First impressions

[APEXistud]

Dude, ther are plenty of ITR's out here to choose from. Of course I'm in Northern Cali though. I'm not feelin the insurance on the ITR vs the Protege at all.

 

[Daemos]

Dude, ther are plenty of ITR's out here to choose from. Of course I'm in Northern Cali though. I'm not feelin the insurance on the ITR vs the Protege at all.

yea...I believe there is only ONE that I know of in my city, and the guy who owns it lives on my street. Nice car, it's a show and track car.

here..the Spec V (1600 canadian a year) has cheaper insurance than the MSP (which is around 1800 canadian a year) and the ITR is 2000 canadian a year.

 

[Stou]

colin949...... digi is in his car!!!

 

[digi168]

Re: 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!

Yes the seat belt has a shoulder height adjustment.

 

[digi168]

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?

They told me that it would still be 3 weeks before they got the other two that are allocated to them.

 

[digi168]

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

Well they had to sell the car for MSRP, which I didn't mind, but I did them to throw in tinted windows and short ram air in take, of which you only need one piece and it comes a cold air intake, I will post the pictures for you.

$26,995 + $905 (frieght, PDI, etc.), $125 for paint (don't have the paperwork with me right now but will check that) then because I live in the canada all the taxes, $100 air conditioning tax, $20 battery tax, $25 tire tax, plus 7% GST (tax) 7.5% PST (tax)

I leased it , Zero down, Zero security deposit, etc...$454 a month CDN. or roughly $280USD.

 

[digi168]

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

Exhaust is not that loud at all, but sound good, has nice rumble tone to it.

Sub is excellent stereo pounds pretty good, I am not much of a Audio guy, so I can't help you alot there, but it does sound better than the MP3 one, and you can still put two sets of golf clubs in the trunk.

Remote still looks like something from the '80's but apparantly they (kenwood) have a wireless remote that mounts onto your steering wheel that I am going to look into because the buttons on the radio are so damn small.

Tweeters in the doors are very small, I will post a picture for you later.

Suspenion is incredibly smooth, it almost feels like riding in a minivan, I kid you not, you don't really feel anything, other than the curbs when you pull in and out of driveways, it is much nicer than the MP3, I took out my friend Eric's MP3 as a refresher and he drove my car, now he wants to get rid of the MP3 and get a MSP.

About the color, you have to keep the car clean, if it is clean and dry the color looks fantastic, if you get dirt on it or condensation it tends to look a little dull. But clean and in the sun it is great.

BTW there is no touch up paint available at this time, and I alread have no little rock chip in it so I am going to wait for the touch up paint then put on the clear guard, I think the angle of the hood is susceptable to getting chips.

 

[digi168]

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?

Yes the seats still fold down and they have baby seat anchors on the rear deck lid as well, as for the break in period, I haven't actually read the manual yet but the mechanic told me to take it easy for the first 1000km (600miles).

I will go get the manual.

Know what they don't actually say anything in the manual.

They only have words of wisdom like:

*Don't rance or over-rev the engine when starting. This should not be done with ANY engine, especially not with one that's turbocharged.

*After driving at freeway speeds or up a long hill, idle the engine at least 30 seconds to cool the turbo. Avoid simply shutting the engine off abruptly after a hard or long drive. Damage to the turbocharger may result.

*Use of tire chains on your MAZDASPEED Protege could cause interference with the vehicle body and scratching. If tire chains are to be used, replace both front and rear tires with P195/50R16 tires. Please consult and Authorized Mazda Dealer.

*Fuel must be 91 octane or higher

 

[digi168]

Found the break in information, but it is the same as for all proteges, 1000km

Oil is either 5w30 or 10w30

Rotate tires only from front to rear not side to side.

have you noticed that there is no radio antenna??? It is now part of the back window. I was very happy about this, I hate having antennas sticking up.

Funny thing in the manual it says Scheduled Maintence:

Follow schedule 1 if the vehicle is operated in the USA where none of the following conditions mainly apply.
If any do apply, follow schedule 2 (Canadian residents follow schedule 2 in all conditions)

What's the deal with that? They must think that Canada is so far away that it warrants a different maintenance schedule, where as I can drive to the boarder in 15 mins.

 

[digi168]

Where is digi, my question is can you hear the turbo loud? and does it inhert the shifting problem of the mp3?

You can't really hear the turbo until about 4000rpm then it winds up in a hurry and you are 6000rpm before you realize it. Shifting is awesome, it is very smooth and so far I have had no problems with it at all, but I have only got 200km on the car so far.

 

[Limited Edition]

digi168...
why don't you just shut up and post some more pictures already!
I'm just happy for you man!

Anyway, can you tell me if the sub fires into the cabin? or into the trunk?

did you get wheel locks as a standard feature?

will you still be going to the port this week to keep the 'other's updated as to what is happening??

 

[digi168]

digi168...
why don't you just shut up and post some more pictures already!
I'm just happy for you man!

Anyway, can you tell me if the sub fires into the cabin? or into the trunk?

did you get wheel locks as a standard feature?

will you still be going to the port this week to keep the 'other's updated as to what is happening??

yes the wheel locks did come standard, it looks like the sub fires into the cabin but vents into the trunk, do worry I will post lots of pictures tomorrow, or later today, have to remember to bring home my cables from work.

yes I will still stop by port and let you guys know when all the cars have disappeared.

 

[Daemos]

Still want to know reviews on the tire...because supposedly they're Bridgestone's best tire...but without having driven them, or know anyone that has them.

Ususually Porshe's and other high performance expensive cars come with them, because they supposedly provide the best grip, and traction therefore the best 1/4 times and handling for street tires...but next to nil for tread life...

so someone tell me if they're good...

because...the ones that come stock with the Spec V, are found on high performing BMWs....and they're the crappiest tires I've EVER driven on, suck in rain, suck in dry, they're expensive, good treadware...suck for cornering, and they're light..

 

[slug420]

if i got rid of them, i would be putting my proxes T1Ss on.....and no matter how good the potenzas are, the proxes are better......they have sex with the pavement....

 

[digi168]

Actually I have found them to be quite good, I was expecting to slide a bit in the wet but so far they have held pretty well, but we haven't gotten any major rain yet, so I will let you know when it does rain how they perform.

 

[Daemos]

Actually I have found them to be quite good, I was expecting to slide a bit in the wet but so far they have held pretty well, but we haven't gotten any major rain yet, so I will let you know when it does rain how they perform.

yea you're in rainy bc

 

[colin949]

does that intake give you any good hp?

 

[Newf]

that lease payment, is that 454 with tax? because my dealer is telling me like 499 is the montly payment.

 

[krillin]

"Well they had to sell the car for MSRP"

$26,995 + $905 (frieght, PDI, etc.), $125 for paint (don't have the paperwork with me right now but will check that) then because I live in the canada all the taxes, $100 air conditioning tax, $20 battery tax, $25 tire tax, plus 7% GST (tax) 7.5% PST (tax)

I leased it , Zero down, Zero security deposit, etc...$454 a month CDN. or roughly $280USD.

first off. 20,500 is MSRP for US. i went to convert that to canada dollars and came up with 32,047.50 CAD and yet the price you replied with doesn't come close, even with the extra fees you mentioned. am i missing something?

another thing, you leased the car and i am planning on paying for the whole thing in cash. i'm assuming that i can still get some sort of bargain since they wouldn't have to deal with any extra paper work or processing fees and also since they threw in the tint/etc. for you with no problem.

am i making the correct assumption? thanks digi

 

[slug420]

several threads on this board about the US to canadian price diff. u did the calculations right and everyone involved is tellin the truth here. cars in Canadia cost less....importing fees and whatnot.....