Mazda Protegé

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Comments

  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    Traffic moves here on weekends and at night at 75-80mph; this is the normal speed most travel. At other times, it's 60-75mph or under 5mph. I can understand why ajil112 said he drives at 75 or so on the highway, if it's clear.

    Now he complains about not enough oomph in the PRO. Like you Meade, I too had my PRO at 100mph a few times, but on long trips I usually do about 75-85. The PRO handles this speed well. It has plenty of more power to get to 100 or above, although I know the ECU cuts it at 170km/h (106-110 mph) for the 2.0 engine at least here in Canada. So as far as oomph goes, the PRO has plenty for me.

    Dinu
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    Unless you're drag-racing it.

    I find my 1.6L with only 105hp/107lbft is plenty fine for getting onto freeways and even some moderately frisky driving on back roads.

    I think you'll find the slightly improved 1.8L in the MP3 more than adequate for most driving, even autocrossing (in which handling and torque make more difference than hp).
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    comfortable only above 50mph. It lacks low end power(but is more than the civic)

    In fact the couple of occasions when I reached 85mph, the PRO felt as if this is what it was designed for.
    Anyway for me, 65mph is regularly tops, maybe 75 sometimes on long trips and on patches where everyone is doing 80+, I have done 85mph with lots of power to go.

    If u study the power curve of the PRO, it peaks at 3000-3500rpm => 80-85mph (confirm this, guys) with an Auto.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    First, Mazdafun, the MP3 has the 2.0, not the 1.8. :)

    I drive the Capital Beltway everyday to work (about 2 miles of it anyway), and merging there is like sudden death. You come off the ramp, and get up to 75mph as quickly as you can, or you will practically be run off the road. The DX had a hard time with this, especially when I had the AC on. The ES was a little better in this respect. If I floored the pedal and redlined it, it got up to about 60mph.

    If you need something more powerful than the Protege in the economy class, the Elantra has 140hp. The Protege feels faster to me though, for some reason. Maybe gearing, I don't know.

    Now, I have the turbo Jetta. Of course it's faster, but you can hardly get a used 2000 model for $15K... :(

    Also, keep in mind that most people have the 1.8L engine on this board. My 2001 Protege (and all of them 2001+) have the 2.0 engine, so driving characteristics will differ.
  • bluong1bluong1 Member Posts: 1,927
    What you want is a peak torque close to where the engine is runing. For the 2.0l engine, the peak torque is around 3860 rpm (dyno test, v.s. 4000 rpm announced by Mazda). At 80mph, my manual P5 runs at 3700 rpm, just below the max torque peak. I guess in the auto, the engine runs lower (less than 3500 rpm).

    I did a long trip two weeks ago. I experiences a "spirited' driving together with a BMW 330 (6 cylinders) and Porches 928 (8 cylinders) for about 150 miles or so on the Hwy. We did average 90mph+, and occasionally passing others cars at 100mph+. I have no problem to follow them at all and I even lead the pack for a while.

    Bruno
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    At 80mph, my 01 ES ran at 4000rpm or close to it. At 70, it ran at 3000-3100rpm.
  • bluong1bluong1 Member Posts: 1,927
    I'm surprise! The ratio of the tallest gear in the auto trans. is 2.830. In the manual it's 3.099. Whatever tires your ES01 was equipped with, its size should be almost identical then mine (23.5 and 23.68 inches in diameter for respectively P195/55R15 and P195/50R16).
    Put these 2 numbers together, the engine of the auto should run 8-9% lower rpm than that of the manual at the same speed, i.e., respectively around 3400 rpm vs 3700 rpm at 80mph. One of us should have an inaccurate tachometer (or speedometer)!

    PS: actually, if the tire diameter is correctly estimated, mathematically my car should run at 3520 rpm at 80mph (trivial calculation), i.e., 5% lower than what I observe. My guess is the speedometer actually overreads at few %, and the estimated tire diameter must be few % lower than the true value too.

    Bruno
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I had the stock 195/50VR16 tires on it (I guess that's the size of them). I only had 20K on the car when I traded it, so the tires and wheels were totally stock. And there were no mechanical mods to the car either.
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    If Edmunds were an actual person, I'd slap him upside the head...it lost my subscription to this forum! 256 messages I've missed!

    My fault for thinking that nothing was going on in this forum and not checking I guess :(
  • patpat Member Posts: 10,421
    they have identified and corrected the problem with subscriptions being dropped.

    Or so I am told.

    :)
  • townhall9townhall9 Member Posts: 78
    I, personally, find that edmunds editors are more into "carving up a road" than, say, Consumer Reports. While the Jetta was the edmunds Economy Sedan of 2002, the Pro got "honorable mention". "Excellent rack-and-pinion steering, with variable power assist" (yes). "Although we'd love to see more power under the hood, the power it makes is smoothly delivered". "When it comes to small, snappy sedans, the Pro is a tough act to beat". The Pro (especially the ES) is, by far, better looking than the competition (a major consideration - for me). And the reliability is unmatched.
  • theparallaxtheparallax Member Posts: 361
    Mine was dropped from this board also...
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    >>>My fault for thinking that nothing was going on in this forum and not checking I guess :( <<<

    How on earth can u even think that the Pro owners were not discussing???

    even my subscription was dropped.
    When I did not see any new subscription the next day, I realized sumping was wrong....checked out my subscription...and voila....all my subscriptions were gone, save the mazda6 forum.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    what are you guys talking about?
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    The big blue "READ SUBSCRIPTIONS - UNSUBSCRIBE (or SUBSCRIBE)- MESSAGE CENTER" buttons under the last post in the thread.
  • ajil112ajil112 Member Posts: 9
    70 mph out here, on I20 most people drive 75, then I merge onto I459, which is 3 lanes and people drive around 85 mph. So yeah I do some pretty high speed driving.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    What do you drive now and how does it accelerate?
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    You should be fine with the power. With the 5sp, the 2.0L feels peppy. The numbers don't do it justice and this is coming from a guy who used to have a modified Mustang 5.0L that would eat Corvettes for breakfast and crap them out before 9:00 AM.
  • ajil112ajil112 Member Posts: 9
    a 90 nissan maxima. It is really my brothers car, he went out of state to school and my parents gave him my 93 accord ex. Thats because the maxima has like 275k miles and is on its last legs. My accord had 163 about 1.5-2 years ago when its odometer stopped working, so you can see I need a newer car. That being said, I don't push the maxima too hard, it might break down. My accord did allright for me, but I would like a little more power for pulling hills, merging, and quickly accelerating at high speeds to pass. I merge going uphill everyday, and then there is a rather steep and long hill I drive over as well. I just read the car and driver comparison of the sporty sedans, and the american coupes. The protege and the stratus/sebring did well. I really want a manual in whatever car I get though.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    If you get the stick in the Protege, you should be ok. It's adequate from what I have heard.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    With regards to more powerful/faster cars in this price range, here is how I see it:

    Sentra SE-R: Excellent price/power ratio, iffy styling, rear beam axle, made in Mexico

    Jetta 1.8T: Great power, nice styling, excellent interior, hubcaps, sloppy handling, rear beam axle, made in Mexico, lots of little annoying problems.

    Hyundai Elantra: Nice car overall, iffy styling (IMO), not proven reliability wise.

    Toyota Corolla: Excellent car overall, excellent ride, excellent repair record, tall and skinny styling, rear beam axle, boring.

    Ford Focus SVT: if this car didn't have so many issues, I'd have one, even if it does look a little weird.

    GM Cavalier/Sunfire: Where do I start?

    Dodge Neon: See above.

    Subaru Impreza: AWD traction, good track record, goofy styling, not a WRX, pricey.
  • jeffy729jeffy729 Member Posts: 45
    Hello. I just got back from a weekend trip to LA / Orange County. It's about 300 miles from where I live. I drove my 2002 Protege with an auto at an average of 80mph on I-5 with the run over the "Grapevine" which hits about 4,000 feet elevation. It kept up with traffic fine and didn't feel like it was maxed out at all. With a five speed you should be able to drive at that speed no problem.
  • ajil112ajil112 Member Posts: 9
    the stratus and sebring insurance is gonna be about double what I would be paying for a spec v sentra or a mp3 protege. Thats from geico. Guess the v6 bumps it into a sports car class or some crap. Sigh, I had just decided I liked the bring the best. That mp3 I found w/20k for 15 is sounding nice. I've also decided to consider a new spec v financed over 5 years. I think they run about 17.5 new.
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Let me tell you about the "bring."

    My Mazda dealer also sells Chrysler. On a recent visit (for scheduled maintenance), I had to wait behind a woman in a Sebring convertible. She got out of her car and then reached around behind her front seat, in the back seat floor, and pulled the entire piece of lower-door-panel plastic body cladding out. She turned around to my service guy and said, "How many times are you going to have to stick this thing back on the car?"

    After she went into the waiting area and it was my turn, I kind of joked with my service guy, "Things fallin' off her car, eh?" His response, "Well, it's a Chrysler ..."

    Meade
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    ... where we just logged our 200th member, and we're only 11 messages away from 5,000!

    Meade

    (Sorry Pat. But it's a milestone kinda day.)
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Hey Dale, where ARE you???

    Meade
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    yesterday it was raining very heavy.
    I was on the I-76 going back home from school at 9:00pm.

    I noticed that I was going faster than everybody else....

    I wondered why...

    Then I noticed the reason...everybody's wiper were at full speed and mine were at intermittent.

    Wait a minute...something's funny here...

    This was the effect of the silicon oil that spreads onto the glass when I use my siliblade wipers. The water does not stick to the windshield and the rain drops break into a million parts upon hitting the windshield and is blown away on the slippery surface at the highway speed, making my vision as clear as if it were simply drizzling.

    3 cheers for Siliblade!!!
  • the_big_hthe_big_h Member Posts: 1,583
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    and he'll tell you where to find the silly blade.


    Seriously, try google

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&q=SilBlade+wiper+blade&btnG=Google+Search


    And then

    http://www.afterthoughtsauto.com/ulsilcolsilw.html

  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    Hope you don't mind me asking, but how much were those blades again?
  • mdaffronmdaffron Member Posts: 4,421
    Just a (clear) observation ...

    Meade
  • meinradmeinrad Member Posts: 820
    and side windows and rear window too!
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    Is not a very effective product. And ever since I added some to my windshield washer fluid tank (which I preceded by applying the coat-on version on the windshield directly), although the wipers wipe better, the glare of oncoming lights on a non-rainy and dry night seems brighter than ever before! Anyone else notice that?
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I've heard a lot of mixed things regarding Rain-X...Enough to make me not want to try it.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I had it on my Cavalier when I had it, and it made the wipers smear pretty badly. I never used it again after that.
  • meinradmeinrad Member Posts: 820
    I love the product. Wipers work much better,if I even use them. Often in heavy downpours I never even turn them on while others are pulled to the side of the road.

    It does take a little effort to apply properly. If you don't buff it just right it will cause glare and a smeary look on the glass.

    About the only thing I don't like is having to reapply every month or so.
  • townhall9townhall9 Member Posts: 78
    Armour All, on my last car, diluted in the rain, ran onto & "weakened"/faded the paint. (I should add - this process took many years.)
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    Like Vocus said, Rain-X smears very badly in slow rains and slow speeds around town. I had to clean the whole windshield with Windex to get clear vision again.

    Then I switched to Bosch Blades. Great product, but lasted only 6-8 months.

    Then i switched to siliblades found at www.sspinc.com or www.siliblade.com

    They use GE silicon rubber.
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    YOU have to remember to put it on. it it has owrn down and there is a quick rain, what u gonna do?
    apply rain-X while it is raining?

    Nah. My wipers are better 'cause they apply the oil while they wipe. and they are guaranteed for 5 years...yes 5 whole years.

    cost: 12.50$ apiece. => $25 a pair
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I'm looking for a retailer in Canada, but I can't seem to find one. I'm gonna go see if I can find them at lunch.
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    The Rain-X (clear and thin) you have to apply to the glass is OK; lasts about a month.

    The Rain-X (pink and a little thick) you put into the windshield washer fluid is terrible. It just smeared over my windshield in a goopy mess.

    But I'll check out the Silblades after I use up my blade refills. My local parts shop stopped carrying the refills for my blades, so I'll new a new set of blades soon.
  • meinradmeinrad Member Posts: 820
    Have to say after checking the silblade website, which is silblade, not siliblade, the biggest advantage I can see is that they should still work well in the cold. That has to be my biggest wiper peeze. It's really cold, salt and dirt all over the road, spray some fluid, and.........wiper just bounces over the windshield.

    Looks cool enough for me to give them a try. Even come in colors!

    I'll still apply the rain-x to the sides and rear though, I think it really helps those too.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I got these things called "Smartblades" for my car. They were $15 for the pair, and they have little indicators on them. When it's time to replace the wipers, the indicator on each turns from black to yellow. For the price for the entire blade, I couldn't pass them up.

    I don't know who makes the OEM VW blades, but they are the best I have ever driven behind. Even at higher speeds, the wipers get every drop of water from the windshield.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Since you have a P5 with the back wiper, maybe you can get a single Silblade for the rear?
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    The passenger side wiper is terrible in cold weather. If snow/ice gets into the joint, the passenger side wiper becomes totally useless. The front defroster on my Pro doesn't go too far out to the sides (laterally across the front) so the passenger wiper doesn't ever get thawed out like the driver side wiper.

    Oh...and I had no luck finding the silicone wiper blades :(
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    it was a mess!!
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    why don't you just order them from www.sspinc.com?

    why do you want a retailer?

    This e-tailer is the best I have seen.

    When they sent in my Mazda GReen blades(to match my Green ES), they sent in the wrong size.

    I sent them an email stating to that effect and 2 days later, they sent in the right one. They did not even ask me to return the wrong size.
    So I have 3 wiper blades for my ES!!!
    (one an inch shorter...but still works if u really wanted it to)
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    When I had my Protege and it would be icy, I would pull the wiper arms up off the windshield when the car was parked. It kept them from freezing and sticking to the glass. Of course, this is a little hard to do when driving. :)
  • meinradmeinrad Member Posts: 820
    With those wipers, do yo notice any glaze or whatever that would show where the wipers have wiped. Since they leave the compound on the windshield I just wondered if you notice any type of line.

    I guess it's one thing I would miss from the Rain-X, the whole windshield is coated and repels water as opposed to just where the wipers are.

    Winter performance seems like a good enough reason to try them though.
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I'm not into buying things online. Just the way I am, I guess.
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