Any Protege 5 oweners out there
 

I am rarely on the forum, but i was wondering about how many protege 5 owners we have on the board. was also curious about the mods that they have on them if anyone would care to contribute.

just got one!

super excited. 03' white

Had an '02 since new. :D

I've got the smaller butt Protege (sedan). 2002, had it for 5+ years!

I have a black '03 with 51k km :fuckyea:

Although, I'm kinda thinking of selling it. Need more space for babies!

'03, no mods.

With a carseat in the back it is a bit snug...but...will have to do with what we have!

Just bought an '03, no mods, red. 77,000kms.
Anyone know what type of roof rack (Yakima, Thule) goes on these, or if anyone is selling one? Or if anyone knows of a good place to get a used roof rack?

Sorry, I meant what roof rack model # and what brand can fit...

currently looking to buy an 02 protege5 in the next few weeks. I've owned accords for most of my life but making a switch to mazda!

Owned an 03 for 7 years and it was a great drivers car. The Mazda 3 is a better car but the p5 is a blast to drive. Never modded it as I found the ride as stiff as I was willing to live with although I should have invested in some engine mods, it's a bit of a wimp in that department.

Aside from power and space, what makes the 3 better? My GF has a 3 GT and I'm thinking of getting a P5 for commuting.

I'm comparing on the basis of having owned a P5 for 7 years and having driven about 5-6 Mazda 3s including the one my brother owns on a fairly frequent basis:

The 3 is better at:
- Much quieter, especially on the highway. The P5 gets real buzzy above 120kph, after a while I just stopped going past 120kph. The P5 is noisy, noisy, noisy!
- Higher limits with the handling.
- Better ride. Much smoother. The P5 (and the Mazdaspeed Protege) were at about the limits of stiffness for a commuter car.
- More "mature" drive. It's not the frisky puppy that the P5 is, it's not looking to dart around all the time so it's relaxing to drive.
- Way better motor (2.3L). Spins up quickly and will rev all day. The P5 sometimes reminded me of a tractor motor in comparison.
- Nicer seats (although the P5 has a very sporty driving position).
- Better amenities.

The Protege 5 is better at:
- Perfect weighting of the controls. Everything feels like it requires the same amount of pressure and weight to use. I drive a TSX now and the P5 beats it hands down in the controls department. Car and Driver called it a Miata in a station wagon body and I don't doubt it.
- Bigger rear seat. I'm not sure what they measure out at but the rear seat of the Protege definitely feels bigger and is easier to get in and out of.
- It's a blast to drive, it's like owning a puppy. Just wants to play all the time.
- Great driving position and pedal placement. I can easily match revs on downshifts because of the setup.
- Better manual. More precise shifter (the throw to fifth is a bit long though) and the clutch has a pickup in the middle. The 3 has a really high pickup that I could never get used to and it feels very unnatural.

Case in point: I borrowed my friends' 3 for a couple weeks recently and while it's a smooth driver I ended up browsing Craigslist for an old Protege to pick up as a spare car because I was reminded why I loved the Protege 5 so much.

As a city car I LOVED the P5, short of a sports car it's as much fun as you'd need. As a highway car I couldn't wait to sell it.

Thanks for such a detailed heads up. I'm DD'ing a civic sedan on race springs right now and am fine with it. I know for a fact that if I pick up a P5, it'll be dropped on MS3 wheels pretty quick. I guess I'll have to do a few test drives to sort it out for myself.

How's fuel economy on the P5 vs. the 3 given the 300cc difference in displacement? I'm guessing the 3 weighs more also?

edit...

P5 - 130hp/135tq, 2716lbs, 8.5sec 0-60est, avg fuel consumption mixed 27mpg
3GT - 160hp/150tq, 2826lbs, 7.5sec 0-60est, avg fuel consumption mixed 28mpg

Hi,

My mom has had a 2003 P5 since new (Fall of 2002) although its only at 100,000kms now. So far so good. Replaced tires once and an 02 sensor and thats it. Kept up with oil changes and whatnot. Had a weird leak that filled the spare tire well with water, but we managed to fix it by reseating the hatchback rubber seal.

Fuel economy isnt as good as we thought when you get a small 4 cylinder japanese car, but it hasnt fazed us really because it makes up for it in reliability, styling, handling, convenience and driveability. It is also very good in the snow.

The one thing that I would love are cheaper tires though....

I just bought a 2003 P5 with 75,000kms and got snow tires/rims.

Neither car is a star with fuel economy, for 130hp it should be better but that motor dates back to the 1993 Mazda 626 where it made 118hp.

Has anyone tried anything to boost fuel economy? ...Other then not being a lead foot.

just picked up the new whip yesterday!

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/z...19/protege.jpg

Nice! That one's from Delta right? Did you buy the roof rack too?

ya, from Ladner. No, he sold them to his cousin or something. Otherwise I was gonna take it.

Cool, ya I saw that online, looks great. I'm still in the hunt for a rack... And some all season tires soon....

Not a lot of options in this size - I got Toyo Proxes 4 which were great rain tires in the beginning but rubbish otherwise. Horrendous light snow performance.

The Kumho Escta ASX was my other affordable option - I've heard good things about them.

I have a 2001 Mp3 which is fairly similar to the P5...bought it new. Almost @ 200K km now and it's still pretty good, except for the suspension clunk

Yah my mom's P5 has Falken 912's on and so far they are pretty good. I might go for those from Volco tires....

She has had them for 3 years now almost, uses them in the winter as well

I've got a faded yellow 2003 p5 that was originally an alberta car. As soon as i heard alberta i should have walked away lol . Its lowered on tokica illumina's and eibach springs. Its got Upgraded pioneer speakers, head unit with a five channel amp alpine amp and the spare tire replaced with 2x 12" infinity subs. Plus a yakima roof rack with ski box and ski carriers. The rust is definietly taking its toll.
Side note, anybody know a cheap autobodyman?