Mazda Protegé

mdaffron

Wow, I feel special in that of all the members here, I was singled out by name ...

Teacher's Pet! I resemble that remark!

Meade

P.S. "Protege"

boggse

No, you don't have to remove any wheels to put on the mud guards. I did all 4 in about 20 minutes. All I needed was a shorty screwdriver (phillips head as I recall). The mud guards come with clear, illustrated instructions. The downside is, if you do it yourself, they are not covered under the 4/50 warranty. I personally couldn't think of a instance where I would need to use the warranty WRT my mud guards, so I did it myself.

mjm12

Just wanted to thank all for the quick response regarding the strut tower brace and mudguards. I've read these forums for a long time and the Protege and pro5 are easily the most informative and enthusiastic of them all. Look forward to sharing comments and experiences with you.

gee35coupe

They were easy.

mdaffron

I will note that my 2000 ES, which has nearly 60,000 miles on it and has to do light off-road duty with my job (gravel, dirt roads, etc.), has not suffered even the weensiest little scratch behind any wheel, front or back. I'm frankly amazed at how well the side sills and rear bumper cover have stood up to potential stone chips. Sure, they get a little dirty after puddle-jumping, but I don't think even the mud guards keep EVERYTHING off the bumper and sills either.

(Not to diss them too much -- I bought and installed them on both of my '92s, but if you're weighing whether it's worth almost a hundred bucks to "protect" your paint, mine looks great after 60,000 miles.)

Now, if they'd just come up with something for the front edge of the hood. Too late for mine. No bra comments, please. What I wish for is what I was able to buy for my Saab back in 1985 -- a strip of Scotchguard that ran along the leading edge of the hood and took all the abuse. It was thick and textured but looked really good -- some people just bought it for the looks, believe it or not -- but it served really well protecting the hood from stone chips and bugs.

Meade

meinrad

with the 3M Paint Protection film? Isn't that about what you Saab would have had?

I've never bothered with it, but so I hear, with proper installation, it's hardly even noticeable.

mdaffron

The 3M stuff is thin and clear. The Scotchguard stuff was thick, black and textured. It appears a stone would nick the 3M stuff and make it look just as bad as the hood if it weren't there. The Scotchguard stuff took 25,000 miles of rocks, bugs and other stuff and never showed anything. It also was only about an inch wide.

Meade

mdaffron

http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/tire19_20030619.htm

Meade

chikoo

know that they had to hit the 1-inch strip right-on-target or else???

chikoo

I know....I was just.....

btw, what is tahd?

chikoo

TAHD.....hmmm....
I will have to ask my Fathers sister about this, since they are assigned the task of giving names.

mdaffron

Brain isn't engaged just yet today.

Sorry.

chikoo

where is it lost?
any problems?

boggse

Time for a new clutch! Or maybe it is a problem with the slave cylinder...

Back on topic:
Has anyone else seen the clutch shudder problem on their 2001 ES or LX 2.0?

mdaffron

Only present in '65 and older models.

They've issued a TSB, but I don't want to pay for it and prefer to wait for the Recall. (Note the capital "R.")

Meade

mdaffron

That's scary.

Meade

boggse

You're telling me.

mdaffron

I did.

mdaffron

Where's Paul?
And where's Larry?

Dale's been sighted over on the Posse, so we know she's not lying prone on the kitchen floor with maggots squirming in and out of her nostrils.

Did Paul and Larry run off to Mexico together?

Meade

the_big_h

dale, pete, and etc will be driving their Proteges to the Chicago Mazda Rev-It-Up tomorrow.

Anyone want to do an over-under on how many cones Dale will kill?

chikoo

the 2003DX, although very quiet, was not quite the Protege that I have fun driving, i.e my 99 ES.

Why?
1. It has gel seats with no bolsters
2. sways and rocks over undulations, making me feel queasy
3. straight line control was less than zero

mdaffron

Is speaking of Dale's cones somehow more on-topic than speaking of her maggots?

Meade

mdaffron

You sure that's a Protege and not a Buick?

Meade

chikoo

before I wrote that down.
I could not believe it myself.
I was ashamed of showing that car to anybody.

mazdafun

I think they should test the light truck tires at 85mph, as the fastest vehicles I see on the road around here are SUVs and pickups. I think 75mph for the passenger car tires is realistic. I wonder if they use any lateral loads to simulate cornering? How about when people scuff their sidewalls on curbs? Will they be tested on textured rollers to better simulate actual road conditions and throw in some potholes, sewer covers and the like?

This just might kill off the 4 tires for $99 special that are so dangerous.

While they're at it, how about regulating the quality of retreads? I see retread carcasses all over the roads around here.

On a Pro-related note, the Dunlops on my '99LX are still pretty good at 45000 miles (put on at around 20000 miles, I think, so they're going on 25,000 miles and look to have at least another full year or so left, so they should last over 30,000 miles). Wear is still very even as of the last rotation. Not bad for a performance all-season tire. I guess there's enough difference between Meade's and my tire sizes that I'm getting an entirely different experience from him. I think I'll stick with them (SP Sport A2) the next time around.

protegextwo

Meade and company:

Greetings folks! Hocus and I just returned from our 3rd annual Sports-Economy Car Club of America sponsored clothing-optional Caribbean cruise. We sailed on the USS Otis Baker out of Port Saint Lucid, Florida and if you ever get a chance to travel on a Rendezvous Cruise Line do it! Rendezvous Cruise Line is a budget operation with Champale like accommodations. We had a great time! We got to attend prolly 6 or so VeeDub Jetta Seminars and one really neat do it yourself seminar on Fire Proofing your Mazda Protégé. I got verrry sunburned so I gotta go rest. See ya all real soon.

Bo Voyage!
Old head

vocus

No weddings, just work, work, and more work...

cwmarsh1

Meade,

In post 21755 you were talking about protection for the front edge of you hood. I had the same problem with my last Protege so this time I installed a lexan hood deflector from a company called Benevento on my 2003 Protoge and so far so good. My car is black so the black colored deflector blends right in but it also comes in clear and can be painted to match the color of the car.

-- Chris

mdaffron

Unfortunately it's too late for my 2000 ES, but I will keep that company earmarked for my next car.

Meade

jlewelling1

I have to buy a cheap reliable sedan and am considering a Protege, Corolla or Civic stick shift.

I'm thinking that the Protege may be the best bet given the big back seat and the handling--it should be more fun to drive than the Corolla or Civic.

mazdafun

More room than the Corolla in the back too, if that's important to you. Its rear seatbacks fold down more than those in the Corolla as well. I also found the tilt/telescope steering wheel in the Corolla was still too far away for me when I adjusted my seat for the pedals.

I'm not sure of the Civic's rear seat. Some have complained about the angle of the bench in it, though I didn't find it that uncomfortable (it did seem more sharply angled, but not enough to bother me for the short time I sat in it).

Try before you buy, of course. Some penalize the Protege for its stiff suspension, but I find it sporty and communicative, not at all harsh.

mdaffron

I'm in Richmond.

Meade

jlewelling1

I live in Northern Virginy. So close to the border I can see them Yankees across the river in Maryland!

mdaffron

I took the U.S. flag magnet off my wife's Protege5 a few months ago to clean under it, and found that water that had seeped under it had done squirrely things to her paint. It took about a half-hour with Meguiar's cleaner wax to bring it *almost* back to new. And the flag was only on there for about two months.

Nope, if I put something on, it's gonna be airtight.

Meade

mdaffron

My older brother lives in Herndon, and Ashu lives not far from you! Maybe we'll get a chance to meet sometime, either personally or at one of our annual (or more frequent) Protege get-togethers.

Meade

chikoo

You stick it on your hood to protect it from tiny rocks. Alright. I can understand that. But the day u take it off, the front portion of your hood will be a darker shade than the rest of your hood+car.

Plus, like meade pointed out, water and moisture and dust starts building up at the edges and unless u take the bra off every week to clean, it is going to be just as harmful as no bra.

I have a bra on my taurus "glued-on" by the previous owner. I can't even take that thing off!!

ashutoshsm

chikoo

unless we follow rob schneider and become one of them

mdaffron

A "Pro-ssiere" ...

Meade

boggse

a Pro for short?

laurakat

Hi all,

I signed up for Mazda's Rev It Up even in Bensalem, PA near Philadelphia. For those familiar with that area, any suggestions for a good, cheap hotel/motel? I'm not real picky, just need a clean bed. Oh, and no cockroaches please!

Thanks,
Mike

the_big_h

and coming home that evening.

from Northern VA!!!!

laurakat

I'm coming in from Detroit EARLY Friday morning around 3 AM. My registration time's at 2:20 PM Friday. People who've driven that route tell me it's about 8 or 9 hours. If I leave Detroilet at 3, that'll give me 11 hours to get there. I'm staying overnight on Friday and will head back to MI early Sat afternoon. Need a place to crash Friday, but couldn't find any hotels in Bensalem. Not sure what's around there.

fowler3

Check a recent road map, look for major intersections on highways, there should be motels around those. Check major motel chains on the internet for locations near Philly. Reserve early
as they may fill up with commercial travelers and early tourists. Many stop around 4:30PM and leave at dawn.

Best Bets: Best Western, Holiday Inn Express, Ramada, Comfort Inn, etc.

fowler3

fowler3

I was dead? LOL! Having trouble connecting to anything on the Net now. Time to upgrade to the G4.

Edmunds.com is about the only URL that doesn't crash my old Netscape 4.5.

fowler3

boggse

Why stop there? Apple just announced the G5!

You could always get a in-car system that lets you browse the internet over wireless. That way you could upgrade your internet experience and your Protegé at the same time.

mazdafun

In the interim, you can get cheaper G4 towers.

Those G5s sure have nice specs. (drool). But the industrial design leaves me feeling kind of cold. The innards sure look easy to work in though. Very clean, very accessible looking. Can't wait to check one out. However, I'm partial to the all-in-one and laptop systems as my desk is quite small (it's the assemble-it-yourself one I used in college). The G5 may not make it into a portable for a while, but I can see them placing it in the iMac. I'd go for that.

chikoo

>>> but couldn't find any hotels in Bensalem. Not sure what's around there. <<<<

There are all sorts of inns and motels in Bensalem. Where did u check?

Comfort Inn Bensalem
Street Rd & US 1
Bensalem, PA 19020
Phone:(215)245-0100

Hampton Inn Phl Bensalem
1329 Bristol Pike
Bensalem, PA ZipCode
Phone:(215)245-5222
Fax:(215)245-1314

Holiday Inn Phila Northeast
3499 Street Rd
Bensalem, PA ZipCode
Phone:(215)638-1500

Holiday Inn Philadelphia
3499 Street Rd
Bensalem, PA ZipCode
Phone:(215)638-1500
Fax:(215)638-8547

http://www.switchboard.com/bin/cgidir.dll?PR=110&ST=1&C2=- motel&HA=1&CHKLIST=27&NN=10&SK=3*4991928*04005000- 03EF2E3D021303EF2E3D021303B2D43B021303EF2E3D02130BEF423F&MEM=- 1&CID=29&T=Bensalem&S=PA&QV=07EEA2396EBFF13E25303- 203O03EE2E3D72BFF13E55303203

laurakat

Thanks for the list. I checked Orbitz for Bensalem, and it didn't recognize the city. I didn't really check elsewhere yet. Too busy at work trying to complete a high priority project.

meinrad