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Mazda Protege5
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Comments
Insurance-
I didn't realize the average age for this car was in the 40's. I assumed it would be in the 20's. (I'm helping to raise the average.)
DJL
Even with higher insurance, the P5 will be cheaper than the other cars I am looking at. It is discounted now, but that mazda3 looks inviting. Might have to wait for that.
http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl_4dr.htm
Went from S.A. Tx to Rocky Mtn nat'l park in Colorado, and through Carlsbad NM. Total mileage of 2,299 miles..about to turn over 4k miles on the car at the end of the week.
The car swallowed all of our hiking gear with ease,(packs,bags,pads etc)..just folded the seats down flat...good to go.
** i didnt realise, but the entire lower seat cushions come completely out with ease,** that was useful.
The long haul was comfortable...but the real fun came from the winding roads. Just like you guys said....she may not have the power, but she's wicked on the curves.
Those winding roads going into and out of the CO national park were a hoot.
My car felt a bit sluggish on some grades, but i chalked it up to the fact that my 'best friend' filled her up with 85octane instead of the recommended 87. I hope that's not too terrible of a thing.
Fuel : In Colorado, 85 87 89 was the standard levels. In NM 86 88 91. So i went with 88 there.
My best mpg was 36.34 mpg driving from amarillo, Tx to Colorado springs. This is also my "new car record."
ROAD TRIP DAMAGES :
1) Friend backs over camping sign post leaving green scratches on right rear quarter panel.
2) Friend puts low octane into tank ?
3) Friend has rock thrown up from car ahead and
chips front windshield.
thanks bud.
Anyhow..was a great road trip. I think the most fun driving was the winding desert road leading up to carlsbad caverns in new mexico...was 2am...no traffic...dark...speed limit suggested at 30mph..we were doing 55/60 with gusto!
bad bad bad...but memorable! And didnt come close to hitting that jack rabbit.
Also slalomed some road construction cones on an barren highway road somewhere in north Texas at around 70mph. (i say slalom, but was just weaving in one, out the other...) still a first for me. (bad bad bad)
PS. I'm not a really a 'car guy' though this purchase is rapidly pushing me that direction...what do you guys think about the feasibility of 'small upgrades' like a cold air intake and some sort of exhaust?
What brands are reputable? Does an exhaust actually help or just change the pitch? I kinda like being quiet...but quiet and faster would be neat.
Oh...and typical prices for easy upgrades or posting some sites you enthusiasts browse would be helpful.
I saw the turbo kit mentioned earlier on flying miata/protoge...but a 3k upgrade is more than i really deem necessary right now.
PPS.
Do 'sport wagons' qualify for 'limo dark' tinting in the back like many SUV's? And how do you folks post pics on here?
Sorry so long a post!
Jason
Do not get the turbo right now, unless you want to void the warranty.
Bruno
No, because the car is fortunately equipped with anti-knock sensor. Notice that in the mountain, the octane requirement is generally lower (lower air pressure and temperature).
Bruno
I know this road and I was visiting the same cavern not long ago. On the way back from the Guada-Loupe mountain to Hwy I10 (Texas), there is a small desertic road with no trafic what so ever. I reach the max speed there (electronically limited). It read 111mph!
Bruno
Bruno
Bruno
Bruno
Dinu
If it bothers you too much, get a pair of polarized sunglasses. They should eliminate much of the glare off the IP bezel and off other cars' glass. Check them at the store. Sometimes, cheaper ones don't orient the direction of the polarizing material correctly. Find a spot that reflects glare (preferably the floor or something horizontal) and rotate the glasses clockwise while looking through each eyepiece. The reflections should be greatly reduced when the glasses are held as if you're wearing them and then increase as you spin them about to about 90 degrees and then drop again when the glasses are upside-down.
Bruno (who uses to own a Honda)
The one I'm looking at has the ABS/SAB package and I'd rather have it over a 6 without them (very hard to find this year). Even though the monthly payment will be almost identical.
BTW temps were in the 90's and I didn't have any problems with A/C temps.
http://www.miata.net/garage/drl/DRLs.htm
I would like to know which car in the economy class has the best insurance rates...
Edmunds used to list the relative insurance cost of a particular model, but I cannot seem to find that information anymore.
This is a great feature: no insipid beeping to "inform you" that YOU need to turn off your headlights; you can just leave the headlights in the ON position forever and use them as daytime running lights; and likewise, you'll never forget to turn them on at dusk.
The P5 doesn't do this. And it hurts. True story: last week I drove down to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the Washington D.C. Mall. I got a primo parking space literally in front of the White House (on Constitution). Unbelievable. And in my haste, I forget to turn off the lights in my P5. It's 85 degrees outside, and in 3 hours flat the car's battery is entirely wiped out. The White House police can't help us -- they're no longer permitted to jump cars after one of the senior officers got hit in the face with an exploding battery. A person in a Prius tries to help us jump but, for reasons I can only attribute to the Prius's hybrid status, his lead acid battery won't do the job. Finally someone else helps us jump, in the mean time creating a major traffic jam between the White House and the Washington Monument. People were not amused.
It is SO OBVIOUS that the Corolla's headlight policy is Correct and the P5's headlight policy is Incorrect that I'm wondering why in the WORLD Mazda hasn't adopted it. The only thing I can think of is that Toyota might hold a patent on it. Anyone know?
I turn my lights on when I want them on and off when I want them off.
The less the car does by itself the better as far as I'm concerned.
This is not to say that the P5 isn't a very *very* good car. It is. It's a great car. But the Civic is the single best car on the market, and has been for quite some time now. It has a gas mileage much better than the P5, reliability at the same level as the P5, crash results that are better than the P5's, better emissions, etc., etc. You can't compare the P5 with the Civic on simple drive-around-value because you can't compare *any* small car with the Civic on this metric.
So why do I have a P5? Two reasons. Reason one: the Civic doesn't come in a wagon. The SI is interesting, I guess, but it's tiny and of little real functionality. Reason two: the Civic isn't fun at all. It's a profoundly boring, unimpressive car. The P5 handles far better than the standard Civic does. It's enjoyable to drive, and the Civic is not.
So that's why I went with the P5 ultimately: it handles better than anything in its price and function class (from the Civic to the Matrix -- no, the WRX is $8000 more), and has as good or better reliability than all of them. If you're looking for a fun wagon that is still reliable and well-built, well, Honda doesn't make one of those.
I am interested in both the P5 and Matrix XRS. P5 will be cheaper, but cost more to insure (according to my insurer). P5 will offer better mileage, the XRS more room.
There are a couple of issues that may swing me to getting the P5. The XRS is damn hard to find in my region. The 2004s do not exist in my region at all. There might be an 2003 around somewhere.
The Matrix gets dinged on driver position and engine buzz. These might turn me off, but I want to at least give the car a try.
As for the Civic, you say it is a clearly superior car, yet you point out the very areas which make the P5 the superior car for you. I found the build quality on the 2003 Civics I drove to be unacceptable. Perhaps if I were shopping for a Neon, I would have had lower expectations. IIRC, C&D found the same thing in their last small car comparison test. Emissions are the same as both cars have ULEV engines. About the only areas I see the Civic being superior to the Protegé5 are fuel economy and sheer boredom. If you drive the Civic as if you were trying to get the same amount of torque out of its engine as the P5 has on the low end, the fuel economy advantage would mostly disappear as well. I think Honda has slipped a bit compared to the other offerings out there (Hyundai Elantra anyone?), and the Civic is no longer the clear winner in this segment. There are several good cars that are right up there with the Civic, if not better.
The engine in the Matrix I drove was VERY buzzy. I didn't have a problem with the driving position but, I didn't drive it for hours.
In hindsight, I'm really happy I didn't get a Vibe though. The P5 is a blast, IMO it looks alot better and Vibes are a dime a dozen here. (5 miles west of...Pontiac, MI.)
Edmunds recently did a small sedan comparo -
http://edmunds.com/reviews/comparison/articles/100022/article.htm- l?tid=edmunds.e.comparison.content...Honda*
Personally, I think the Civic rides quite nicely for what it is. The other thing it has on the P5 is resale value. I sold my 2000 DX hatch with 50,000 miles on it for $7800. I put $2000 down on it and owed $4200 when I sold it so, I was pretty happy to be $1600 in the black. But, it wasn't nearly as fun as the P5, not by a long shot.
I was surprised to find that the driver's door can be closed shut AND locked simply by pressing down the lock button on the interior window sill and then closing the door.
This is in SHARP CONTRAST to every single other car I have seen, in which one has to LIFT UP THE OUTSIDE DOOR HANDLE when shutting the door.
Is my experience normal - i.e. no need to lift the outside door handle? Or should the door only be lockable when lifting the outside door handle?
Thanks!
VAPROTEGE5
I was quite impressed, to be honest--I figured I'd be removing the front tires.
Bruno