Vivid or Sunburst Yellow for code HZ?

Carcrazy

Member
For some reason the paint name listed for the P5 in the parts catalog is Sunburst Yellow, HZ, but it seems all of us here think it should be called Vivid Yellow. What gives? I hope it not that they are selling Sunburst paint to match with our Vivid. Could this be possible? I did find that some of you are complaining that the HZ touch up paint does not match your car, but this could be from fade of our cars.
 
yea i went somewhere to get my car painted it was a little shop by my house and they told me the color was called sunburst yellow i guess its the same color tho
 
The 2003 Protege5 brochure from Mazda calls it 'vivid yellow'. I just make the point because sunburst yellow doesn't sound as horsepowery.
 
The paint code is all that matters. Some manufacturers will use the same color (& color code) all through their product line, but give it different names to appeal to the people they think will be buying that particular model. I remember the Ford Focus had a silver that was on every other Ford, but on the Focus, it was called "CD Silver" to appeal to us technology-savy, CD-using youngsters!

HZ was Sunburst Yellow on the '92 Miatas, Vivid Yellow on the '02 Miatas, the MP3's and the P5's.
 
HZ was Sunburst Yellow on the '92 Miatas, Vivid Yellow on the '02 Miatas, the MP3's and the P5's.

Here is a quote from Protege FAQ:

"The Sunburst Yellow and Vivid Yellow have the same color code, what is different?
Both of these colors are the exact same, the name Vivid Yellow is used in the
United States (and probably some other countries) while Sunburst Yellow is used
in Canada, Australia, Japan and possibly other overseas countries. The names
used are probably for marketing purposes for the Protege/Familia/323 lineup.
This however is not true for another Mazda car such as the MX-5/Miata/Roadster
because in 1992 there was a limited run of Sunburst Yellow Miatas and just
recently for a special web order version of the 2002 Miata, Vivid Yellow is
available. For the Miata's, what differentiates between these two names is the use
of clear coats-- the 1992 Sunburst Yellow Miata did not use clear coat, but the
2002 Vivid Yellow Miata limited does. The color is the same though. It is not
known at this time whether this applies for the Protege/Familia/323 lineup basing
on the clear coat use or just marketing purposes.
"
 
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Thanks for the explanations!

Given that people are experiencing premature fade on their MP5s and are seeing yellow paint come off on polishing, I have to assume that the MP5 Viivid did have clear coat, BUT WHY? Knowing that they were able to clear coat the 02 Miata, why was yellow the only color that they did not clear coat for the MP5? Are there any advantages to not having a clear coat?
 
Thanks for the explanations!
You're welcome!

Given that people are experiencing premature fade on their MP5s and are seeing yellow paint come off on polishing, I have to assume that the MP5 Viivid did have clear coat, BUT WHY? Knowing that they were able to clear coat the 02 Miata, why was yellow the only color that they did not clear coat for the MP5? Are there any advantages to not having a clear coat?
I can't imagine any advantages except for Mazda not having to spend the extra money to pay someone to apply the clear coat or the cost of the clear coat. I just don't understand why it was only the one color. It really suck because of the major oxidation/fading on my car.
 
My understanding is that SU "Classic Red" is not cleared on the P5 either. I know it wasn't on my Miata! (racken' fracken' pink bumpers.....grumble grumble......)

I have no idea why they did/didn't coat certain colors on certain cars.

For a further Mazda paint mystery, check out "Montego Blue" on a Miata next to the same color on a 3rd gen RX-7. The paint is the same, but at the factory, one process was used to apply it/bake it on to the RX-7, and another process was used on the Miata! It's a blue-green color on both cars, but it has a really different look from one to the other. Imagine being the guy that has to try to paint match a fender or bumper on one of those!
 
P5s are A3E classic red, not SU classic red. A3E is clearcoated.

yep, i have a touch up bottle of SU and noticed right away that the color brightness and vividness (word maybe?) wasnt the same.
i havent used it since.
 
For a further Mazda paint mystery, check out "Montego Blue" on a Miata next to the same color on a 3rd gen RX-7. The paint is the same, but at the factory, one process was used to apply it/bake it on to the RX-7, and another process was used on the Miata! It's a blue-green color on both cars, but it has a really different look from one to the other. Imagine being the guy that has to try to paint match a fender or bumper on one of those!

Wow! That's a crazy one, too. I love how they change the name of the color just because the process changes.
 
yep, i have a touch up bottle of SU and noticed right away that the color brightness and vividness (word maybe?) wasnt the same.
i havent used it since.

Touch up never matches right.

I was under the impression that red wasn't clearcoated either.
 
You know, I was just thinking about the "age old" debate about what color P5 is faster. Well, if you think about it, since the Vivid Yellow doesn't have a clear coat to weigh it down...So, it's gotta be lighter, therefore, it's gotta be the faster color! (boom04)
 
True! However... you might also argue that if the paint's not as durable, there might be microscopic fissures forming in it which might cause more air friction, dragging the car down.
 
True! However... you might also argue that if the paint's not as durable, there might be microscopic fissures forming in it which might cause more air friction, dragging the car down.

Keep in mind that air resistance is a quadratic function, so the aerodynamic effects of your nanofissures come into play much more at high speeds - a realm few P5s tread. Within the range of normal velocities, the lighter weight of yellow means that it is, in fact, the fastest color.
 
Keep in mind that air resistance is a quadratic function, so the aerodynamic effects of your nanofissures come into play much more at high speeds - a realm few P5s tread. Within the range of normal velocities, the lighter weight of yellow means that it is, in fact, the fastest color.

Go Vivid Yellow!
 
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