First impressions

digi168

Member
Well, now that I have gotten and driven the MSP, I am not at all disappointed. The wait was definatly worth it. For those still waiting don't give up. The car feels great, handles great, and is very very smooth compared to my MP3.

I will do this kind of point by point as to what impressed me and what didn't.

First thing, the seats, they have got to be the nicest seats I have ever sat in. they feel good, they hold you well, and the material is really cool, don't think that I will cover them with leather after all. The only downside, no adjustable lumbar support.

Stereo, phenominal sound, excellent mounting job in the trunk, came with all the manuals and warranty cards and remote controll. Downside, it is going to take a month to figure out how the thing works, and I don't really like the volume knob because it is flush mounted with the front face and they have carved out a channel around it that my fingers just barely fit into, but if you have bigger hands you may not like it all. Time for the Kenwood, DVD with 7 inch display and touch screen controlls. :D Like I needed an excuse. Cheap christmas presents for my friends and family this year :D

Engine, here is what you wanted to know. The engine is very strong, pulls extremly well even when there was three of us in the car. between 3500 and redline the car takes off, under that it is still peppy. The nice thing is that you feel power through the entire band, not to much power but enough and when you do step on it, it really does take off. torque steer is there but minimal if you hold the steering wheel with two hands you don't feel it at all. Turbo sounds cool, needs a BOV that you can hear, this one is really muffled.

MazdaSpeed exhaust is awesome, not to loud very cool sound, I will try to get a digital video camera or get the goonish guys to shoot a video of the car so you can hear it.

Suspension is also awesome, stiff very litte body roll but yet the car is very smooth on the street. I would have to honestly say that this car handles better than my old BMW 328i that I had, it is very light and sticks to the road well, hopefully the rain and the snow will hold off for a few more days so I can try it out before switching to winter tires.

So much going through my head right now, I can't beleive that I have actually got it. Will be testing it out today and will post more pictures later.

If there is a particular part you want to see or know about just ask and I will try to acoomodate. Have to take the fiance for breakfast she hasn't even seen it yet, I got home very late last night. :D

Oh one last thing, when I first got to the dealer the car was covered in that white tape and dust and I was initially disappointed with the color, but once they detailed it rolled it out front and I got a good look at it clean, Damn is it ever nice, I mean sparkley under the lights, and very deep tone, I like it very very much.
 
question

Please tell me it has shoulder-height-adjustable seatbelts in the front. I'm so sick of my Escort scraping against my neck because it's set too high and non-adjustable.

BTW, CONGRATS!!! You're one lucky mofo!
 
Digi! A big envious CONGRATS to ya!

That award they had to qualify for must be the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada - 2003 Canadian Car of the Year Award.

Best New Sports Coupe / Sedan (under $35,000): Mazda Speed Protege

http://www.ajac.ca/CL/AJAC/AJAC.nsf/web/COTTY2003VoteResults

As for the MSP, did the dealer know when the rest will be released to us poor souls left drooling at your MSP and anticipating your every written word here?
 
digi168 said:
Well, now that I have gotten and driven the MSP, I am not at all disappointed. The wait was definatly worth it. For those still waiting don't give up. The car feels great, handles great, and is very very smooth compared to my MP3.

I will do this kind of point by point as to what impressed me and what didn't.

First thing, the seats, they have got to be the nicest seats I have ever sat in. they feel good, they hold you well, and the material is really cool, don't think that I will cover them with leather after all. The only downside, no adjustable lumbar support.

Stereo, phenominal sound, excellent mounting job in the trunk, came with all the manuals and warranty cards and remote controll. Downside, it is going to take a month to figure out how the thing works, and I don't really like the volume knob because it is flush mounted with the front face and they have carved out a channel around it that my fingers just barely fit into, but if you have bigger hands you may not like it all. Time for the Kenwood, DVD with 7 inch display and touch screen controlls. :D Like I needed an excuse. Cheap christmas presents for my friends and family this year :D

Engine, here is what you wanted to know. The engine is very strong, pulls extremly well even when there was three of us in the car. between 3500 and redline the car takes off, under that it is still peppy. The nice thing is that you feel power through the entire band, not to much power but enough and when you do step on it, it really does take off. torque steer is there but minimal if you hold the steering wheel with two hands you don't feel it at all. Turbo sounds cool, needs a BOV that you can hear, this one is really muffled.

MazdaSpeed exhaust is awesome, not to loud very cool sound, I will try to get a digital video camera or get the goonish guys to shoot a video of the car so you can hear it.

Suspension is also awesome, stiff very litte body roll but yet the car is very smooth on the street. I would have to honestly say that this car handles better than my old BMW 328i that I had, it is very light and sticks to the road well, hopefully the rain and the snow will hold off for a few more days so I can try it out before switching to winter tires.

So much going through my head right now, I can't beleive that I have actually got it. Will be testing it out today and will post more pictures later.

If there is a particular part you want to see or know about just ask and I will try to acoomodate. Have to take the fiance for breakfast she hasn't even seen it yet, I got home very late last night. :D

Oh one last thing, when I first got to the dealer the car was covered in that white tape and dust and I was initially disappointed with the color, but once they detailed it rolled it out front and I got a good look at it clean, Damn is it ever nice, I mean sparkley under the lights, and very deep tone, I like it very very much.

oooo how much back seat room you got? lol when I tried to shove 5 people into my car, it almost didn't happen.

But you gotta love torque :) Pulls nicely even with a full car and luggage in the back.

I have no idea why you want to go to red line before breaking in the engine...but maybe that turbo thing is addictive...I'm still to scared to pull above 4500 rpm on my car, the torque just throws me around.

So yea, give me the deatails on back seat room :) heh...cuz with me sittting in the drivers side...unless if you're like the smallest person you WON'T fit in the back seats.

Oh yea, other things, security things, like side impact air bags, abs, alarms etc.

I've been told the ABS on some cars are meh, while the ABS on other cars are good.

oh yea...if you have side impact air bags please...don't test those out...

alarm is a good thing to test out though.

oh yea...torque steer how much do you get? If I'm like blasting above 3500 rpm, it's pretty severe.

Oh yea...I want to know how it handles with winter tires. When I switched to winter tires, I could FEEL a huge diffrence even going from the crappy crappy Stock conti's to well crappy winter tires :)

Also...review the tire for me...I found a place that can give me a good deal on those tires...so if I use em just for auto crossing and track use, I would want them, because they're bridgestone's best perfroming tire :)
 
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nice digi!

digi, i still had some questions on the actual buying of the car. were you able to negotiate at all with the price or did they charge you more/less than sticker price? thanks
 
slug420 said:
if u want the potenzas ill give u a good price on mine, fresh off the msp

I'm still deciding...heh...they're great for 1/4 times and for auto crossing, and they out perform even the Pole S-03s in every catagory.

They MUST be better than ths spec V's bad stock conti's which suck for launching, have no grip, and are hardly better than my winter tires for handling -.-;

when my friend switched to Pole S-03s my god, so much better.

I'm hoping those RE040s will be better.

anyone else have a diffrent opinion?

slug420. When you get your car, give me a price, that'll be cool :)
 
Great News

Hey man thats great news. I'm glad that someone finally got their car and is enjoying it. I can't wait till i get mine in a couple of weeks. Ordered a black one. You cleared all my doubts of giving up on the MSP. Good stuff though man.
 
newf said:
I'll be selling mine too, but I doubt you'll be close enough to get them

I'm in manitoba :p

with all these people selling these tires...are they really bad?

I've been told they're the stickiest street tire that Bridgestone makes. Best for 1/4 mile times, and best for handling....

:/ am I mistaken?
 
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Couple of quick questions

Exhaust: It's sounds nice, but compare it to the MP3. Deeper, louder? twice as loud? Same?

Sub: Much difference with the 8" vs the 10" in the MP3?

Is the remote the same remote we saw pics of ages ago. Looks like something from 1985?

Tweeters in door nice? That's one picture we haven't seen yet.

Is the suspension rougher over rides vs the MP3?

If you can, Get a pic underneath the rear, lets see if this thing got the same bushings and swaybar setup as the MP3. Curious to see if we're going to have to face the wrath of the clunk with this thing too.

....so the color isn't as Toxic as Car And Driver made it sound eh...good.


Now, go outside, wash her, take good care of her, and drive drive drive. What are you doing at your computer with a car like that in the drive way anyways? :)

oh and one thing

Your one lucky bastard!

I mean that in a nice way.

take care
 
we haven't heard from digi168 all day today!
Usually, he'll be on twice of even three times a day...
but today, i bet he's been spending the whole day in his car!.
:)

he is one lucky bastard..
and i mean that in a special way! :D

So what was the final price you paid?
Show us a break out of the invoice..
thanks!:cool:

(mspo)
 
Re: question

Albert said:
Please tell me it has shoulder-height-adjustable seatbelts in the front. I'm so sick of my Escort scraping against my neck because it's set too high and non-adjustable.

Not to worry, Albert. All Protege models have adjustable height shoulder harness mounts. It ain't no Escort.
 
Digi,

Are the rear seats still able to fold down even with amp/sub setup?

Also, what is Mazda recomending as the mileage/KM amount for the break in period?
 
i've got a question, have you ever driven a type-r... and how does the handling compare between the 2?

it's either the MSP or ITR for me, since your the only one who actually has the car maybe you can shed some light on the handling between the 2 =)
 
Neuticle said:
i've got a question, have you ever driven a type-r... and how does the handling compare between the 2?

it's either the MSP or ITR for me, since your the only one who actually has the car maybe you can shed some light on the handling between the 2 =)

From what I've read the MSP will out handle the Type-R, because the Spec V matches the ITR in handling. and the MSP beats the Spec V handling wise, a 73 mph salom (MSP) vs a 68 mph salom (spec v)

that's a big diffrence...

but if you look at it this way...over all the ITR is a faster car, it looks nice, got all the aftermareket of the Spec V, the MSP, and lets even say the SR20 engine and more.

Oh yea...ITRs are RARE, they're soooooo hard to find, and it's power, performance, and luxary...what more can you ask for? (if it's a good price, and in good condition, man I'd go for the ITR)

Making the ITR out handle the MSP won't take too much work...and stock for stock it's easily faster if you know how to stay in Vtec.
 
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because the Spec V matches the ITR in handling

man i dont know, after driving the spec-v (although admittedly on those piece of s*** conti's) i can tell you that it really didn't seem to out handle the ITR. at least the one that i did drive.

i think i'll probably end up going with the ITR either way... just wondering if it was a foregon conclusion that mazda's been collecting interest on my 500 bucks for the last 3 months for nothing... or if there was a chance they would be an even match between the itr and msp. skidpad numbers being only part of the handling equation
 
Neuticle said:


man i dont know, after driving the spec-v (although admittedly on those piece of s*** conti's) i can tell you that it really didn't seem to out handle the ITR. at least the one that i did drive.

i think i'll probably end up going with the ITR either way... just wondering if it was a foregon conclusion that mazda's been collecting interest on my 500 bucks for the last 3 months for nothing... or if there was a chance they would be an even match between the itr and msp. skidpad numbers being only part of the handling equation

finally someone who understands how important tires are to everything :)

I never said out handle. I said matches closely, very closely. If I found a used ITR for a good price I'd be all over it, but alas I can't even find one.

I think stock for stock, the MSP will out handle the ITR, but the ITR will blow it's doors off 1/4 mile.
 

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