![]() The result was the MP3, a brilliant blend of supple ride and athletic handling that emerged as the winner of a five-car hot-compact free-for-all ( "Budget Banditos," November 2001). A little over a year ago, Mazda took its first cut at this project, enlisting the services of Racing Beat, the longtime Mazda tuning shop, to handle suspension development. However, the truth is we've seen this hot-rod-Protegé movie before, albeit at slower speed. In our most recent econobox comparison test ( "Little Cars 6.1," June 2000), a Protegé ES took home the Oscar and has since been updated: more refinement, better handling, more power. Given the foregoing, Mazda could have no more logical starting point than the Protegé, an entry-level compact sedan that also happens to be among the best in its class. ![]() It's called Mazdaspeed, and if it turns out to be a profit center, à la Toyota Racing Development, well, so much the better. It's conceived to demonstrate Mazda's commitment to fun-to-drive, and also to help establish a new performance subsidiary that will sell stuff to young owners who want their cars to stand out from the herd. If zoom-zoom is going to have credibility, some of the other Mazdas gotta get some zoom, too. It's equally clear the Miata can't sustain this image building all by itself. That's what the zoom-zoom ad campaign is all about. PRICE Low end: ’99 DX, 140,000 km, wholesale $2,000, retail $3,625.It's no secret that Mazda wants to be perceived as a purveyor of vehicles that stimulate the driver gratification glands a little more than competing products. NHTSA recall history Fluid leakage could occur on certain vehicles, causing brake performance to be degraded (’00-’01) NHTSA crash-test results Front impact (out of five:) driver/passenger 5/4. TRANSMISSIONS Five-speed manual, four-speed automatic Safety Driver and passenger air bags, ABS (optional on some models) TYPE OF VEHICLE Front-wheel-drive sedan/wagonĮNGINES 1.6L four-cylinder, 105 hp, 107 lb-ft of torque 1.8L four, 110 hp, 122 lb-ft of torque 2.0L four, 130 hp, 135 lb-ft of torque 2.0L four, 140 hp, 142 lb-ft of torque turbocharged 2.0L four, 170 hp, 160 lb-ft of torque Like the lovable Bimmer, the Protege is nimble, quick, fun to drive and can still carry four and their booty in SPECS If you love to drive and can look past the Civic and Corollas clogging up most used car lots, the ’99-’03 Mazda Protege is much like the original compact sports sedan, the ’68-’. With a ride stiffer than that of any Protege to date, the MP3 cornered flat and begged to go apex hunting around every corner. Mazda was trying to appeal to the then-fresh Fast and Furious tuner crowd with a slightly more powerful engine, low-profile rubber on 17-inch Racing Hart wheels, exclusive Laser Blue or Vivid Yellow exteriors and a come-and-get-me-copper body kit with a gaping front air dam and a rear wing on which a 747 could land. A five-speed manual transmission was standard and a four-speed automatic was available.Īlong with a front fascia redesign for 2001, Mazda launched the MP3 model named for the Kenwood MP3-capable audio system. Topline Protege SEs received a 1.8L four with 122 hp. Initially, the 1999-2003 Protege’s base engine was a 105- horsepower, 1.6-litre four-cylinder, with 13 more hp than the previous-generation’s 1.5L mill. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
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