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Mazda Protege5
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Comments
went to Carnegie Mellon U.
currently at WVU School of Med
1. Tire recommended pressure is 32psi. The dealer had about 36psi in them at purchase. What is the optimal pressure for good handling without making them go bald even more quickly than their owner?
2. How long did your first set of tires last, with what did you replace them, and are you happy with the new ones?
3. Will removing the horizontal roof rack rails decrease that infernal wind noise when the moonroof is flipped up? (I sure hope so.)
Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom.
- Dwryter
Well, I have 32psi in my tires, since this is the average pressure on most compact cars. Too much pressure or too little pressure is bad for your tires...
2. How long did your first set of tires last, with what did you replace them, and are you happy with the new ones??
Well, I only have about 2500 miles on my P5, so I have awhile before I have to replace them.
3. Will removing the horizontal roof rack rails decrease that infernal wind noise when the moonroof is flipped up? (I sure hope so.)?
Yes, removing the roof rack will decrease the noise, even elminate it most of the time. I recommend you buy a moonroof deflector. They are about $40 bucks. You can buy it online at www.mazdastuff.com. I have no whistle with the roof rack off and the deflector on.
As for your question about FAQs, www.protegeclub.com has a great FAQ for the P5.
Erik
College: Univ of Pitt - Johnstown
Job: estimator at Limbach Company
But probably need to slow down a bit because of increasing gas prices
Anyway, i've been running 36 PSI for like 3 mths now and no signifcant noticable increase in tire wear. As you said, the max pressure is 51 PSI, so I don't see it'll be a big problem as long as you keep it under 40PSI. (to account for the increase in pressure when the tire heats up)
Naturally, it got GLOWING reviews. They did sorta make it seem like it is only available in yellow (a good lookin color, though).
If you want to improve gas mileage at the expense of most everything else, put on the skinniest tires you can find, overinflate them, and change driving habits. Is this worth what gets sacrificed in the process?
I was thinking about possibly asking the dealer to throw in an extra year or two of coverage as a bonus. However, I don't know what sort of wiggle room dealers have on warranty prices
Erik
The Arctic Alpins were nothing short of AWESOME this winter, but they sure were noisy. Glad to be back to my quiet, summer rubber and sexy alloys.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazdaprotege
Last October we had more than a dozen Proteges of all generations and about 20 people. Let's go for 20 Proteges and even more people this time! Food, fun and fellowship at MAPP III -- mark your calendars and let me know (on the Yahoo group) if you plan to attend!
Meade
Moderator, mazdaprotege group on Yahoo! Groups
For example, the recommended pressure for our P5s is 32 PSI. But if i were to do a plus sizing on my wheels (get larger wheels, lower profile tires, maybe wider too). Should I still use 32 PSI?
Bruno
I appreciated the fact that the P5 was the only car of the three that doesn't require premium fuel. For the amount of mileage I drive a year, the difference between regular and premium fuel is a car payment (about $400).
And I think the P5 is the most handsome (and conservative) of the three.
Also, a heavily-optioned P5 runs about $5,000 less than the WRX, sips regular gas and has lower projected maintenance costs. It's clearly the value "winner." That said, I'd buy the WRX wagon in a heartbeat if I could afford one. :-)
-jim
Also, the may issue of road and track reviews sport wagons. The P5 isn't a part of the regular comparo but a sidebox talks about the under $20k alternatives and calls the P5 the best in that price range, and says the rear-seat room and comfort exceeds the WRX.
The WRX is an impressive car but if you read the WRX boards you get the impression people are getting less than Epa mileage. Picture long trips at 20-25 mpg of premium gas (prices expected to rise this summer) for a car costing $6-7k more than the P5. Still, if you can live with the cost difference and the turbo lag (some say you have to stay above 3000 rpm, some say 4000 rpm) it is apparently a ball to drive. I'm going to test drive the P5, WRX and some other cars.
Stephen
Does anyone think it's worth bothering with to seal the edges?
On the other hand, I wish they had tested the Outback Sport or TS Wagon instead of the WRX. Either of those two would have made a more comparable and interesting price/performance choice when testing against the P5 and Matrix. Seems that with the Subarus, the WRX steals all the attention from the OBS and TS, which are fine cars in their own right.
On a similiar note, the WRX is designed w/a large amount of suspension travel due to its rallying pedigree. This tends to hamper the slalom speeds. Not to whimper or make excuses for the WRX but slalom speed is only one small part of the handling picture. Mind you, the slalom course is on smooth tarmac. Put all three vehicles as tested on less then smooth rodes (can you say "real world")and you will see the WRX well on top. :-)
Stephen
They also made it seem like the Protege5 is only available in yellow.
the_big_h "Mazda Protegé" Apr 8, 2002 10:24pm
Thanks,
Bruno
Bruno
It seems I always see the P5 tested in the yellow color and any WRX tested in the Rally Blue. Like you said, it's as if no other colors exist.
Stephen
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/du_s5000.jsp
www.protege5online.com
Meade
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mazdaprotege
Meade
(And yes, I WILL be counting down to it each and every day.)
Perhaps we can blame mazda for the yellow everywhere. When a magazine solicits a car - does Mazda ever hand them a blue P5? Yellow stands out, but isn't for me.
Re: performance upgrades: I gather we don't know yet whether a turbo kit will ever be offered for dealer installation? The 'performance options' now look like suspension and visual options only.
Does the muffler buy you anything in performance without ECU modifications?
http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5007
One word, Marketing.
;-)
Meade
11,000 km and loving every one of them.
I think your right though if they would have done the comparo as a sport-for-the-money comparo they would have chosen the P5, XR, and the Subi TS wagon. In that comparison I think the P5 would have won hands down.
Has anyone found a place that actually dyno-tested a catback on 2.0 liter engine either in a Protege or Protege5? I would like to know what a $350 cat-back will do for me.