The 2002 Mazda Protege5 is the first of several vehicles to come out as a supposedly new twist on a station wagon (or sport wagons, as the industry likes to call them now). The other two are the '03 Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix twins which I am eagerly anticipating. The Vibe has a sporty-aggressive utility purpose with optional AWD and will be available with 17 inch wheels and 1.8L 180-hp four that can be had with a 6-speed. The Matrix will be aimed for the same purpose and shares the 1.8L four (borrowed from it's sportier sibling, the Celica) making the same power and will have and it's 6-speed, and sports a more euro-cool look, complete with 17-inch wheels and those Altezza clear taillights.
From the front, you can't tell the Protege5 is a wagon, it's got a sharply raked nose with angular headlights and large attention-getting foglights with a large grille. It's really a nice, sporting look and I'm sure will convince many out of their RAV4s and CRVs in favor of a vehicle that is more economical and has the same utility but is fun to drive. The nose flows back to a raked windshield and flared wheel wells to smooth doors to the wagon-esque tail (complete with a cute little spoiler). It's got prominent red rear taillights with clear lenses over the turn signal. It's also got nice-sized wheels; 195/50R16 16-inch tires on your choice of alloy or chromed 5-spokes. It's a looker, not exactly a traffic stopper but it gets noticed.
The interiors' just as cool as the outside is, with high-quality materials used in the dash and a good seat fabric. It's got the trendy carbon-fibre-look trim around the console in the dash and everywhere else is a silver plastic that well, looks like silver plastic. The steering wheel is the 3-spoke leather-wrapped kind that not only looks sporty, it's comfortable and also houses the cruise control. The standard audio system is AM/FM/CD with an option being a in-dash 6-CD changer. It's large and readable with both a large volume and tuning knob. The HVAC controls are also large and readable with dials and clearly illustrated as well. The dash pod houses all the necessary information with a temperature and gas gauge, a digital odometer, a speedometer that reads up to 140 mph, and a tachometer that starts redlining at 6500rpm to the marked 8000rpm.
The car is comfortable to be in. There's a lot of glass to the car so it feels roomy as well as provides a pretty clear view. The seats are fabulous, being firm and supportive and holding you in place. I am easily comfortable in this car. I haven't sat in the middle part of the back seat but it's pretty roomy and fairly comfortable in the other parts. It's a nice-sized car, not huge, but rather cozy. I'd recommend this car more for couples by themselves or one or two kids. Any more and things would be cramped.
It's also very fun to drive and I defintely recommend the 5-speed. It adds a huge fun factor to the car and helps it back up (somewhat) what the aggressive looks suggest. Starting it up, it's quiet, but when accelerating the engine's got a nice note to it, not real loud or aggressive but a nice, responsive, playful sound that makes you want to get into it a little. It rides very nicely, we're not talking Lexus-isolated ride, but firm and connected sports sedanish ride. It's also not death chamber quiet, and you get some wind noise from around the mirrors and the roof rack (which can be removed, by the way) but nothing that's real bad. Another trait that I love about it is it's really nimble. Whether turning around in a parkinglot or merging into traffic, it tucks itself in quite nicely. And with it's wagon tail, you don't have to worry so much about wacking somebody when you've got to move over in front of someone. The sporty, angular side mirrors offer good vision as well.
The Protege5 is only available with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that makes 130 horses (@ 6000rpm) and 135 lb-ft. of torque (@ 4000 rpm). It doesn't sound like much (and it's really not) but I found it could make the car scoot when you needed to. It wasn't hard at all to twirk the front wheels when leaving a stoplight. I also didn't have much problems on onramps catching up quickly to traffic and keeping up. The car loves to travel. I do have the 5-speed which might contribute to that and which I think is much nicer. There is an optional 4-speed automatic available though. A bit of a horsepower bump would be nice though, especially since the upcoming Vibe/Matrix will get 180 horsepower standard. Stopping is also not a problem with standard 4-wheel discs that not only look good, they stop fabulously. The brake pedal didn't require tons of pressure, and neither was it overly sensitive. The 2.0-liter gets pretty good gas mileage as well, achieving about 25 in the city and 31 on the highway (with the 5-speed). The auto gets about 25 in the city, and 30 on the highway.
I think overall the car's a screaming deal. You get a stylish sport wagon with 16-inch wheels, a good motor, a standard CD player, and not two, but three airbags (drivers, passengers, side) keyless entry, a 36 month/50,000 mile warranty and soo much room. Starting at about $16k.
For more information I recommend MSN's Auto feature which will tell you everything else that I may not have mentioned here.
Amount Paid (US$): 17,440
