Last night I went to the New England International Auto Show and there she sat. Sorry, no pics, I don't have a digi cam. I can tell you that those of you waiting for the orange are going to love it. The metallic flakes where shining under the flourescent lights, I can only imagine what they'll be like in the sun. I ended up speaking to a Mazda Corp. representitive who was very informative. Here's a couple of the things that we talked about:
-Towards the end of Nov. for delivery time
-He has seen the black cars sitting with the orange cars, he knows of no concerted effort to delay shipment of the black cars.
-The hold up (as many of us know) is due to some ducting for the turbo. Apparently, the bend in the tube from Callaway did not meet the specs that Mazda wanted so they asked for a redesign.
-There will be a 2003.5 model (again, as we suspected). According to him, it will be offered in Silver and Blue (??!!), though not the MP3 color.
-He feels that 170 hp is a VERY conservative rating. After driving the car, he seems to think that 190 hp is a more accurate number.
-He thinks the car is running at ~6 lbs of boost stock but said that Callaway had a test car running at 9 lbs and there were no problems with the bottom end. According to him, the bottom end of the Protege motor is "bullet proof".
-Mazda Corp. has asked dealers not to gouge the price over MSRP but of course, ultimately, it's up to the dealers.
He opened the car up for me so I had a chance to sit in it and get comfortable. I was a bit nervous about the silver inserts in the seats but it is very tastefully done. The car obviously very closely resembles the ES interior trim. I ran the shifter through the gates and I think a short throw will be my first upgrade. The throws were a little long for my taste. The brushed aluminum badges on the car are a great touch.
Anyway, that's what I found out last night. My mouth is watering...I want my car BADLY!
-Towards the end of Nov. for delivery time
-He has seen the black cars sitting with the orange cars, he knows of no concerted effort to delay shipment of the black cars.
-The hold up (as many of us know) is due to some ducting for the turbo. Apparently, the bend in the tube from Callaway did not meet the specs that Mazda wanted so they asked for a redesign.
-There will be a 2003.5 model (again, as we suspected). According to him, it will be offered in Silver and Blue (??!!), though not the MP3 color.
-He feels that 170 hp is a VERY conservative rating. After driving the car, he seems to think that 190 hp is a more accurate number.
-He thinks the car is running at ~6 lbs of boost stock but said that Callaway had a test car running at 9 lbs and there were no problems with the bottom end. According to him, the bottom end of the Protege motor is "bullet proof".
-Mazda Corp. has asked dealers not to gouge the price over MSRP but of course, ultimately, it's up to the dealers.
He opened the car up for me so I had a chance to sit in it and get comfortable. I was a bit nervous about the silver inserts in the seats but it is very tastefully done. The car obviously very closely resembles the ES interior trim. I ran the shifter through the gates and I think a short throw will be my first upgrade. The throws were a little long for my taste. The brushed aluminum badges on the car are a great touch.
Anyway, that's what I found out last night. My mouth is watering...I want my car BADLY!
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