1 year review
It has been 1 year that I have owned my Speed Protege. Normally I would not give a review but I am bored, and I have to keep the car (not that thats a bad thing). Also a reason for me to write this is that I can review my first impression of this car while realizing my current and having a log to refer back to a year from now.
I first remember seeing a spicy orange speed sitting outside my work letting the sun hit it to show off its paint. I wanted it and fell in love with it even more than I have done with the pictures plastered all over the interweb. Everyday about 5-5:15pm I would go to the window and watch as the older gentleman drove away in the beauty. I even made contact to tell him that I loved the car. That my friends is when it started. I became a member of this board and started to surf and learn more about the Protege. I started to visit the dealership to just "look" at the MSP. This happened for months until one fearful day I went to the dealership...and I test drove a Sunlight Silver MSP. As soon as he started the car I was in love again. I sat in the drivers seat and thought "this is me". After getting the mirros adjusted, the seat adjusted, and my seatbelt on...I tapped the throttle and started to slowly pull out the lot. Onto the street I mad my right turn and traveled slowly as I entered the intersection. I made another right onto the busy street and began my drive. The suspension was so smooth yet stiff. I loved it. The shifts were nice, tight, and short. The car felt so tight and pulled in every gear (compared to my Focus SPI). I soon made another turn which was very long and sweeping. I loved how the car stayed and I started to safely increase my speed. After making a large u-turn I ended up on the highway and that is where I made my decision. I decided I needed a car that screamed at me when I mashed the throttle and hugged me when I made a turn. As we cruised back to the dealer I gave him my color options and left out the door regretting the stupid mistake I just made. A week later I decided blue, with help from friends who should have not let me buy the car, would be the way to go. I traded in my silver Focus SE for the Laser Blue MSP on Oct 27, 2003. I walked out the door with a total of $21k for the car. $17.5k for the Protege with the rest from the trade in. Not a bad price at that time for the MSP as others were letting them go for $21.5k and not any lower. I knew I was going to get hit with the Focus (damn resale) but I did not care. Although, I never had a single problem with the car it just wasn't what I wanted and I was not happy with it (even modded). Anyway, I was happy with the fit, the looks, the go (coming from a mighty 102hp at teh wheels yo) and the handling. Let me tell you how bad I wanted the car...the dealer did not detail it. The car I wanted was sitting out back in a lot. A dirt/rock lot. It had just rained the previous day as well. The dealer said I could come pick the car up at a later time but I said no...I want it now...give it to me! So they brought out my brown MSP with custom plastic seats. I took that b**** home and ripped the plasic out and gave her its first hand wash and found out the car was actually blue. After the wash and dry I went in the house and got my build number before heading to work with a HUGE smile. For the next couple of days I have caught people doing double takes at my car when I drove by. I even had a couple walk up to me to ask what it was and to say they thought it looked really good. I was even invited to a Subaru meet to race my WRX. I have never felt like this before. To have people like my car, be jealous of the custom wheels, and the after-market stereo system. They argue with me all the time about the stereo.
Overtime, I have been happy with the car even though there are somethings that I do not like. My first complaint was the rear bushings. I really can't say complaint as I knew about the problem before I got the car. The next issue was the rear lip peeling off and my sub blowing. Got those taken care of. Now my front bushings are bothering me since the weather has gotten colder. I am starting to not like how the clutch feels and the brakes are causing vibration. The ECU tuning is complete crap as my stock dyno has shown (yes, my car is flashed). In my mind those are little things, except brakes, and ECU but thats more of an excuse for bigger and better things. Auto-xn this car has been so much fun. Even though I have only done it twice it has been a blast to do!!! I have had various well experienced cone-killers tell me how great my car is and how they love the RWD characteristics after driving my car themselves or riding with me. I truly must say that, seriously speaking, I do not want any other car. This has filled my needs. This car will be staying with me for a long long time. Not much of a review but just some random thoughts of my car. I am happy with with. I love my mazdaspeed!!! And a big thanks to Mazda for testing waters with the MP3 and then adding a turbo (rockon)
Happy Birthday Milian!!!
It has been 1 year that I have owned my Speed Protege. Normally I would not give a review but I am bored, and I have to keep the car (not that thats a bad thing). Also a reason for me to write this is that I can review my first impression of this car while realizing my current and having a log to refer back to a year from now.
I first remember seeing a spicy orange speed sitting outside my work letting the sun hit it to show off its paint. I wanted it and fell in love with it even more than I have done with the pictures plastered all over the interweb. Everyday about 5-5:15pm I would go to the window and watch as the older gentleman drove away in the beauty. I even made contact to tell him that I loved the car. That my friends is when it started. I became a member of this board and started to surf and learn more about the Protege. I started to visit the dealership to just "look" at the MSP. This happened for months until one fearful day I went to the dealership...and I test drove a Sunlight Silver MSP. As soon as he started the car I was in love again. I sat in the drivers seat and thought "this is me". After getting the mirros adjusted, the seat adjusted, and my seatbelt on...I tapped the throttle and started to slowly pull out the lot. Onto the street I mad my right turn and traveled slowly as I entered the intersection. I made another right onto the busy street and began my drive. The suspension was so smooth yet stiff. I loved it. The shifts were nice, tight, and short. The car felt so tight and pulled in every gear (compared to my Focus SPI). I soon made another turn which was very long and sweeping. I loved how the car stayed and I started to safely increase my speed. After making a large u-turn I ended up on the highway and that is where I made my decision. I decided I needed a car that screamed at me when I mashed the throttle and hugged me when I made a turn. As we cruised back to the dealer I gave him my color options and left out the door regretting the stupid mistake I just made. A week later I decided blue, with help from friends who should have not let me buy the car, would be the way to go. I traded in my silver Focus SE for the Laser Blue MSP on Oct 27, 2003. I walked out the door with a total of $21k for the car. $17.5k for the Protege with the rest from the trade in. Not a bad price at that time for the MSP as others were letting them go for $21.5k and not any lower. I knew I was going to get hit with the Focus (damn resale) but I did not care. Although, I never had a single problem with the car it just wasn't what I wanted and I was not happy with it (even modded). Anyway, I was happy with the fit, the looks, the go (coming from a mighty 102hp at teh wheels yo) and the handling. Let me tell you how bad I wanted the car...the dealer did not detail it. The car I wanted was sitting out back in a lot. A dirt/rock lot. It had just rained the previous day as well. The dealer said I could come pick the car up at a later time but I said no...I want it now...give it to me! So they brought out my brown MSP with custom plastic seats. I took that b**** home and ripped the plasic out and gave her its first hand wash and found out the car was actually blue. After the wash and dry I went in the house and got my build number before heading to work with a HUGE smile. For the next couple of days I have caught people doing double takes at my car when I drove by. I even had a couple walk up to me to ask what it was and to say they thought it looked really good. I was even invited to a Subaru meet to race my WRX. I have never felt like this before. To have people like my car, be jealous of the custom wheels, and the after-market stereo system. They argue with me all the time about the stereo.
Overtime, I have been happy with the car even though there are somethings that I do not like. My first complaint was the rear bushings. I really can't say complaint as I knew about the problem before I got the car. The next issue was the rear lip peeling off and my sub blowing. Got those taken care of. Now my front bushings are bothering me since the weather has gotten colder. I am starting to not like how the clutch feels and the brakes are causing vibration. The ECU tuning is complete crap as my stock dyno has shown (yes, my car is flashed). In my mind those are little things, except brakes, and ECU but thats more of an excuse for bigger and better things. Auto-xn this car has been so much fun. Even though I have only done it twice it has been a blast to do!!! I have had various well experienced cone-killers tell me how great my car is and how they love the RWD characteristics after driving my car themselves or riding with me. I truly must say that, seriously speaking, I do not want any other car. This has filled my needs. This car will be staying with me for a long long time. Not much of a review but just some random thoughts of my car. I am happy with with. I love my mazdaspeed!!! And a big thanks to Mazda for testing waters with the MP3 and then adding a turbo (rockon)
Happy Birthday Milian!!!
