibits more body lean when pushed through corners, but both are still able handlers
-the 3 feels more in control when pushed to its limits

Braking
-they both feel the same to me, but I've never really tried to push either one too hard in this category. I'm really not qualified to answer this one.

Engine
-Obviously the 3 feels much stronger due to the displacement difference. Even though there's a significant weight diff, you don't have to push the 3 as hard to get it to go. The response is almost instantaneous and torque feels pretty strong from about 3K and up whereas you have to get the Protege up to 4500K before you really "feel" any pull

Here's the problem w/ my comparisons though:
-I've only driven the 3 a few times
-Our Protege is 7 years old and the 3 is not even 7 weeks old, so alot of the performance differences could be attributed to age of the Protege.

To me, the biggest differences are in the looks and features of the car. The Protege definitely looks and feels like an economy car. In many ways, it screams "cheap". Since our 3 is fully loaded (no NAV), it does not feel like one at all. I love how many features it has and it blows all other cars of similar price away. Hell, it even has much more than my weekend car, which costs 4K more. When I look, sit and drive this car, I don't feel "cheap" whatsoever. I feel like I'm driving a midsize luxury car. When it comes to these departments, I think the cars are night and day.

 

Later model Proteges got better interiors that rival the MZ3's.

I drove both P5s and MZ3s (2.3) when car shopping. While more powerful and slightly more refined, the MZ3 felt, looked, and was porky compared to my P5. I feel it's less of a driver's car.

 

The materials used on the Protege interior are higher quality, and of course the dash is much simpler so there's much less pieces (much less rattling in the future? who knows).

The 3 hatchback is only about a hundred pounds more than the Protege5 (if I recall correctly), but it feels so numb to me. The electronic throttle feels too fake, the steering too light, etc. Also the slope of the windshield and design of the top of the dash make it seem like a gihugic cabin but yet the rear seat legroom is pretty cramped (worse than in my Protege5 from what my tall friends tell me).

The Protege5 is a lot sportier looking (obviously talking the Protege5 style not the normal sedan style), but mainly because it doesn't look overweight like the 3 hatchback. The 3 sedan on the other hand looks really clean, the only detraction from it's styling being that from behind it looks taller than it is wide (like a Suzuki Aerio just not as bad).

Yeah the 3 has some nice features the Protege never got (curtain airbags, traction control, mp3 cd player (aside from MP3/MSP) but it just feels too isolated to me. Also the 3 hatch I've driven (a roommate's) has a butload of body roll compared to the stock Proteges I've driven recently (an MP3 and an MSP.. but yeah). I don't know if the chassis is less stiff or what but it kinda feels it.

They are great cars though, don't get me wrong! If I was in the market for that class of car I'd totally buy it over the Corolla, Civic, Sentra, etc.. it's above them all!

 

Well, I won't go into as much detail, but this pretty much sums it up:

The Protege's feel and ride like little sports cars.
The 3's on the other hand feel like little luxery cars.

The 3 is not at stiff, or spry as the Protege, but is a more comfortable and 'refined' ride.