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Mazda Protegé

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Comments

  • patpat Member Posts: 10,421
    Hahahaha!!

    So what are you saying - if someone in NC wins the lottery after having bought the ticket in Virginia, they could get arrested for being in possession of the ticket??

    Sorry for the OT post, but curiosity has overcome me. Here I am ~30 minutes from the NC-VA border and I know very well how many folks come up here to buy lottery tickets. If it is illegal for them to be in one's possession, why do they do it?? The "possession" thing is overlooked if they win? STO law indeed.

    I seem to remember some dispute between a group of NC residents who had gone in on some tickets together, one of the tickets won, but the designated purchaser held out saying he played that particular ticket separately from the group buy. Heh, if they'd have thrown him in jail for "possession of illegal lottery tickets" that would have been the end of that issue!!
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    Sunil: You're going to enjoy owning this car! I have a 95 DX, with almost 80K on it now, and it runs great. I'm in NoVA too - thought I'd mention that. Do check out the Yahoo! group for info about the MAPP - in the vicinity soon!

    Frank: One MAJOR problem with the Protege is the desire it instills in its owner/driver to go out for a drive under the silliest pretexts, and to take the long route, and drive freeway ramps at higher than the posted recommended speeds. But I agree with ZoomZoom - go out, drive it in all situations - you sacrifice a TINY bit of quietness and comfort, for the rock-solid stability in the (newer, like 2002) ES and its incredible handling prowess (compared to cars in its class - NOT the Audi A4, right maltb, fxashun?)

    Cindy/fxashun: Sign me up for the turbo kit! Wait a minute - I only have a (automatic!) 95 DX. How about a nice new Mazdaspeed Protege instead? Wouldn't (noticeably) stretch your fist annuity either ;-)
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    Doesn't Ford make a (ROTFL) Taurus that they call STO? No - wait a minute, thats a SHO!

    At the NYIAS, they had a NASCAR Ford Taurus, and I went up and chatted to the (Ford rep) person sitting by it. At the end of it I got him to admit that the only things 'Taurus' about it, were its Ford badge, Taurus badge, trunk lid (I doubt he's serious), and perhaps the fact that it was first designed in April, LOL.

    Hate it when people say "Ford Taurus" won so-and-so Nascar race. Ugh!

    Can anyone tell that I just took the time out to catch the (repeat) F-1 Imola qualifying on Speed Channel, and my ears are still ringing at 13K rpm? :-)
  • silentguiltsilentguilt Member Posts: 35
    I will hopefully be getting to the stereo sometime next week. :)

    On a sadder note, today I changed my plugs (man 30k came quick) and noticed that there is a small tear in the plug wire where it folds over. The bummer is - no auto part store around me carries these damn things. And I am afraid to go to the dealer, I don't even want to know what they are charging for them. :( If worse comes to worse I order them from corksports.
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    Most people do ignore the STO law. A man was arrested last month, in King, NC, for possession of lottery tickets. Fined, no jail. NC is a no-gambling state. The man's real mistake was selling VA lottery tickets. For days after his arrest the local TV news anchors reminded citizens that it is against the law -- with big smiles on their faces.

    The former governor wrote a letter to the current governer telling him to have the STO law thrown out, "It's outdated."

    For $300 million most people could handle a year in jail and a fine. And the real way to screw NC is to pay the state taxes in Virginia, they are lower.

    fowler3
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    Sorry about your tickets and having to drive all the way from Atlanta. The "authorities" here are over-zealious at times.

    I moved to NC from VA because I always wanted to live somewhere else just for the change. I don't like driving in mountain country and NC's highways are flat and straight. It's a beautiful state with lots of interesting places within easy driving. But it doesn't take long to realize that not everything here is desireable - in particular -- law enforcement. I think they recruit from the Hell's Angels, from the looks of some of them.

    fxashun, I'm surprised the state police here aren't wearing Dale Ernheart baseball caps with their uniforms. Haha!

    fowler3
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    people go to the International Automobile Shows, in the south, we go to antique automobile shows. LOL Really progressive here.

    This afternoon is the 2002 Automobile Cruise-in with over 200 cars of all makes and models. I'll take pictures. Might see an antique Mazda.

    fowler3
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    Must be hard on you to hear that. My sincere apologies :)

    Dinu
  • fxashunfxashun Member Posts: 747
    I got tickets in NC but none in VA or SC or even MD. I thought that was wierd considering how they hide on 95 between Richmond and DC. I used to "ride the train" on that stretch upwards of 90 sometimes. And I'm not even mentioning the stretch of 85 in VA between NC and 95. With the trees so close to the road it's like tunnel vision when you hit 100 mph. It's a rush. No tickets there either.
  • dinabordinabor Member Posts: 13
    Hi.
    I have Protege, 97, LX. My automatic transmission is shifting (I believe, between 2 and 3 gears) with some sort of unexpected delay. The engine holds some extra revs before the gear shifts to the next step, with some jerky feel. Did someone else have this problem as well?
    If "yes", how bad that can be?
    Thank you, all.

    Dinabor
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    I thought i heard somebody use it on their protege.
    Was it u Fowler?

    How good is it on the Pro's clear coat finish?
    Does it leave any white residue in the cracks between door handles and rubber strips?
    any gotchas with the NuFinish product?

    Appreciate ur feedback on it.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I DID have that problem with my 1999 Protege DX when I had it. I told you all, it did happen. :) Anyway, I traded the car with 38,364 miles and no problems, driven hard. I don't know how they would fix it though, because they never found the problem in my car. Sorry. :(
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Someone mentioned a whisting noise in their 2002 Protege engine. My 1999 DX used to do that too, but it never became a problem.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    I pained both calipers on my 2001 Protege ES yellow (my car was black). It looked pretty nice actually, but it was not easy jacking up the car at all corners, removing the tires, painting the calipers, reinstalling the tires, then going to next one, and so on. It looked pretty neat though. Everyone at MAPP II saw it, and thought it looked neat. You could try that, but I don't know how it would look with the Light Sandalwood (I wouldn't think it would look good).
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    Not in my PRO.

    Paul: You did that? I didn't know your PRO was the "STO" trim. I though that was standard just on "black" cars.

    STO Civic: Saw a silver 1999-2000 Civic with 2 rubber anti door dings reflectors on each door + an extra set of amber front signals mounted below the bumper + glued-on red reflectors where Paul's Jetta has the extra set of European-style blinkers. Funny enough, the windows were 100% DARK tinted. I guess others have to see you as you blindly approach them to get out of the way.

    Dinu
  • zoomzoom79zoomzoom79 Member Posts: 272
    You wanna talk about bad? There was a red 97-ish Prelude in the parking lot today with 2 or 3 different shades of red paint. A body kit that looked like it had been put on by my 9 year old niece. The headlights were all askew. They were sanding the paint on the fenders so it was all dull and tacky looking. But it had that all-important 5 foot spoiler.

    It's official. My old Pro now has a new owner. She sold in only 3 days. The buyer traded in a 96 Protege that was in pretty decent shape for 108,000 miles so hopefully she will be well taken care of.
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I use(d) nu-finish. TONS of white residue in the cracks!! And don't get any on your door handles! Stains pretty bad.
    It seems to have protected fairly well this winter.
    The only thing with nu-finish is that they recommend re-applying it in a week for maximum protection.
    Hope that helped.
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    Any of these polish/wax products will leave white-ish residue in the cracks. Just try to avoid putting it there in the first place. However, it's easy enough to clear these out with a paper towel.
  • mazdafunmazdafun Member Posts: 2,329
    No major problems (like rear wheels falling off or fires starting in the engine bay or the cabin...after the air bag goes off accidentally). It's a very reliable car, IMO, and statistically too.

    Its ride is stiffer. Price to pay for the good handling AND greater roll resistance (the Focus handles as well -or better, according to some- but leans a lot in turns -too tippy for my taste-). However, it handles very well, has good pep below 75mph (w/o having to get near the redline, if you're not into that), great steering response, is fairly economical and has very good modulation in both the accelerator and brake pedals. Inside, I think it's one of the best-designed cabins, seating-wise and control and visiblity-wise. I don't fit comfortably in the Sentra, Corolla, Impreza, Cavalier, Focus (seats), for instance. All cars supposedly in the same class, but they all feel much smaller to me.

    I also suffer from the need-to-drive the long, twisty way on little real justification malady. :)
  • rbrooks3rbrooks3 Member Posts: 174
    I second what Mazdafun said and I'll add that you are getting a very good price. I shopped quite a bit and my 02 ES 5spd cost me 16,600. Our cars seem equally optioned, you got the outside temp/compass deal which I don't and I got the wheel locks and factory alarm which I did not see you list.

    Since it sounds like you use the car as a daily comuter as do I, you're making a fine choice. The Pro is very nimble for an econo car, the tires (dunlops) are grippy even in the wet, you've got 4 whl discs with ABS and those factory 16" rims look good too.

    Other pluses I've noticed is that the seats are supportive (although they could use larger side bolsters to add real world holding to the better than average handling, all the switches are thoughtfully laid out and the sunroof with its built in pop-up wind deflector is by far the best factory unit I've experienced. This is the first one that I did not have to go out and buy a wind deflector for (that includes 2 Hondas and one Subaru. Gas mileage eeks up after a short break-in. I'm averaging right about 32mpg, mostly highway, but some stop and go.

    The engine has good low-end torque. The shifter is a bit notchy, but this may need some wearing in as well. Mine only has just over 3,000 on it. I'm changing over to a full synthetic for the tranny case shortly.

    Overall, a commuter car that is noticeably more sporting than the others in its class. Makes driving to work or around town on errands a step above the hum-drum. You'll notice and be happy with the difference between it and your outgoing Sentra.

    Ron B.
  • the_big_hthe_big_h Member Posts: 1,583
    you guys double-teaming on the jetta folks? ;)
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    I posted this on the P5 side and there is less talk there than here today. Maybe this will give something to talk about today?

    I went to an autocross (I think this is what it is called, driving through pylons on a marked course) on the weekend and it was really exciting. There was one Mazda GLC that looked like it was set up for racing (stripped, roll bar, only a driver's seat, you get the idea) that was at the event and lots of other cars from a Suzuki Swift 1.6 to a brand new Corvette with a race motor (read tonnes of hp and torque). I didn't enter my P5 but really wanted to see how I would do. There is another event in two weeks that is for practicing before the races start for the summer. Someone was nice enough to take me around for a race lap in their Z28 and it was a very quick sub 50 seconds. I've always thought that race car drivers are in great shape but this give me a new level of respect for them as what I had the chance of doing is nothing even close to what its like in a F1 car. Has anyone ever done this with their P5 or any other car? What do you think about this? For those in my area (London Ontario, Canada) these events are held at the Delaware Speedway race track in Delaware just outside London. Their website is "www.wosca.com" if you want more info.
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    Hank (the_big_H) here has gone in autoX before with his Pro...which I can't remember what kind it is right now (Sorry H). He should have some good info for you if you ask him real nice :D
  • the_big_hthe_big_h Member Posts: 1,583
    I'm autocrossing my 00 ES right now, next race is this Sunday 4/21, at FedEx Field in Landover, MD (I can't wait!!!). It is A LOT of fun. At my last event there were 3 Proteges running including myself, which was really cool.

    haven't seen a P5 doing it, but that should be really cool!

    good luck with your autox, and remember, autocross is 90% driver, 10% car :-)

    to whet your appetite for autox, here are some pics from the previous 2 autox event I've participated in already :-)

    http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291955941

    http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291955929

    hot damn PF you sure are quick with the keyboard!
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I'm bored :D
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    I know auto-x success depends heavily on driver skill, but how do the Proteges do compared to other cars in their class?
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    The event I went to didn't have any stock Protege's but did have two stock (I believe) Civic SIRs (SI in the USA). You could tell that the two Civic drivers had different skill levels by the way they went around the track. I didn't check their times but would guess there could be 3-6 seconds difference. I hope to be doing this next time (only two weeks away) and then can hopefully judge my times against theirs. I know that I may not be as good as a driver as some but I will try to factor that in plus this will be my first time doing this. I guess the only car that was close to the Civic was a Subie RS 2.5 (the two door version) and he looked very close to the same time.
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    I've got these really thin scratches on my windshield. The only thing that I think they could be from are a)snow scraper or b)windshield wipers. Does anybody know of any way to get rid of these? The only time I can really see them is if the sunlight is directly ahead of me.
  • cdnp5cdnp5 Member Posts: 163
    I checked out those pictures and that makes me want to go right. Thanks for those pictures and the encouragement. I seen your point about 90% driver and 10% car. I'm sure if I drove that Subie WRX (very modified) that my times would have been alot lower than his.
  • the_big_hthe_big_h Member Posts: 1,583
    Proteges, when in the hands of a good driver, performs extremely well. at the march 23rd meet, the other 00 ES (silver, all stock except DOT-legal race tires) that was at the event ran some of the best times for our class (H-Stock) that day.

    If it wasn't for the Mini Coopers that the event sponsor (Mini of Sterling) were running and categorized as a HS (that car should be categorized much higher than HS, it's an awesome handler), he would've easily won the class that day.
  • chikoochikoo Member Posts: 3,008
    newcar31 and Mazdafun,

    does the product harm the clear coat in any way?

    Is there any better product out there which is just as easy to use?

    what does everyone use?
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    I was told turbos perform differently depending on the temperature and pressure gradients. So a Jetta revving hard while it falls a few thousand feet while it accelerates at 9.8 m/sec^2, with a few sensors in it should make for a really interesting (and expensive) experiment. Perhaps VW of Mexico would be happy to sponsor it, even!

    ;-p
  • ashutoshsmashutoshsm Member Posts: 1,007
    write VW of "Mexico" in my last post? darn - mind-over-keyboard just doesn't work.

    Now, if only there were a way to edit that post and change my post to read VW of germany ... ;-)
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    LMAO!! Should be a spectacular explosion with all that extra air from the turbo :D
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    it's 82 degrees in Minneapolis. Exactly two weeks ago, it was snowing.
  • dsm6dsm6 Member Posts: 813
    If you MAPPsters are going to have a torque-a-thon, I think I'll come - with the Protege, towed by the F250 Diesel. Over 500 lb-ft of torque at under 2,000 rpm. I'll take you all on, Paul included, at once!. ;-)

    Oops - too far to go (I live in Colorado). Oh well.
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    Dang! You're driving to MAPP? What about CRAPP (Chicago Regional Area Protege Picnic)? That acronym was made up by Meade by the way.
  • vocusvocus Member Posts: 7,777
    Newcar: ChiPro is flying here, not driving. Of course, I am driving to Chicago on Memorial Day Weekend. Should be a nice drive from Md., halfway across the country. Can't wait. :)

    DSM: That's too funny. :)

    PF: I am actually bringing a friend with me. I met the MAPP crowd before, they are pretty dosile once Larry starts passing out the sangria. :)
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    Well sounds like it's going to be a great time...just a little far for some of us Canucks though :(
  • newcar31newcar31 Member Posts: 3,711
    Not sure. I'm not in that kind of finance.
  • yooper53yooper53 Member Posts: 286
    I'm not squawking about it but I'm with vocus on this one. My former Furd V6 Contour, at least several hundred pounds heavier with 40 additional horsepower got virtually the same highway mpg as my '01 ES.

    FINALLY...got the alloys and Dunlops back on and its once again the sweet lookin' Pro I got back in June. Its 73 degrees,I had the roof open for the first time in a hundred years and all is well with the world! :o) :o) :o)
  • chicagoprochicagopro Member Posts: 1,009
    Todd: CAPP (not CRAPP, thanks anyway, Meade) is on April 27th...we're still trying to drum up some business.

    Michael: If you guys organize a Western Canada Protege Picnic, I would show up. Maybe not in my car, but I would be there. I've heard your part of the continent is really beautiful. And we all know that when it comes to Proteges and chatting about them, Dale is something of a...ahem..cough, cough...well, you know... ;);)
    --Dale
  • protege_fanprotege_fan Member Posts: 2,405
    You're hardcore!! :D
    Well, I know one woman that used to work with me has a P5 (copy cat...she got black after seeing mine!), my cousin has a Yellow P5, and Duh_ster has his '01 ES. That's ALL the people that I know that have Pros. Now I know there's more owners in Calgary...but none seem to have any interest in getting together for a Pro meet.
  • chicagoprochicagopro Member Posts: 1,009
    Dang...well, let me know when you get those folks organized.

    :)

    --Dale
  • protegextwoprotegextwo Member Posts: 1,265
    NUFINISH"Does it leave any white residue in the cracks between door handles and rubber strips?"


    YES


    I use Klasse-All-In-One, available at....


    http://www.properautocare.com/index.html


    Read about it at.........


    http://www.properautocare.com/klasconkit.html


    The ease of use, protection, shine and depth of shine are top box.


    -Larry

  • zoomzoom79zoomzoom79 Member Posts: 272
    some crazy things go on in that head of yours
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    I'm in Toronto. When is the London auto X? I'm free after May 7. If there are any Sunday autocrosses I would be willing to come and see what the PRO can do on a real slalom course, not Corolla course that I'm usually driving on in TO.

    Dinu
  • dinu01dinu01 Member Posts: 2,586
    Slapped one hubcap on the PRO. Looks sharp after 3 mths of driving with a badly cracked one.

    How are your Mike?

    Thanx again Tim!

    Dinu
  • fowler3fowler3 Member Posts: 1,919
    I hate I'll have to go through NC though.

    You don't have to come through NC, you can go up through Tennessee to Interstate-81 and that way. :)

    protege-Fan: You have cattle in Canada? Gee, I thought all you got from them was ice cream direct from the..uhmmm...spicket.

    Yes, I'm looking for some kind of wax to use on my Pro's Sand Mica. Hope you guys have some good suggestions. Wonder if the plastic wheel covers have clearcoat on them? They do have metallic paint. Waxing couldn't hurt I suppose.

    fowler3
  • fxashunfxashun Member Posts: 747
    I used to cut through there on the way to D.C. I'm a 81 anomaly from what I hear. I never saw a wreck and never got a ticket. Not even when I was in a Z3 2.8 and whomped up on a V6 Eclipse. He thought he was rough and tough rolling at 100 mph right before Bristol. Needless to say...Did you kmow a Z3 2.8 has no problem getting 135 right quick?
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