They aren't one-track, that is, and work well whether you're stuck in traffic or barnstorming through the twisty bends of your favorite state highway.īut before we get to said tire scorching, take a tour of the interior.Ĭlimb aboard this spunky econobox and note the doorsills that subtly announce in etched aluminum: MAZDASPEED. The thing is, great cars like the aforementioned Subaru WRX aren't painful to sit in, or to drive. (By the way, get the car sans airfoil and with black paint-a good idea, unless you really like traffic court.) But we've now read in several "enthusiast" magazines about how the car isn't quite this or isn't quite that, with "this" and "that" representing a bad boy mien to match the spicy orange mica paint scheme of our tester and the ridiculous spoiler on the deck lid. Yes, it's been turbocharged, its suspension is stiffer, etc. One thing to get straight from the start-this car is a compromise. Why? Click below to get to the meat of the matter.įrom The Driver's Seat | Should You Buy This Car? | Specs So, how'd the MazdaSpeed team do? Very well indeed-but the shocker here is that this is a car you don't have to be 25 to love. Yes, you want them, but you want them when they become thirtysomething dads, too.
#2003 mazda protege hood mods
Give the car wider, lower tires and a lower ride height, but make sure not to go too far-Mazda is about fun first, and too many mods might result in a four-door that only testosterone-poisoned boys will want. Alter the character of the suspension a bit, too. That is, take what started as a good thing with the MP3 version of the car, and add 30 horsepower (from 140 hp to 170 hp). MazdaSpeed's first mission: Add about $5,000 worth of fangs to the fun little Protegé.
#2003 mazda protege hood full
Which brings us full circle, to the $19,980 MazdaSpeed Protegé and the resurrection of the MazdaSpeed brand, an essentially stillborn skunk works that has knocked off a few special-edition cars in the past but is now charged to be the company's speed-freak fixer, akin to what BMW does with its M Division, albeit for a decidedly rubber- rather than leather-soled audience. Subaru learned just how effective such guerilla tactics can be when sales of its WRX utterly changed the average Subaru aspirant from tweedy college professor types to their 25-year-old recently graduated male students. Also, if you're smart about it, as Mazda is, you don't make too many of your one-off hot cars-say, 2,500 a year per iteration.
Interestingly, the latter may be the cheapest approach of all, at least in the case of Mazda, which already had endemic engineering know-how. Still, getting the buzz among young buyers these days requires either cute design (read VW), expensive marketing or excellent street cred. Golf and Mitsubishi Lancer, neither of which, in base trim, have much going for them once you get past the glam ad campaigns.Īnd the logic of a Mazda that starts by selling small, inexpensive cars to young buyers who can afford them-and eventually sells larger, plusher sedans like the excellent new 6i and 6s-makes eminent sense. , Dodge and Chevy, as well as expertly youth-aimed products, the And that competition includes the likes of Honda, Stack up the newest Protegé versus the competition in the same, $15,000 ballpark, and Mazda spanks all comers for handling and a high fun factor. And Mazda truly has the chops in this arena. We actually think a niche player like Mazda might grow fatter by doing what it seems to do best, which is to sell spirited, small cars that appeal to younger buyers who are generally on a tight budget. Torque-steer, wing on the back, inscrutable audio controls.īut Mazda cannot live by sporty cars alone, right? Well, maybe wrong. Superbly balanced handling, quick motor, ironed-out interior. (The new RX-8 may well live to be as influential, and there will be a reborn RX-7 down the line as well.) The cute Miata convertible is the best-selling sports car of all time, and the RX-7 was one of the best-loved sports cars in recent history. In the 1970s and 1980s, and BMW of late, being small doesn't mean you can't make a big impact.
, by comparison, sold nearly 1.8 million cars (including Lexus) to American buyers in 2002.īut as we've learned from other, once small carmakers, like Last year the Japanese firm that's controlled by Ford Motor-Ford owns 33% of Mazda-sold only 258,213 cars in the U.S.
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