Mazda Protegé

elec3

My parents eventually ended up in the Chicago suburbs, which is where I did most of my growing up and consider myself to be from. At the moment, however, I'm attending New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM which is about 50 miles north of El Paso.

I don't speak any Penna. Dutch but I do speak German fairly well (I understand it better than I speak it these days). I've actually seen a couple books written in Penna. Dutch and the language looks like what would happen if you wrote down a funny German dialect phonetically. Some of it I understood but a lot of it was brain-bending. My mother told me a story about how her grandmother used to speak with friends on the phone in Pennsylvania Dutch and would usually forget some words and just throw the English in there midsentence. Similar to listening to Mexican radio (I can even get FM from Ciudad Juarez sometimes here) and hearing blah blah blah Coca-Cola blah blah blah Michael Jordan blah blah.

pjd58

usually doesn't get better fuel mileage. Although, a 5 speed may do worse depending upon the driver.

maltb

but then the auto would still do worse with that same driver.

mazdafun

A mostly-highway trip (cruising, not actively passing) with a higher final top gear in the auto v. a manual would get better economy. Of course, I don't think this is usually the case, except when ratios in a manual are chosen more for acceleration than loafing for the hot-blooded.

protegextwo

CONSUMER REPORTS 2002 BUYING GUIDE: Small Car Rankings-

1.)Ford Focus*
2.)Volkswagen Golf
3.)Honda Civic
4.)Toyoya Prius
5.)Toyota Echo
6.)Mazda Protege
7.Hyundai Elantra*
8.)Volkswagen Jetta

* Not Recommended because of below average reliability

My Personal Ranking
1.Mazda Protege-The best choice
2.Honda Civic-The safe choice
3.Volkswagen Jetta-The pricy choice
4.Toyota Echo-The odd looking choice
5.Volkswagen Golf-The funky choice
6.Ford Focus-The "Born in the USA"choice
7.Toyota Prius-The "green" choice
8.Hyundai Elantra-The low price choice

However, I think all of these vehicles are pretty good machines and would serve their owners well.

protegextwo

New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM which is about 50 miles north of El Paso.

Andy, this is a long way from "the Penna Dutch Country"! LOL! BTW, whats your major at New Mexico State?

-Larry

protegextwo

I want to wish everyone, a Happy Thanksgiving. Please be safe in all your travels, Zoom Zoom!

God Bless,
Larry

fowler3

I drive with a very light foot. Try to squeeze every drop of mileage out of a tank I can. Usually better the EPA rating by 4mpg. Never accelerate at high throttle, never exceed 60mph highway, no hard stops. Try to avoid reving above 3000rpm. Keep an eye way ahead to modulate traffic and avoid redlights if possible. Avoid losing torque at intersections (stopping) by slowing down early and holding speed as the traffic ahead resumes. You can usually hit several lights on green this way.

Anybody can zoom,the real driver test is to beat the traffic and the control system. It's my road game.

Next week I am going on a 460 mile trip, will let you know my fuel economy and how the game played out.

fowler3

mdaffron

Yes, the automatic does get better gas mileage than the 5-speed. We discussed this here a few months ago; here's a summary:

A buddy of mine has the identical car to mine (2000 ES) but his is an automatic, and mine's a 5-speed. A few months ago we got beside each other on the highway and our two-way radios (we're ham radio operators) and compared engine RPMs at 65 mph. My car, in fifth gear, was making 3,500 rpm. His, in overdrive (fourth) was doing only about 3,000.

So there's an obvious difference in how the two transmissions are geared. The 5-speeds tend to run faster than the automatics, giving them a more peppy feel, but sacrificing some fuel economy. My friend typically gets 34-35 mpg on the highway; the best I've *ever* gotten is 32.

Yes, it does sound weird ... this is the first car I've ever seen whose automatic has better fuel economy than the automatic. It even indicated such on our window stickers. But just test drive an automatic and a 5-speed (I did before my purchase, and before that I was intending to get an automatic) and there's just no comparison!

Zoom zoom zoom!

Meade

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Larry, watch out for turkeys on the road, LOL!!!

mdaffron

This will have to go down as the most ironic, humorous thing to happen lately here in Richmond:

Yesterday afternoon, right during rush hour, a tractor-trailer spilled its load of ...

FROZEN TURKEYS

... on I-95 in midtown, tying up traffic for a couple of hours. Can you guys and gals imagine what that must have looked like?

Meade

meinrad

Frozen Turkey bowling on I-95, that would be fun! Nothing funnier this time of year though than WKRP dropping Turkeys from the helicopter....it makes me fall of the couch.

mdaffron

I used to dream of a remote tailgate release and a bed full of bowling balls just for tailgaters ... of course, frozen fowl would be infinitely more fun ...

Meade

bjewett

OK, I'll dredge this up again, in case anyone heard something.

Awhile back, a web site that follows the japanese auto industry posted an article saying Mazda was coming out with their first MPS (the MP3 not having enough high performance for the MPS name). The article said:

"Mazda has decided to introduce a new sporty model based on the Protege (Familia) next spring for the North American market."

Anyone hear anything about this? Sticking another 20-40 (or more!) hp (or lb-ft) in a Protege or Pr5 would certainly make life interesting.

mdaffron

... to healthily break the $20,000 mark, LOL!

Meade

mdaffron

The state gave us gov't. employees a half day today. See all you guys Monday!

Go forth and EAT!!!

Meade

pjd58

everyone! Drive with care.

Pjd58

maltb

the M/T higher RPM theory doesn't make enough of a difference:

Highway -
MT - 31
AT - 31

sfrat

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

Steve

maltb

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

protege_fan

From the Mazda.ca website:

Transport Canada Fuel Economy Ratings - Estimated
1.6L 2.0L
5MT 4EAT 5MT 4EAT
City 8.5L/100km 9.3L/100km 9.6L/100km 9.9L/100km
33 mpg 30 mpg 29 mpg 28 mpg
Hway 6.7L/100km 6.9L/100km 7.3L/100km 7.4L/100km
42 mpg 41 mpg 39 mpg 38 mpg

PF

protege_fan

Please excuse the formatting above....you just have to move things over slightly.

PF

chikoo

>>>Yes, it does sound weird ... this is the first car I've ever seen whose automatic has better fuel economy than the automatic. It even indicated such on our window stickers. But just test drive an automatic and a 5-speed (I did before my purchase, and before that I was intending to get an automatic) and there's just no comparison!<<<<

Automatic better than the automatic?

LOL

elec3

Yup Larry, I ended up down here because the weather is great and tuition is cheap. I am studying Computer Science and have about another year to go until graduation.

Meade: The gizmo I've always wanted to rig up for tailgaters is a small but powerful strobe light mounted in your rear window with a dash mounted switch or push button. Nobody would ever notice unless it's on and any tailgater foolish enough to get too close would end up staring at a very bright, fast blinking light. Mean? Yes. Illegal? Probably. A good deterrent? You bet

protege_fan

I'm noticing a light fairly high-pitched buzzing noise coming from the passenger side of the car. I thought it was a speaker at first, but I turned the radio off and the buzz was still there. The buzz is coming from the general area of the lower passenger side speaker. I do not know what is causing it. Perhaps a loose piece of molding? But it seems to occur intermittently and not under any set circumstances. Any ideas?

PF

fowler3

state trooper one time who was tailgating me. LOL!

I was driving a 1957 Plymouth with pushbutton automatic transmission. If you pressed the reverse button lightly the backup lights came on without actually going into reverse. Risky for the tranny, but it worked.

That trooper slammed on his brakes and the rearend of his car swung out! He pulled up beside me and then sped of at high speed. Bet he wondered how I did that without changing gears. LOL!!

fowler3

fowler3

moment was when I was pulled over on the way home from work. All my co-workers driving by and wondering what I had done. I wasn't more than a mile from the company parking lot.

When I saw those lights flashing in my rearview mirror I wondered the same thing.

He was a fellow flying school student. The trooper and I were going to ground school the same night and he had missed the last class. He pulled me over to ask what he had missed. LOL!

He kept asking who I was waving to and I said my friends at work. They think you are giving me a ticket.

fowler3

mixwhit

Down to the Civic EX and Protege LX (w/ moonroof, alloy wheels). I'm having trouble deciding between the two. Protege seems a bit more peppy--the civic's brakes seem much more effective.

How hard is it to find a protege with ABS? (none around here).

Anyway, any thoughts are appreciated. I test drove the LX today and did like it very much. I was actually very surprised at how much the layout and feel was similar to my '88 323 (even though it is much more car than my now junker 323).

mix

fowler3

your own question. "it is much more car". That applies to the Civic,too. I compared the Civic EX to the Protegé LX and sprung for the Pro without the moonroof. To me, the Protegé feels more like a smaller midsize car than a compact and a lot peppier.

They depreciate faster but you grin all the way to the poor house. Just kidding.

Which car would you prefer to be seen sitting in with a state trooper talking to you? In the Pro I could accept a ticket proudly.

Turkeys drive Civics! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Gobble, gobble, gobble!

fowler3

chicagopro

...from the Windy City.

And the turkeys falling off the truck story has me in the mind of a "Why did the turkey cross the road?" joke, but I can't think of a good punchline. Any ideas?

nikecar

if you can.. get the 2.0LX...

nikecar

nm

speedypt

...to kick the butt of the Taliban Terrorist who thought he could scare the USA!!!

Hey all...got my personalized plates FINALLY!!! So if you see a Highlight Silver Metallic 2000 ES around with the plates "PROTEG 3" beep your horn to say Hi!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving all. I'm thankful for the love of my family, genuine generosity on the part of the American people for those in need after 9/11/2001, and for my favorite daily driver, the Mazda Protege!

Regards,

Pete

fowler3

the heros of NYC and all the Americans who contributed to their families. And for the Mazda Protegé board while lurking on edmunds.com when I was looking for a compact car. Zoom Zoom! Everyone!

But most of all I am thankful that millions of Americans can still celebrate Thanksgiving with their families without fear and in freedom. Once again, bad people thought they could knock America to its knees, it is their knees which are in pain today,crawling around in caves and trenches to avoid bombs. God Bless America!

fowler3

duh_ster

hey all u stick operators,
just curious to know what rpm you prefer to shift at and why.
'duh'

newcar31

I usually shift at about 3500 rpms. Why? It seems like a good shift point for performance and mileage.

Meade-At 65 mph your car is at 3500 rpms in 5th gear? They must have really changed the gear ratios in the 2001s because at 3500 rpms in 5th in my car I am going 75mph. Maybe that's why the 2.0L gets better mileage than the 1.8L.

protege_fan

I shift all over the place. Sometimes it's at 3000 rpm....sometimes it's over 4000. It all depends on if I'm trying to get the most out of the engine or just shifting in stop and go traffic (stop+go=low rpm shifts, fast=high rpm shifts).

Mileage hasn't been a real concern of mine, but I am going to start to keep better track solely because it's possible to spots problems this way.

PF

dinu01

What happened to Thursday nites chat? The chatroom was closed at 9.30 when I tried to log in?

Dinu

the_big_h

I guess no one posted a note about it, in last week's chat the host told everyone that there will be no chat on Thanksgiving.... They will be back next week though... so go eat more turkey :P~

fowler3

dinu01: It's a holiday in America, Thanksgiving, no chat on this Thursday, except with family and friends.

the_big_h: dinu01 is in Canada, they celebrate Thanksgiving on a different date.

newcar31 posted this quote from Meade (mdaffron):
Meade-At 65 mph your car is at 3500 rpms in 5th gear? They must have really changed the gear ratios in the 2001s because at 3500 rpms in 5th in my car I am going 75mph. Maybe that's why the 2.0L gets better mileage than the 1.8L.

I went on a trip to Durhuam, NC, this afternoon and made a point to check my rpm's and speeds. I have a 2001 Protegé LX 2.0L. As I said before, I usually drive at 60mph and let the other traffic go by. Here is what my instruments tell me:

At 60mph the engine is running at 2,650rpm
At 65mph the engine is running at 2,850rpm

I set it on cruise control to pervent swings above and below the desired speeds and rpm's. I have to say the Protegé has an excellent cruise control! Far better than the ones I had on four Accords, one Civic, and one Odyssey. It doesn't vary more than 1-mph up hill, down hill, and on level Interstates it stays where you set it.

Didn't check the mileage because I didn't fill up the tank before going on the trip. Will fill up next week for a longer trip.

What I thought was an odd-looking cruise control, the stalk instead of buttons on the steering wheel, is used on Toyota and Lexus cars including the new LS 430. Gotta be because it is so good.

On most Japanese cars with the cruise controls on the steering wheel, the On/Off button is placed on the dash, usually behind the steering wheel where it is hard to reach. A major complaint by reviewers testing the Acura RL. With the stalk everything is in one place and easy to use.

fowler3

vocus

The stalk thing that the Protege uses for its cruise was started by Toyota I think. That's the first car I saw with that design of a stalk. I think they also started the "push down, pull up" power window switches too. They are used on almost all cars now though.

My '01 Protege ES used to turn 3050rpm at 70 mph with automatic, and I would add 500rpm for every 10 mph. Like 80 was 4000 rpm, 90 was 4500, 100 was 5000, etc. Never got it above 100 mph though.

vocus

Almost forgot.. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and hope your holiday was safe and wonderful.

cpoupart

Is the buzzing in the first few minutes after start-up, and more like a vibration?
If so, I have the same, and my dealer confirms my suspicions that it's probably a heat shield - he says that problem 'plagues small Japanese cars.' Apparently the fix is just a minor adjustment, I'll have mine done at my 8K service.

fowler3

I didn't know about the push down/pull up window switches. Never thought about it. All American cars have had power windows for decades, but the buttons were rocker switches. Another one, power door mirrors, I don't recall when they first came into use. The first car I owned with power mirrors was in 1963.

Wonder when they will make the inside center mirror power? That would be very helpful when trying to adjust the mirror in relation to the door mirrors in heavy traffic. Your hand wouldn't block the mirror and your eyes wouldn't be off the road ahead as long.

Have you ever noticed how many people set their mirrors wrong? Some set the inside mirror at an angle, cockeyed. Mirrors should be set so that when you see a following car leaving the leftside of the inside mirror you see it in the left door mirror as it begins passing your car. Same for the other side.

fowler3

windowphobe6

These appeared in the 626 as long ago as 1993.

(And the cruise control main switch was on the dash back then; it is now on the steering wheel with the rest of the cruise functions.)

mazdadude1

Just returned from interstate travel in my mp5. Noticed that cruising at 70mph, rpms were 3000-3100. My car drove like it was on rails down the interstate... a very nice feel to me. I have an automatic. Fit parents, luggage and pet dog (small dog) in easily for a two-night holiday trip. later zoomers

black01coupev6

My Protege turns about 4000 RPM at 80MPH. I get between 27-32 MPG and usually shift between 3500-4000 RPM.

As for the Civic vs. the Protege. Depends on what you want and how long you keep the car. I think that the Civic would be the better choice if you plan to keep your car for a while. My fiance's 93 Civic seems to have less rattles than my 01 Protege (especially when the Protege is cold). Also, we recently dropped by the Honda dealer to look at the new CRV and we parked my Protege next to a Civic and noticed that the Civic has tighter gap tolerances. There was a noticable difference between the gaps. The Civic will undoubtedly have higher resale value but this *may* be offset by the 0.0% percent financing and the lower price you might get on the Protege.

I thought the older (93+) 626's just had a switch that you pressed down on. I didn't know that it was push/pull ... I thought it was push/push.

black01coupev6

hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!

vocus

Toyota used the push/pull window switches in the Camry in 1987 when it was redesigned. That's the first time I saw it used (an old friend had a 1987 Camry).

newcar31

that the Protege 2.0L cars use the air conditioning compressor whenever anything other than "face" is selected on the climate control knob? That means when it is on face/feet and feet that the air conditioning compressor is on. I knew that when you use the defrost the air conditioning compressor is on but this is the first car I've had where the compressor kicks on for everything except the "face" selection. That explains the slight hesitation when I accelerate as if the compressor was kicking on and off. I like to have the heat down on my feet; I think it is the most comfortable. Now I don't want to do that because the compressor kicks on and off. I think that *really* sucks. Why did Mazda do that?

I also heard that Mazda may have a service bulletin coming out regarding valve train noise when the engine is started cold. It was something about the timing belt and a ECU programming fix. Maltb????

yooper53

Please keep us advised re: the valve train TSB. Thanks.