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Comments
I'm going to be heading down to my dealer's parts department to pick up some touch-up paint this weekend. I hope that I never have to use it, but road construction around here is in full swing. YIKES!
Anyway, I was thinking about getting some of the following items from Mazda for my new baby. Any opinions on the following would be most appreciated:
1. Moon Roof Deflector (Anyone DIY install this one?)
2. Floor Mats (What do they look like for the P5?)
3. Cargo Net
4. Mud Flaps
Zoom! Zoom!
RedShiftEd
Has anyone heard that Mazda may be boosting up the horse power of the P5 for the next model. If so to what amount. I thought I read it somewhere before but I can't find it.
Many thanks
TC1
F.Y.I. while I was looking around for my P5 here in cowtown. I was told that the dealership cannot install MUD FLAPS because of the GROUND EFFECTS. I found this hard to believe untill all the dealership in my area confirmed it.
TC1
Thanks.
MY QUESTION -
Has anyone found a Bike Rack they liked for the "5"? Was it a roof mount or a trunk lid mount? If Roof mount, did you have to buy new crossbars? Did it attach to the factory rails or crossbars?
Has anyone added a DC changer, OTHER than the in dash unit?
This car replaces an 87 Accord Hatch back with 160,000 miles on it. Hope it does as well!
The Cargo Net is nothing special, but it does help keep everything in its place.
I like the floor mats. They seem like they are pretty good quality and they have "Mazda" embroidered into the mat in silver. The good thing is that they are a perfect fit in the driver and passenger wheel wells, but they are $80.
By the way, the touch up paint is usually a special order unless your color was available last year on another car. I ordered that and a set of wheel locks last week and they just came in yesterday.
Hope that helps.
Ricart Mazda in Groveport..."they're dealin'" with the S-plan.
They had the P5 in silver, yellow, red, black and a white one a couple of nights ago. I think they were all automatics, though.
ZZ,
RedShiftEd
Thanks for the info. I'll check on the paint and probably get everything but the mudflaps. Strange about the flaps vs. ground effects, though. I'll take the ground effects over mudflaps, any day! I was more concerned about gravel or road debris flying along the lower sides of the car.
I test drove a different P5 about three weeks ago and the noise from the moon roof was a lot worse on that one. I'm not sure why. I am sure the deflector will cut down the wind noise a bunch. It seems to come mostly from the front roof rack cross member.
ZZ,
RedShiftEd
I'm still looking for a bike rack, either roof or trunk mounted.
Hitch racks usually require 2" hitches. Some will fit a 1-1/4" hitch.
Pick your poison. Roof racks keep the bikes out of your line of sight and keep them from getting damaged by your getting rear-ended. However, you have to get them up there and they make a lot of wind noise and really increase your wind resistance. Expect to carry 2, maybe 3 bikes on a Pro. I like the Mondial and Saris roof racks.
Trunk racks can scratch your paint where the pads touch your car. The bikes are exposed to rear-ending and stick out past the sides of the Pro. However, they're easier to load and there's less wind noise. They're also the cheapest. Capacity ranges from 2-4. Rhode Gear, Saris make nice trunk racks.
The same goes for hitch racks (except the paint-scratching). They can be more convenient than trunk racks in that some can pivot down out of the way of the rear hatch. They cost more and require installation of a hitch. Capacity ranges from 2-5 (typically 2 or 4). Rhode Gear, Saris, Graber make nice hitch racks. However, most don't accomodate "Y" frames or other designs that deviate too much from the traditional triangular truss design. I've heard of one made by a northwestern-based (WA, OR?) company that can accomodate various frame designs, but I don't remember the name. I'll find out from my co-worker who has one.
I'm very interested in a Protege5 with a manual but I will be moving to Los Angeles within a year...Does anyone think it would be foolish to have a five speed there? Is it worth getting the automatic?
Stereo - What is the size of the front door speakers? Has anyone had experience with removing the factory stereo head unit? I will be installing my MP3 Kenwood unit and would like to know if there are any tricks on how to get the faceplate off w/out damaging any parts.. I suspect that it starts by removing the cover wher the MD Player would go...
Dave
Refer back to messages 732, 733, 735 & 738
I got my P5 a couple of weeks ago and I love it. I've got almost 2k mikes on it already.
I needed a roof rack quick, so I couldn't get one of the generic ones and I didn't want to use extra load bars and stanchions. I went to my LBS and found a great solution. He had some mounts for an old Thule system that never quite caught on (Thule Design 800). If you look at the stock load bars on the P5, you'll notice a rubber strip that runs across it. This strip hides a channel. The 800 had a similar channel and this kit fits perfectly. The only catch here is that you have to find a Thule 529 bike carrier and you'll have to shorten the tray (cutting) about 3" to clear the spoiler.
This setup cost me less that $100 for one rack. If anyone is interested, i can get more of these adapters for cheap. You should probably be able to get the 529 carrier used for about $50. maybe try e-bay.
The look is very clean and gas mileage didn't suffer too badly. New engine, one bike (Ibis Mojo, hee hee), and loaded with camping gear on the inside, I got about 26 mpg. That was going about 80 or 90, so the rack is very secure.
Hope this helps.
Those things aside, I love everything about this car - but I will say - I bought it from my credit union autobuying service and I don't think the actual dealer prepped the car beforehand: I had -- 60 lbs of pressure in my tires!!! Allignment was also off by 1/8th. Also couldn't find the seat belt latches in the back, but I dug for them.
Oh...and to that post moving to LA - I live in LA, CA... and I'd go for the automatic all the way.... I love not having to drive a stick shift in this traffic!!
Also - was thinking about getting after market leather - because it can't be factory installed -- but it's just too hot for me. You stick to the seats in the summer, and slide off them in the winter.
Would love to know how other owners are faring as the months pass...
Cheers!
After you took out the phillips head screws, did you pull apart the plastic covers? They hide the bolts that hold the uprights on.
Derek
It's really hard to get a deal in Houston, as car demand is high because of all the flooding we had about a month ago. So I'll be paying MSRP minus the $750 local Mazda "flood rebate" that only a couple dealers are honoring on the P5.
I'm getting a silver 5-speed with ABS & moonroof. I like the black best but black exterior with black interior in Texas? I think not. The dealer doesn't have one of these on the lot (lots of automatics, nearly zero 5-speeds) but located one in San Antonio they're having trucked in for me. It should get here tomorrow, but it might not be ready for a couple days because I'm having the dealer tint the windows (that heat thing again).
One comment on wind noise. I'm getting the wind deflector for the moon roof but I'm curious as to what other people have heard. I test drove two of these, an auto and a 5-speed, both without moon roof, and even at 70-75 mph I could barely hear the roof rack noise, and I was definitely listening for it because of what I've heard on this forum. Is it the combination of open moon roof and roof rack or what?
The same thing happens to BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus, etc. if you have low-profile tires and hit bumps at high speed. I wouldn't hold it against Japanese makes specifically. I've seen a Mercedes S-class in my neighborhood that is just asking for bent rims. Looks like she has 19in wheels with tires that look to be 30-aspect. I've never seen tires like that on anything but "slammed" Civics and pickups before. Looks cool, but I bet it cost a bundle and will likely cost more if she drives on anything but smooth surfaces, Mercedes or not.
I think the P5s have 195/60R16s standard, with an option to got to 17-inch wheels and 50-aspect ratio tires? I personally prefer to stay at 60 and above (ride gets too harsh for my taste), to account for all the potholes around here. I guess that means I'll be sticking with the dinky 185/65R14s on my 99 LX, as the "upsize" option is 195/55R15s.
A friend of mine had purchased himself a brand-spanking new Chevette (they've been known to let go a good one every now and then, probably by accident).
He happened to hit a rabbit that dashed across the street in front of him. Next thing he knows, the front end of his car drops and he's dragging one of his front wheels. Had to tow it back to the dealer. Seems the impact with the bunny had knocked out the suspension of the wheel that ran over it. Naturally, the techs though he'd hit a curb or something. Tough rabbit.
Most cars require you run over a curb or concrete median strip to do that kind of damage (unless you live in NYC, in which case the garden-variety potholes there can do the same thing).
I too don't like the stereo. Are there speakers out there that will significantly improve the sound? Or would I need to add boom boxes etc..... I don't want to spend alot of $ and time, and then not have a significant improvement.
I am a novice to car audio as you my be able to tell.
Joe
With the moonroof open and the deflector in place I still hear a bit of wind noise, but I also notice that the engine itself is a bit louder than my Civic's was. Anyway, I'm torn between the look of the roof rack - which I love -- and better mileage/less noise without it. A toss up.
Only complaint so far - the rear plastic license plate holder sticks out from the hatch at the bottom, so unless you are really gentle closing the hatch, it hits the hatch and makes an unpleasant sound. I guess I got used to slamming the hatch on my 85 Toyota Tercel.
The pressure number printed on the sidewall of the tire is the Maximum cool pressure. Do not exceed this.
Tire pressure varies with temperature. The hotter it is the higher the pressure will be. As you drive the tires will heat up and the pressure will increase (can be several psi). Because of this variable, check the pressures when the tires are cool.
Invest in a good tire pressure gauge and make it a habit of checking tire pressures once a month. It can make a difference in mileage and if a tire is over or under inflated it can spell disaster. (Ford Explorers...)
Sorry for the run on.
Dave
Only complaint so far - the rear plastic license plate holder sticks out from the hatch at the bottom, so unless you are really gentle closing the hatch, it hits the hatch and makes an unpleasant sound. I guess I got used to slamming the hatch on my 85 Toyota Tercel.
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/entry.jsp?source=PE&entry=10415
If you place the one bar across the license plate as they show in the picture, make sure to put something behind your plate so it doesn't start scratching off your paint. I'd personally avoid putting the bar there, since it's basically a "floating" support area. Perhaps it could mount on the lip of the rear hatch below the plate?
Nomi
Nomi
As far as I'm concerned, there are only 2 choices, roof rack and hitch mount rack because of the spoiler. Has anyone measured how much clearance you need to be able to open the hatch. The nice part of the hitch mount rack on my sedan was that even with the bike on the rack I had access to my trunk. I would like to still have access to the hatch with a bike on, but I need to know how much clearance I need. I know some hitch mount racks pivot down, but I don't think that they do that with a bike on.
I think I'm inclining towards a hitch mount rack again, if I can figure out the clearance question. Please keep posting information. I'm very interested in everyone else's solution.
Nomi
I'm interested in tracking folks' experiences with the 195/50R16s, as I'm looking for a P5 sometime before they go to a Focus-based design. Seems most paving companies around here aren't very good. Potholes start showing up within a year of when they repave a road or lay down a new one.
I'm still toying with the idea of going to 195/55R15s from my 185/65R14s (sound small, don't they?) on my 99LX to get better handling in the curvies. Since there're plenty of potholes, ridges, dips etc. in the roads around where I live, potential damage to rims is a concern to me.
Also, I usually won't own a car without getting a maintenance manual for it. Too many "gotchas" if you try to do some things yourself with little knowledge of what you're getting into. Inquired at the local Mazda dealer and was told that the P5 may not have a maintenance manual published at all. Most likely will be some kind of a maintenance supplement on a CD-ROM from Mazda. Thet were unsure if it would be made available to the public or simply be sent to the dealer shops. I find this VERY disconcerting for those of us who like to do our own maintenance on the small things we can attempt on our own. Especially if this signifies a trend in attitude of the car manufacturers... Anyone else had any feedback about maintenance manuals for the P5?
Extended, changed? Thanks.......
We got ours yesterday.
First impressions:
nice ride, lot of car for the money, average audio
system that should be little bit better. My '97 Civic had a better sound.