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Comments
;-)
Don't let history repeat itself, for your safety do something now. You've been talking about it for several months now.
Regards,
Steve
PS- Vocus, I only real drive my car on the weekends, I take the Metro to work everday. With the little driving that I do, I've put 10k miles on, I don't understand how people who do regular amounts of driving adn lease cars, stay under the 12k mark. I guess they either up the mileage, or seriously underestimate the amount of driving they do, and seriously pay for it.
Ah, June. It's the beginning of a long weekend. The sky is clear and it's 80 degrees. You hop in your Protege and hit the "down" button on all four windows. You slip the car into gear and zoom down the road, with nothing but the engine's low growl in your ears and the warm summer breeze in your hair. You ease out onto a country road and let out the throttle. Not another car in sight. There's a "winding road" sign ahead.
Ah ... heaven ....
And then ... my phone rings! I'm back at work! It's gray, cold and raining outside!
ARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Meade
Meade
then you've got the right bracket!
Meade
On the other hand, those BF Goodrich's someone in this forum purchased sounded pretty sweet as well. I don't think I would sweat going to a 205.
That's downright rotten luck though. Like protegenic said, I gotta believe there is a pair sitting around somewhere though.
Steve
In the last hour I've done some research and talked with some tire folks. Turns out I can replace my 2000 ES' 195/55R15s with 205/50R15s and not change diameters (i.e. speedometer readings). It's called "Plus Zero" sizing, since I'm upping the diameter but decreasing the aspect ratio to cancel it out.
To make a long story short, there's about FOUR TIMES the selection in the new size! For only $87 per tire I can now "shoe" my Protege with some of the best tires out there -- the Dunlop SP Sport A2s! With an AA traction rating (highest there is), 420 treadwear (comparable to the Avids) and better ratings in every category! They're H-rated, making them a good performance compromise between the T-rated Avids and the V-rated Poortenzas. I'm getting excited now -- this is one extremely highly rated tire, it's in stock, and each tire will only cost $26 more than the Avids! I'll keep you guys posted ... but to all my friends who have 1999 or 2000 ES models with stock Poortenzas, you'll do yourself a BIG favor to look at 205/50-15s when replacement time comes!
(Plus these tires are a half-inch wider than the stock ones -- and we all know wider is cooler!)
Meade
Also, be aware that 205s will be worse in snow than 195s, but the difference will hardly be perceptible. The tradeo-off (dry and wet handling) frmo changing aspect ratio and going with the better tires will cover for that, given how much snow VA has seen this winter :-)
Another couple places I check online (and they have local stores, at least back west - not sure about here) are
http://www.discounttire.com
http://www.etires.com
The latter has very cheap shipping - 99 cents per tire, IIRC!
Also, if Sears tires is anything like the store, they will price match online prices if you can bring along a clear print-out!
Good luck!
And don't wait any longer!
I ordered a set of four 205/50HR15 Dunlop SP Sport A2s! You oughta check out their ratings -- they beat just about everyone hands down! (Sniff, even the cute little Yokos I was raving about ...) Of course, they cost a little more per tire, but for that great traction and tread life, the difference will probably pay for itself and then some! No more totaled Proteges for me, thank you!
I'll be getting them installed early next week. A full review will follow!
Yoko's shipping problem may have been a blessing in disguise!
Meade the Dunlop Man
Tell the dealer what you will pay and stick to it. If they won't sell it for that price, try another dealer.
fowler3
Those Dunlop SP Sport A2s look good and the reviews are excellent - only 1 naysayer in 20 and you don't know how he drives. But then he has an Oldsmobile...sheesh. Who puts top-rated tires on a dog?
fowler3
Meade
I am pleased with the T4's, but I do realize there are better tires out there. Looks like you found some, Meade. And I wouldn't think snow is a problem in Richmond!
I am waiting for the sun to start shining again here in Atlanta so my little black beauty can get cleaned up again. I might wax her this weekend for the first time since "the accident". The car just turned over 29K and is still running great. Not as nice a ride as my Millenia, but not too bad for under $15K. I think alone makes me smile even bigger when in ZZ mode!
But anyway, what does snow have to do with my purchase? If you'll compare the Dunlop SP Sport A2 with the Yokohama AVID T4, the Dunlop gets 7.7 out of 10 for snow handling. The AVID only got a 6.2. The Dunlop is all-season rated too.
I tell you, this Dunlop appears to be one terrific tire! I didn't know it was so new -- it actually replaced the venerable D60A2 a few months ago. New technology for my baby! (Er, babies ...)
Meade
enjoy,
d.
Don't know how they stack up against the RE92s, but they're a lot better than the FR680s.
Comparing them against the Michelin X-Ones I have on my '89 LX, they're a bit harsher on impacts, about as quiet on smooth, have better dry grip, a teeny bit less wet grip, have more rolling resistance, and respond a bit faster. They also don't capture all those little pieces of sand and grit that the siping on the X-Ones do. All-in-all, a very good tire. The graphics on the side look very cool (as in fast) also. The tread looks very aggressive too, for those who care about the aesthetics about tread design. It's only slightly asymmetric; you only have to make sure the outside face faces the outside of the wheel.
Anyhoo, I wonder how long they'll last me since I'm really scrubbing the outside of the tread with those hang-on-tight turns. I'd better back off.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazdaprotege
starts at 8pm ET, and runs til god knows how late...
Sorry to put all that peer pressure on your this morning, but it was for your own good. :-)
Steve
My sister, Elizabeth 3/21
Mine, Larry 3/22
My Wifes, 2000 Pro-ES 3/28
Strange but true!!!
-Old Head
AKA Larry
42 years of age, however only Zooming for 2 years!
Last I heard Fort Bragg is in North Carolina.=P
Home of the 82nd Airborne.
fowler3
fowler3
BTW, I went to another Mazda dealer today and for $45 (tax included) I got an oil change and a tire rotation. Not the greatest price, but very competitive to what you can find in T.O. On top of that, they washed my PRO (which was grey from salt by nowq after last week's storm) as part of the deal. Talked about K&N (ok with their warranty), re-wiring my DRLs and fog lights (don't do it: voids electrical warranty on lights), tint, etc. Saw in the showroom a 2002 PRO ES in blk with 17" rims and 205/45 Yokohama tires! Looked VERY sharp! Saw a yellow P5: that new car smell brought back some memories. I ended up sniffing my PRO to see if it had left any of that new car smell: a little left. Did some ZOOM-ZOOMing today (about 125 kms). Outside of that, the new 6 is coming to the TO auto show (starts next week). We're only getting the sedan, the HB and wagon will follow. It will be on sale by the end of this yr with a price similar to that of the current 626, which BTW, MAzda Canada has them at 0% financing. MUst be hard to sell them now that the 6 is coming aboard.
Dinu
Dinu
http://www.toyo.com
Dinu
And where the heck were you?
Meade
Dinu
We should agree on the time, will it start at 9:00PM ET or 10:00PM ET? Another thing we should consider is waiting time. If first one there, should you wait 15 minutes and if others don't show log out? Check back later. Our chats are not hosted, yet.
Funny, the new Corolla looks like a small Altima. Japanese designers must change jobs frequently: the Toyota coupe resembles the Acura CL;
the Protege5 looks almost identical to the Lexus IS300 SportCross. Both companies did the same thing, tack on a new rear end to their small sedans.
fowler3
later,
d.
Good choice.
But $87 + shipping + mounting
(with no lifetime balance & rotation)???
Also,
the 205/50/15 size just as small in diameter as the 205/55/15 is larger than the 195/55/15.
And that difference does not make any practical difference in the speedo on the car (mine, at least) since at 70mph, it is less than 1mph off the actual.
Anyway, I don't think u could have gotten a better deal, unless ofcourse u went with 205/55/15 yoko V4. That is a very good tire.
Do post the reviews & buyers remorse, if any
As regards my BFG V4, they seem to ride & handle very well...Except that they don't slide in a turn like the RE-92(I enjoyed that)......
Meade
IMO, the Sportcross is not as nicely proportioned as the P5. It looks like someone slapped on the rear and then wacked it up from underneath to give it a more wedgy look. It comes from the factory already looking rear-ended.
So far as rotation, I like to do that myself. Having had to replace two wheel studs (at $45 each time) to techs overzealously using pnuematic drivers, I do this myself with some good old-fashioned hand tools. Takes about 20 minutes since I use the temp spare as a placeholder, but I don't have access to a lift.
That's another beef of mine: most techs aren't diligent enough to adjust the lift pads so they don't damage the sheet metal on the bottoms of your car. I'd be interested in hearing whether or not the sheet metal has been bent at the lift points (just after the front and just before the rear wheels) on people's cars here. Naturally, this compromises the underbody sealant and promotes rusting.
Hope to hear from you before Feb 22 via the Talk to the Press discussion or at jfallon@edmunds.com with your thoughts and contact information.
Thanks as always,
Jeannine Fallon
PR Director, Edmunds.com
Just bought a really cool seabreeze green ES back in December.
It really is a great car in almost every respect, and a part of me has fallen in love with it.
But - with that new 2003 Corolla coming out with 130 hp and such awesome mileage, I can't help but notice that the listed mileage for the ES Pro is a fairways behind. It's just been nagging me a bit.
Does anyone here have any mileage stories of interest to reassure me about the Protege's performance (pardon the term) in this area? Any good stories out there or experiences with the 01 or 02 ES?
As I look around, it seems the mileage is this car's only real weakness, but it does place it behind the Sentra, the Focus, the Civic and the Corolla - basically all the other good cars in the compact market, which I was considering for the buy.
Now, the Sentra and Focus to me fall behind on the reliability/dependability scale. Sentra - made in new factories in Mexico, Focus - can anyone say recall?
The '02 Civic and Corolla were less powerful and really kind of dowdy compared to the Pro. So at the time it seemed an easy choice.
But still, its just kind of disappointing to know that the Pro is the only one out of these cars mentioned that lacks VVT which would presumably have boosted the mileage for the same level of power.
Does anyone know why Mazda couldn't do better in this category? Or is it really all that bad at all anyway?
Thanks,
Conflicted
The 2003 Corolla is really, really nice. The body add-ons on the S look better in person than they do in photos, particularly in the reddish color. I liked the matte black look of the S interior more than I thought I would – it works for me. The fake woodgrain trim on the LE is done sparingly, and looks nice with the beige interior. The seats are softer than any other car in this class, but I didn’t sink in that much. The Corolla has a nice driver’s right-sided armrest (a pet peeve of mine, as you will see). The manual transmission shifted as fluidly as the Civic’s, which is the standard of excellence in that realm, I think. I’m 6’1” and I was able to sit in the back seat immediately after pushing the driver’s seat back to my chosen position; my knees were a couple of inches away from the back of the driver’s seat – an amazing growth spurt since the previous generation Corolla. There are lots of nice storage cubbies. The spare tire cavity is covered with a plastic sandwichboard that seems nicer and more durable than the particleboard found in just about every other car in this class. Headroom is good in the front, gets a bit tight for me in the rear (will be no problem for anybody else in my family). Dual rear cupholders are the best in the class. This feels like a much more expensive car. It’s as nice or nicer than my 2000 Odyssey in many ways.
The Matrix and Vibe are even cooler than I expected. You sit up higher than a Corolla, but not minivan height either. But at the same time, I felt like I was in a roadster because the windows start up relatively high on the sides of the vehicles. In fact, I wondered if my sons would get a bit unhappy about the visibility from their low vantage points in the back seat. Headroom is massive. The plastic material that covers the cargo area and the back of the rear seats seems to be of very high quality, but I think I might break the little locking mechanism on the spare tire cavity loading a heavy item. The driver’s right armrest is a little low, but placed just far enough forward to make it useable with the dash-mounted shifter. The 5-speed on the Matrix/Vibe seemed a bit notchier than on the Corolla, but still very nice. The gauge windows (tunnels, really) would take some getting used to. The seats are covered with an attractive fabric with a lot of texture, almost a hint of rubberyness to them. No worries about sliding around in a turn in those things. The Matrix was a VERY popular attraction at the show, while the Vibe was empty both times I visited it. I thought the Vibe’s lower body cladding looked nice, though I still prefer the cleaner lines of the Matrix at this point. As far as I could figure, the rear glass can’t be opened with any sort of handle or switch on the exterior of the vehicle – only the whole hatch opens this way. The front passenger seat has folding mechanisms on both sides, so the driver can easily fold it down and use its hard plastic back as a writing/eating/whatevering surface. The driver’s seat has a cloth back with a map pocket. Plenty of rear seat room, same rear cupholders as the Corolla. I really, really liked these vehicles, whatever they are.
After sitting in the Corolla and Matrix for a while, the Civic just didn’t seem as nice as I remembered it being when I sat in it in the dealer’s showroom a few months ago. And the EX is off my list of possible choices because my head is less than an inch from the ceiling with the moonroof. I couldn’t wear a baseball hat in the car. The materials are very nice, but not as nice as the Corolla/Matrix. There is a noticeable absence of storage space. The driver’s right armrest is barely long enough to be useful not nearly as substantial as the one on my ’92 Accord. Rear seat room with the driver’s seat pushed all the way back is pretty good – I still had a bit of room ahead of my knees. The interiors of the doors seemed a bit flimsy to me for some reason. All in all, a very nice car, just not as nice as the Corolla/Matrix.
I only sat in the Nissan Sentra for a minute. It’s too small for me in front, and there is very little rear seat legroom. And not one but two storage bin lids came off in my hands (and you can’t blame that on wear and tear from the show, because I was there only an hour after the show’s opening). Not on my list of possibles anymore.
I spent a good deal of time in the Protégé and Protégé 5. They didn’t have an ES on the floor (that I could see), so I sat in the LX. The first thing I noticed in opening the door was that the rubber window trim was the wimpiest piece of junk I’d ever encountered on a car. The rest of the interior is nice, except for the complete absence of a useable driver’s right armrest. The P5’s driver’s seat was nicely adjustable and fit me very well. I couldn’t find a way to lower the rear seats from the trunk of the LX, and neither could the salesdude walking the display. The P5’s cargo area is bigger than I expected. The fit and paint jobs on the LX and P5 was equal to the Civic and Corolla. The carbon fiber look to the dash trim is starting to lose its appeal to me after seeing it a few times. It doesn’t look as upscale to me anymore. Rear seat room for me was better than Civic and Corolla. Still no rear cupholder, despite reports they were “working on it” a year ago. P5 was making an odd ticking noise in the left dash area salesdude couldn’t figure it out either.
The Hyundai Elantra GT was a very pleasant surprise. It sounds, looks, and feels like a “real” car, unlike the Hyundai offerings I’d sat in a couple of years ago. In fact, it’s nicer in many ways than the Civic and Pro. It feels like a much larger car. The GT comes with leather standard, allegedly. I’m telling you, if any animal skin was used to make that “leather” I’ll eat a bug. It is the most man-made “leather” I’ve ever sat upon. The seats were very firm and seemed a little narrow. Driver’s right armrest was barely useable. 5 speed would be a real muscle-builder lots of resistance. Rear seat is roomy, though headroom got a bit scarce for me. I would be concerned that the child safety seat anchors Hyundai has fastened in the lumbar area of the middle rear seat would get snagged on something and I’d end up with holes in my “leather” back there. Cargo area is very nice. Storage bin lid came off in my hand. Maybe it’s just me. Everything else in the car was high quality except for a piece of plastic near the dead-pedal that I snagged my foot on while exiting the car twice.
The Ford Focus ZX5 was interesting, but fairly quickly scratched off my list due to a lack of rear seat legroom. Also, the materials seemed a bit cheaper than most of
Subaru Impreza: the accursed small backseat resulted in a very short visit. Seemed well built. No frame around door windows. Kind of narrow up front for me. Nice spokesmodels, though.
Conclusions: If the Corolla/Matrix/Vibe drive as nice as they feel sitting still, it’s going to be a question of price and availability for those vehicles. I’m concerned about all of the dead steering comments, though, and I’ve encountered that beast on another Toyota product – a last-generation Camry rental unit. If the Corolla isn’t up to snuff and the Vibe/Matrix are too rare to get at a fair price, I’m going to have a tough decision between the Pro/Pro5 and the Civic LX. The Hyundai would be a very real possibility if there were a dealer closer to my house I prefer taking my car to the dealer for service, and I couldn’t do that with the Hyundai.
Side note: The Saturn Vue wins the award for the hardest darned left elbow resting surface in the history of motor vehicles. If you get a chance to sit in one, take a look at the setup. They transition from a nice fabric vinyl w/ some give to it at the front of the door to a terribly hard, sharply angled hunk of elbow killer at the middle and rear of the door. The rest of the Vue seemed pretty nice, though.
I'll probably be back again Tuesday with the wife and kids. Which means it's a good thing I did such a thorough examination today...I'll get no serious looking done with them around. And yes, I'm talking about examining the cars, not the lovely spokeschicks.
twist
I'll be 49 next month, but I'd still beat any of you young whippersnappers in a footrace [to the computer chair].