For four years now I’ve been visiting dealerships test driving cars, mostly to review them but also to determine what my next car might be. Ironically, when the time came to actually buy a car I went with one that I had never driven before, Mazda’s about to be discontinued Protegé5.

Why the P5 among the nearly 200 vehicles I have driven over the past few years? In brief, it’s great fun to drive and, right now, it’s very cheap. So cheap--cheaper than used 2002s--that it's the first new car I've bought since 1985. (I usually buy one-year-old cars to minimize depreciation.) So cheap that with the money I saved over my other leading choices (Infiniti G35, Acura TL, Mazda 6) that I might also afford that roadster I’ve always wanted as a second car.

Styling

I’ve liked the look of the Protegé5 ever since its introduction for the 2002 model year. No other car on the road looks like it. The P5 is based on the Protegé sedan, but with a stylishly short (four inches shorter than the sedan) wagon rear end. I especially like the styling of the rear lamp areas, which bulge out a bit beyond the liftgate surface. The overall styling is conservative, with no elements likely to appear dated in the near future. A tasteful ground effects package, large front foglamps, and 16-inch alloy rims are standard. Although this vehicle appeals to younger drivers, nothing about it turns me off as adolescent (in contrast to many Mitsubishis). The overall effect is mildly aggressive and strongly suggests this is a fun car to drive. “Pert” comes to mind. It’s actually quite an achievement that Mazda has wrought such an attractive car from such a simple basic form. The beauty is in the precise proportions and subtle details.

The Mazda3 that will soon replace the Protegé goes off in a different, blockier, less conventional styling direction. In five-door form it looks very much like a less tall Pontiac Vibe. So if you like the looks of the old car you’d better act soon.

Inside the tasteful sportiness continues, with just the right amount of metallic and faux carbon fiber trim to dress up the off-black interior. (No other interior color is available.) The instruments are silver faced with red lighting at night. Time will tell whether the red lighting is easy on the eyes. The cloth seats are passable in appearance, with patterned gray center panels flanked by black cloth bolsters. (The same black cloth is used on the door panels.) Perforated leather is an option. I went back and forth on whether to get the leather, ultimately getting it and now glad I did as it makes the interior feel considerably more upscale. The cloth seats do hold you in place much better during aggressive driving, though. The steering wheel is a small-diameter classic three-spoke design upholstered in a mix of regular and perforated leather. With very thin padding and just the right thickness, it enhances the sporty feel of the car.

Materials are generally acceptable in quality given the price. The dark color makes the materials appear higher in quality than they are. The instrument panel is a hard material that manages to at least appear soft to the touch. (Unfortunately it scratches easily, so be careful with your keys.) The leather is the hard and stiff stuff generally found in cars costing under thirty thousand, but without any of the slickness or shininess that can plague cheap leathers. The cheapest feeling bits are the thin hard plastic map pockets on the front doors. The doors shut with a high quality whoomph but from inside the car the trim panel can be seen to quiver.

Accommodations

For a small car there is a good amount of room in the front and rear seats. The basic driving position is excellent. Although you sit much lower to the ground than in many competitors, the instrument panel is extremely low, affording a very open view forward. The windshield is fairly upright by today’s standards, so the pillars and header are at a comfortable distance from the driver’s face and sightlines. The many pillars obstruct the view rearward a bit, but that’s what mirrors are for.

All is not good about the driving position, though. The center armrest is too small and mounted too far to the rear to be of much use, and the door armrest could be larger and better padded. (But at least it is padded a little bit. I hate hard armrests.)

The front seats are considerably more comfortable than the class norm owing to a good shape and moderate firmness. The seats in a Ford Focus or Pontiac Vibe are vague and mushy in comparison. Lumbar support is not adjustable, but feels about right to me.

Lateral support is marginal. I’d very much like to see larger, firmer, less gradual bolsters. The cloth helps. On the leather the driver slides more easily, especially if wearing slacks. Still, over time I adapted to the seat, or it adapted to me, and I found myself sliding less. Instead, in hard turns I now feel my torso being rotated a bit by the G-forces but then taking a set within the curve of the seatback. I'd still like to actually feel some bolstering just under my armpits, as I did with the Contour, but suspect that most people will prefer the more open design of the P5's seat.

The height of the driver’s seat is manually adjustable front and rear. Even in its lowest setting the front feels a bit high to me, but this is a quibble. Headroom is generous even with the moonroof.

The rear seat is mounted high enough off the floor to provide a good view forward over the front seats, but not quite high enough to provide excellent thigh support for adults. Still, the thigh support provided is better than even most midsize cars. Two adults are the practical limit.

Three children easily fit, though. I initially fit two booster seats and a rear-facing toddler seat back there, currently have three forward-facing child safety seats installed. Attachments are provided for three tethers, though that for the center seat is near the tailgate latch.

I find it surprisingly easy to get my one-year-old in and out of the center seat. The P5 is not very wide, the rear door opening is high and wide, and the ceiling inside is quite high for a car. The result: I can stand at a comfortable angle while getting my son in and out. Much better than with my previous car, a Ford Contour. I also don't envy the parents I see getting children in and out of the third rows of minivans.

The cargo area is tight for a wagon, a byproduct of the stylishly truncated rump. Without folding the rear seats a box containing a 24 by 30 gable vent for my house barely fits. In the trunk of my old car, a Ford Contour, the box barely fit widthwise but left a good half-a-foot lengthwise. To expand the cargo area the seats fold. The cushions must first be tilted forward, so this process is not as easy as in some other cars (such as the Mazda6). Interior storage is passable, with map pockets, a small compartment under the center armrest, and a decent glove compartment.

On the Road

The Protegé5’s engine is not its strongest suit. It is neither especially powerful nor especially refined. Honda gets up to 240 horsepower out of a 2.0-liter four. That in the P5 supposedly kicks out 130 at 6000 RPM.

With 2800 pounds to move, the P5’s acceleration is only adequate. Zero-to-sixty takes about nine seconds, which borders on slow these days. But to be honest I don’t find myself wishing for more power in daily driving. I enjoy the ability to really work the engine without vastly exceeding posted speed limits.

When driven moderately aggressively the engine sounds and feels wonderfully alive, a willing partner. It feels best at half to two-thirds throttle through the midrange. Over 5,000 RPM the engine feels strained, as if it cannot get enough air. It does not feel as if the power peak is at 6,000 RPM. Below 2,000 it lugs. Full throttle produces little more apparent acceleration than two-thirds throttle, but a lot more noise.

A little more top end would be nice. The 160-horsepower engine from the base Acura RSX would likely do well here. The P5’s replacement will offer a 160-horsepower 2.3-liter four. I’ve sampled this engine in the Mazda6 and did not find it particularly sporting, but it might possess a more willing character in the upcoming Mazda3.

I find the engine’s lack of refinement more of an issue than its power output. Much engine vibration can be felt at all times through the steering wheel and shifter—its chatty. But when idling at a light, accelerating lazily with traffic, or cruising along the highway this roughness simply feels unrefined. I’d especially welcome a smoother idle and better driveability at very low speeds, where the powertrain has a tendency to surge and buck.

The manual transmission’s very short gearing helps compensate for the middle power-to-weight ratio. First gear is a stump-puller, such the initially the P5 feels very quick. The disadvantage of the short gearing is that on the highway the engine is spinning nearly 3000 RPM at sixty and nearly 4000 at 80. I haven’t measured fuel economy yet, but I’ll feel quite lucky to get in the high 20s.

Update: Fuel economy for the first two tanks was right at 25 for mixed suburban driving. I'd hoped for better, though this is identical to the EPA city rating. I suspect that the number of miles spent driving nearly 80 MPH (speed limits around here are 70) is the major culprit. One owner has reported getting 38 MPG when forced to drive a continuous 55 due to a flat while travelling.

The transmission shifts easily enough but the shifter feels too tall and the throws too long. To “fix” this I installed a short-throw shifter from TWM (twmperformance.com). I used this company’s second-generation shifter, which cuts throws in half and uses ball bearings to smooth the connection between the shift lever and shift rod. Results are mixed. Throws are now very short, which I like, but the effort increased more than I expected. More than that, the shifter now feels very notchy, sometimes even balky. Some adjustment might be in order, but that will have to wait for warmer, drier weather—there’s too much slush under the car right now.

Update April 2004: The shifter started making a light clicking noise, which I traced to the connection with the rod under the car. Although I could neither see nor feel any play in this connection, apparently there was a bit. I added a turn or so to the bolt, and not only did the clicking almost entirely go away but shift feel and smoothness improved dramatically. I'd be surprised if tightening the bolt took out even a millemeter of play. Amazing how much difference such a small change makes.

The four-wheel disc brakes stop the car well enough but do not feel especially strong. A shame the steering’s quick, firm character is less present here. I opted for the optional ABS.

Beyond the styling of the P5 the car’s best aspect is its steering. Feedback, weighting, and effort are all excellent. Over rough pavement kickback through the steering wheel is pronounced, but to me this is a small price to pay. The ratio is very quick, unlike in high-end German cars that are designed for high-speed stability. Much like its Miata sibling, the P5 reacts immediately and crisply to the steering wheel. There is no delay as the car takes a set. The P5 corners very flatly for a car with more than two doors. The standard Dunlop 5000Ms (size 195/50-16—I’ve heard these are hard to find) do not feel especially grippy. Torque steer is generally absent, likely because the engine doesn’t produce much torque.

However, in hard turns the car betrays its front-drive nature with significant understeer. The front end pushes wide before the rear tires work up much of a sweat. The heaviness of the steering in hard turns compounds this sensation of understeer, such that I find myself wanting to back off well short of the car's actual limits.

Unlike some understeering front-drivers, though, this one never feels as if its unhappily scrubbing along on the tires’ sidewalls. It never feels sloppy. The nose simply does not take as tight a line as you might like it to. On bumpy pavement, and especially on bumpy turns, the suspension could do a better job of keeping the tires continuously in contact with the road. As it is, the drive wheel or wheels often skitter across bumpy pavement when accelerating.

The steering is an RPM-based variable-assist system. Assist seems to drop rapidly once over parking lot speeds, though without the obvious transition of some systems. At parking lot speeds little effort is required to turn the wheel. Above parking lot speeds the effort remains fairly light, yet the wheel provides excellent feedback. One downside: the steering system doesn’t filter out kickback from bumps well. One bump hit on an on-ramp nearly wrenched the wheel from my grip early on. I’ve learned to keep a firmer grip on the wheel in hard turns.

The car handles very well in the snow even on the stock Dunlop tires. On ice it does less well. I’d advise winter tires if you’ll often be driving on icy roads. Back to the snow: I found an empty parking lot covered by a couple inches of snow so I could acclimate myself to the car’s performance in these conditions. I was surprised to find that while braking distances were lengthy, the car was extremely controllable with the pedal to the floor and the optional ABS fully engaged. I could easily steer the car exactly where I wanted to. Even when I spun the wheel further than I knew I should the rear end refused to whip around. In fact, the only way I could provoke the car to spin was by using the hand brake. Even then, as soon as I let up on the brake the car quickly straightened out. It was amazingly easy to control.

Update Feb 04: I’ve had many opportunities now to drive the P5 on snowy and/or icy roads. The stock tires perform much better than I expected them to. Accelerating and braking can be touchy, but cornering is outstanding. So far I’ve never had trouble keeping the rear end in line.

Update Dec 06: The stock tires performed much worse in the snow in their second season. I bought a new house with a slightly inclined driveway, and the Protege5 couldn't get up it in an inch of snow. The following year, I bought winter tires, Michelin Pilot Alpin2s. These greatly improved traction, cornering, and braking on snow and ice. I now wish I'd bought these years earlier.

The P5’s ride is busy over imperfect surfaces but rarely harsh. You feel every bump and pit in the road surface, but as a high frequency of small fluid vertical motions, not as harsh impacts. I do sometimes wish the ride were less busy, but never so much that I wish for a different car.

Noise levels of all sorts (road, wind, engine) are moderately high, especially at highway speeds. I do not plan to use this car for long trips, and anyone needing a car for long trips might be happier with something else.

I usually cannot comment on headlamp performance because I generally don’t test drive cars after sunset. The headlamps in the P5 are nothing fancy, just large halogens. But they light up the road amazingly well. The low beams alone perform better than the high beams on my Contour did. It turns out I’m not alone in this impression. The leading consumer magazine tested the headlamp performance of 41 cars, ten of them with HID lights. The P5’s came out on top.

The P5 is a very fun car to drive, but this brings tradeoffs that will turn off the average buyer. True enthusiasts, though, will be quite happy here.

Update November 29, 2003: I continue to enjoy driving my car. I've commented in many reviews that the general tendency these days is towards greater refinement and less driving enjoyment. The P5's lack of refinement in various areas is the source of much of its character. I've been fearing that with the 3 Mazda would refine much of the fun out of the car. Today I received the January 2004 issue of Car & Driver. They conclude that the 3 feels significantly more substantial and refined than the P5, but is also significantly less fun to drive. The small Mazda's personality is gone. And so I regret to say that what I feared has come to pass. Another reason to get a P5 while you can.

Online Community

Like most small Japanese cars, a number of online forums are dedicated to the Protege. The largest and most active of these is www.msprotege.com, which, which has 8,300 members as of mid-February 2004.

Forums like these are a good place for potential buyers to visit to learn about common problems and popular modifications. Owners can visit to get advice on a problem, learn of local "meets," or simply chat about a common interest.

Mazda Protege Pricing

I stole this car. Base price for most available cars is $17,415 with destination. Early 2003s were $360 cheaper and had the roofrack (later a $250 option) standard. Later cars have a spare-tire-mounted subwoofer as a zero-cost option, so the actual price increase was around $500. Cars like mine produced early in the 2003 calendar year are $100 cheaper than more recent cars.

To find the less expensive cars go to mazdausa.com and search inventory based on your zipcode. Cars with VINs ending 157000 or lower tend to be the lowest-priced cars. The other way to tell is by whether the subwoofer or roofrack is listed as an option.

The major options available include a $690 moonroof and in-dash CD changer package, a $490 ABS and side airbags package, $490 leather, and $500 chrome rims. Less expensive options include a compass/temp mirror, an alarm, and the roof rack. My car came with all four of the pricier options, which to my eye are all very affordably priced. I had the dealer swap the chrome rims off my car (charged me $35 labor and credited me the cost of the rims). This brought my adjusted sticker to $18,985. (Later cars similarly equipped would sticker for $19,085).

Now comes the good part. I have a friend who works for Ford. Any Ford employee or retiree can get you an S-Plan price, which is very close to invoice. In my case this came to $17,598. Even without the S-Plan I suspect you can get within a few hundred of this price.

Then came the rebates. The basic rebate is $2,500 currently. My dealer got $1,000 bonus cash and passed this on to me. (The national dealer bonus appears to be $500 based on what I have read; either the $1,000 was regional or was dialed back within a few days.) I got another $500 because I will soon be completing my degree. (It seems even graduate students qualify for the college grad rebate.) Finally, I got $250 for getting a loan through Mazda Credit. The rate is exorbitant at 5.6%, but I’ll refinance at a rate around 4% in a few weeks. The extra $250 was worth a bit of extra hassle to me. Add it all up and the price to me for a fairly loaded Protegé5 came to $13,343. For anyone who enjoys driving this is an unbeatable value.

Even using the typical price for a late model year P5 based on Edmunds (which includes dealer bonus cash) and only the $2,500 rebate, the price would have been $15,000, still very good for a loaded car that stickers around nineteen. I'd personally expect to pay a few hundred less than this assuming $500 of dealer bonus cash, and about $700 less with $1,000 of dealer bonus cash.

Update 12-5-2003: Edmunds is now showing the correct dealer bonus, and has adjusted the typical price paid to about $14,600. This still looks a few hundred too high to me.

Used 2002s with mileage in the mid-teens are currently advertised on autotrader.com for nearly the same price. And those have only a 3/50 warranty. The warranty on 2003s is 4/50.

The Mazda3 will have the same base price, but options will be a hundred or two higher in most cases. For a car like mine the price will be $600 higher, not much considering the new car’s 160-horsepower 2.3-liter engine and other improvements. However, I doubt the rebates will be nearly as generous with the new car, so the price gap in reality is quite large.

I’ll use the $15,000 figure to compare to other cars. To be fair, I’ll also look at other 2003s when there is some chance these can still be found. Because production of 2003 model year Protege5s ran long to compensate for the late introduction of the 2004 Mazda3, selection will be better than for competing 2003s.

A similarly-equipped Ford Focus ZX5 lists for $18,995. The typical dealer discount (according to Edmunds) and a $2,500 rebate drops this to about $15,400. I prefer the Mazda anyway for its sharper steering, nicer interior, and higher likelihood of being reliable. Also, the Mazda’s more conventional styling should age much better.

The 170-horsepower SVT is a better performer and marginally sharper handler than the P5, with a slightly better ride, but it’ll run about $18,000 even after the discount and a $2,000 rebate.

The reliability of the Focus has been improving according to the leading consumer magazine. But it was so awful in the past and the engine in my Contour went south at 66,000 miles, so I’m just not in the mood to take another chance with a Ford. Add a price lower by $400 to the Mazda’s advantages, and it was a no-brainer for me.

Note: Incentives vary by region. A local Ford dealer told me that the rebate on the Focus is currently $3,500, and I see many dealers on the Internet stating $3,000. So the above prices could be as much as $1,000 too high. Always check thoroughly with your local dealers.

The Koreans are usually the bargain choice, and a 5-door Hyundai Elantra GT similarly equipped does list for $17,014. But, compared to the P5, the Elantra does not look as good to my eye, feels more econo-car inside even with leather, and—the kicker for me—handles much more sloppily. (Ride quality is better, though.) Oh, and the price after the typical discount and a $1,500 rebate is about $14,300, only $700 less than the Mazda’s. (My local dealer no longer has any 2003s.)

The new thing is cars is height. The Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix twins are similar to the above vehicles in length and width, but are about half-a-foot taller. This gives them considerably roomier interiors, at the cost of odd driving positions. A similarly-equipped vanilla Vibe (sans leather—it’s not available) lists for $19,810. The typical discount and a $2,000 rebate reduce this to about $16,700. The 180-horsepower GT runs another two grand higher still. The Mazda is far less expensive.

For far more horsepower than the P5, check out the Subaru Impezza WRX wagon. But be prepared to pay at least $23,000 even after the typical discount and a $750 rebate—and this is without leather or a sunroof, which are only available aftermarket. (I’ve used 2004 prices here because there are unlikely to be remaining 2003s; the 2004 was introduced last spring.) My top priority is handling, and here the Mazda has firmer, more direct steering, quicker turn-in, and a more agile chassis. The WRX’s main advantages are the added balance of four-wheel-drive (though it also tends to understeer when rushed) and an extra 97 horsepower. For me, it was not worth the extra ten grand (adjusted for equipment).

The normally-aspirated Impreza RS sedan is equipped with four disc brakes and a performance-tuned suspension. Sadly, the normally-aspirated TS wagon comes with neither. As a result, while the RS is competitive with the Protegé sedan, the TS is not competitive with the Protegé5.

For more power, or cargo room check out the VW Jetta wagon. In acceleration the 115-horsepower Jetta GLS probably comes closest, as the Jetta’s other engines are far more powerful than the Mazda’s. It lists for $21,820, and costs about $20,200 after the typical dealer discount. To get a performance-tuned suspension, however, you must step up to the turbo, and this takes the sticker to $23,990 and the typical price to about $22,000. Clearly we’re in another league here price-wise. Yet the Jetta does not handle nearly as well as the P5, even with the sport suspension option.

Last Words

The P5 goes against current trends. It is small and relatively light, not very powerful, and in many ways unrefined. All of which make it great fun as a daily driver.

Those who value horsepower and refinement will be happier elsewhere. Those who value sharp steering and nimble handling, however, will be in heaven. I have often written in my reviews that the most fun at legal speeds can be found in modestly powered cars. The Protegé5 is the proof. I personally feel that the car's modest amount of power is a benefit, as I can exercise the engine well within legal limits. All in all, this car embodies nearly everything I’ve written about my ideal car. So I bought one.

The P5 is a flat-out steal right now, the biggest bargain I've discovered in four years of reviewing cars at Epinions. But if you want one don't spend too long thinking about it. Mazda will be delivering no more P5s to dealers. Whatever is there is all there will be. Already I had trouble finding a car equipped the way I wanted it within 150 miles, and the pickings are getting slimmer by the day.

A Note on Mazda Protege Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've started collecting my own data. Results, once they are available, will be posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta will clearly identify what difference it will make if you buy a Protege rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats (among others). You will be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Mazda Protege reliability comparisons.

Before I can report results, I need reliability data on all cars--not just the Protege--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

My personal car has been nearly trouble-free. An ABS sensor replaced under warranty at about 24,000 miles has been the only repair in the first 38,000 miles. All four brakes were done at 37,000 miles, but I consider this maintenance.

A link to my website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Ford Focus SVT review
Hyundai Elantra GT review
Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart review
Nissan Sentra review
Pontiac Vibe GT review
Toyota Matrix review
VW Jetta review

Amount Paid (US$): 13400