Turbo Protege 2003! It's Official

Any news if it comes in any other color?

And take a look at the 2nd page....CLEAR sidemarkers. hmmmm.
 
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wooo hooo

yea, we get the best of both worlds, ungay blue and yellow, compaired to that orange thing, and turbo from the factory that should be a warranteed part!!!!! :eek: and lsd from the factory, wow things are looking up in mp3land, i like those rims on the mazdaspeed pro though, they're nice, but i like the mp3 ones better, is that pro any lower than ours?
 
better handling according to article

"As they did with the MP3, Mazda and Racing Beat focused their efforts on chassis refinement, suspension upgrades and a high-performance rear muffler. The result is a sport compact sedan with even better handling and overall performance than its predecessor. "
 
damn that new system is gonna be petty cool, detachable face and all

wt? "Head Room (without moonroof) Front / Rear 39.3" / 37.4" oh man thats sweet
 
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High performance rear muffler.....haha what a joke. Mufflers don't do anything but change the sound of the car. $10 bucks say it's the exact same one on the MP3. And unfortunately the clear sidemarkers probably won't make it to final production due to Federal requirements. If you think about it, what car comes with clear side markers in the US....none. You can actually get ticketed for it in Cali if you have a dick cop. Law states that the housing can be clear, but it has to emit amber light when it comes on.

Aside from that article, I'm suprised they're doing it. To bad it might be limited production. Limited production can spell "d e a t h" in the aftermarket department, just as we have learned with the MP3. I can't wait to see what happens though. I wonder if it runs the same transmission as our MP3. If so, the first thing I'd get would be a flywheel. I hope they sell that thing for less than $23k if so, a trade in could be in my future.:D
 
Not to change the subject of this thread, but APEXistud...

Mufflers don't do anything but change the sound of the car.

Ummmmm I think you need to do a bit of research. The design of mufflers dramatically improves or reduces performance. One benefit a muffler has is that it provides backpressure to the engine. In most cases an engine requires some backpressure to operate most efficiently. I am speaking of performance as well as fuel efficiency. If all they did was make the car louder, how do you explain the 8 hp increase in my Mustang's output by changing from factory to a MAC exhaust system, and my 1/4 mile times decrease from 13.49 to 12.78 in my Trans Am (it was my first car and this was many years ago) by removing the mufflers and running open headers? They both were louder but both ran better.
Differences between aftermarket muffler are much less dramatic if that is what you are referring to, but there is still a difference between brands performance and sounds.

Anyways, sorry to get off the subject here...
Clear sides are illegal here in PA also.
If it is limited production, better money may be spent with the WRX...if the new Protege is around the $23,000 mark, especially if you are going to modify it. We will have to wait and see I guess.
 
Personally, this car isn't what I had hoped it would have been. First off, the color, orange? What kinda of color is this? Then again, as long as it's not blue or yellow, and doesn't look just like mine, that's a good thing in a way.

But, the thing that gets me is 170hp. Granted, this number is obviously not final yet, but they go through the trouble of putting a turbo in, and only get 30hp more? So now, instead of getting around 8 sec. 0-60 times, they get what, around 7 secs. Whoopie. Still no wrx. Heck, that new neon is pushing 200hp....a NEON! They could have tried a little harder then that. Granted, price would obviously be an issue.

As for the wheels, I like ours better. But if these aren't painted, then they may last longer.

The stereo though sounds like it's going to rock.

And the tires.....Bridgestone? I've had a lot of these come on my Preludes, and bought some in the past. I just dont like them. Bridgestones usually suck in the wet. I don't know about these particular tires, but I generally stay away from bridgestones. The size is interesting though @ 215. Did they cut anything out to make more room I wonder?

Basically, if it's orange, and only orange, I don't care. I won't give up my mp3 for it. If it's another color, red or blue again ( Please tell me they don't come in blue!) I'd only "upgrade" to it if the prince was near the same as I paid for the mp3.

then again, if they got the damn clunk and bushings problem fixed, I'd get the new one just for that alone. Damn noise. That noise is coming back again btw.
 
This car will not make it

It's sad to say it, but this car will not do very well. Think about it for a second. Our base price was $18,550, with all the chasis and suspension upgrades, and the rims, and so on. This car will be basically the same as ours, but with turbo, LSD, larger diameter axles. The turbo should be around $2500 extra, LSD is at least $1500, I'm not sure about the axles but I'm guessing at about $800 extra. That brings the price of this new speed 3 to AT LEAST $23,350. I WOULD SAY THAT WILL BE THE MINIMUM THEY COULD CHARGE FOR THIS CAR! And remember, it supposedly only has 170whp. Why would anyone buy this car. For 1 to 2 grand more you could get a WRX with AWD, larger displacement engine, and not to mention a huge aftermarket. It is a no brainer if you ask me.
 
Ok, here's my $.02:

Wheels, I like My MP3 better.

Stereo, want the new one. Glad we have the 10" not the 8" though.

Color, please, I don't like the mucous orange.

Suspension, If it's better, I want it. :)

All combined, looks like the MP3 will be resting pretty in my garage for a while to come. :)

:cool:
 
Hey guys I think you all are not reading the article right......It says...170hp at the wheels so that has got to mean atleast close to 200hp at the flywheel. At least that is what I understood from him saying "170hp solidly to the ground"
 
I'm curious about that 170HP figure too....although don't most car companies when quoting horsepower figures give the inflated crank figure to make their cars seem more powerful? If it really is 170HP at the wheels then that will be great for new future owners of this car.

Overall if there had been no MP3 then I'd be drooling all over the pics of this car! :)

I thought I'd have anger towards the introduction of this car, but I still love my MP3 and there are a lot of things I like better. For instance I'd heard that the new Mazdaspeed will be Orange or Black(not confirmed tho so I'm not certain). Regardless, I prefer my blue MP3 and also if it had been available the yellow MP3 is sweet looking too.

Secondly, I do prefer my wheels/rims over the new ones. As for the sound system, I do enjoy my system and will probably upgrade the speakers and put an amp in one day, but for now I still think we get a damn good stereo compared to what most people get for stock.

What I am excited by though is the new stuff on this car specifically the turbo and the LSD means that hopefully we'll be able to get these same parts for our own cars pretty easily and still have our limited edition cars. Nothing is gonna change the fact that if you have an MP3 that you are part of a small family....this introduction just means that we'll potentially all have the chance to soup up our cars and show people out there what can happen when we have more power coupled with our already great handling.
 
That's most likely crank. If it wasn't then that sucker would be running a little over 205 at the crank and if that's the case. The car will most likely be priced over $23k. I'm saying this becuase if you compare all the other cars with that kind of power, that's where they're priced. Also....about this being official information, I'm not getting excited anymore. Not unitl I see something on Mazda's Official website. Once something is on there about a better Protege, then I'll have a woody.:D So, I still say wait and see guys, don't get to happy just yet.
 
norman said:
Not to change the subject of this thread, but APEXistud...

Mufflers don't do anything but change the sound of the car.

Ummmmm I think you need to do a bit of research. The design of mufflers dramatically improves or reduces performance. One benefit a muffler has is that it provides backpressure to the engine.
Click to expand...

Not to change the subject either, but maybe you should do a search first. We already had a Member I believe it was MP3Ben on here who had dyno'd his MP3, one run with the muffler off, another with mid section removed as well. There was no increase in HP and Torque went down a bit. And you're speaking of a Mustang which we all know, see's great numbers off of little mods. I think you may be confusing the term muffler with exhaust system. The 2 are entirely different, the muffler is just the rear piece of the exhaust system. The exhaust system is the whole system from the Cat-back and usually incorporates larger diameter piping, which spells more power. If you really feel that changing the muffler can give power, I ask you to buy a new "rear muffle" for your current car and do a couple of runs on a dyno. You will only see .5-1.5 HP gains if anything at all. Of course one dyno doesn't draw enough info to answer this question, but I'm assuming from all the imports I've been in and seen tuned that the results will remain the same across the board.
 
I admit I really like my car but given the cash I may have considered a WRX. The only other deterrent is the insurance which would have been double maybe triple what mine is now. My insurance co quoted my mp3 as a regular protege :D.
 
I believe BIGBLUE has hit the nail on the head. I was ecstatic to see that another year (at least) of this 2.0 liter engine (and body style) will hit the streets. The more of them on the road, the better for us. We have such a small footprint in the aftermarket, we need this.

I envision beefed-up and TESTED parts falling into this (ugly) orange beast. I love my MP5 and I feel a kinship to you MP3 owners, as well. Join me in thanking Mazda for scooting the yellow and blue out of production, ramping up interest, providing a future upgrade path and keeping the Zoom-Zoom alive.

BTW, if you're still hanging on to your Kenwood's, upgrade it to the Music Keg. Hot-swapping 10GB carts of MP3's. Sweet.


Check it out here: http://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/redirectFeature.jsp?goToUrl=product.jsp?productId=2373
 
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i understand how this protege if it does stay the way it is now wont be a WRX and still cost at about the same price, but its not always about the Engine performance. sometimes its just what you like. also wouldnt insurance on a WRX be more than what it would be on a Protege? also doesnt this Protege perform better than the WRX? i mean of course not in POWER but in driving. if you have an MP3 and you wanted a turbo, wouldnt it be a good 4k to get it in the car? which is almost 23k depending on how much you got your MP3 for. well atleast now they are gonna use detachable face cd players for all of them oh im not a car buff so if im wrong about stuff gimme a break please :)
 
I'm not positive on this, but I don't think the MP3 can out handle the WRX. All I have to say is ALL WHEEL DRIVE. If the MP3 is faster through the slolem, it's only because the WRX doesn't come with all the suspension mods like the MP3. But put those mods on a WRX, and it will say goodbye to the MP3 in any road course. It's always better when you have 4 wheels pulling.
 
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