Protege vs 3

[orphman]

i was int hat rev it up competiton held last year maybe again this year.. anyway... i drove the 3 threw the auto x corse they set up... everyone drove the 3 threw this section... i drove that corse like i would drive my MSP.... think sucks!@@@@ but.... i liked the design over all... i woulndt get a 3 ever if i had the option of MSP... now regualr pro vs 3 a total dif story....

id say if they had a speed version of the 3 out then we might have a fight... right now... stress now... MSP on top...

 

[orphman]

I'd have to disagree, throw $2500 at both cars and i'm quite sure the 3 would be on top.

mmmm, let's see for $2500 the 3 would still be faster. It starts with 160hp, where the MSP starts at 170hp...only +10hp and it has a turbo... c'mon now, it's a cool car, but it's still way underpowered.

the hiboost kit for the 3, albeit more than $2500, has shown awesome gains...~300WHP @ ~10psi.... where does the MSP fit? haven't heard of too many 300WHP MSP's, not to say there aren't any, i myself, have not seen any without major work/money.

even with the MSP being underpowered, if it had the brakes the 3 does, it might be a whole other story.

dude... msps can do alot... and there are msp's running well over 300whp on this site... msp way more complete.. lighter all the good stuff... yea it may be 10 moree hp sotck than the 3.. add a down pipe ... se what happens... boost at 10psi... see what happens... undepawered stock yes... but can the 3 hang with a 911 in the slolom or twistys like the msp.. oh wait the msp beets the 911... so i dont know how you can say the 3 is better!?

-orph

 

[Solo2Protege]

The 3 is a great car with the 2.3 liter and has huge potential (that's a big 4 cyl), but the MSP is KILLING cars with just 200wheel hp. It really doesn't take much for the MSP to be fast as hell.

If you poured tons of money into ANY car it would be faster than sh*t, but the MSP will be faster than an SRT4 for the same price( hit 13's for less than $19K), I don't think you can say that for the 3.

lets see where the 3 is when the same time frame has been established. meaning wait till the 3 is as old as the MSP and i think you'll see a signifigant difference.

Look at what Mazda has done with the same 2.3 engine in the MS6....276hp right out of the box. Granted, i don't think they'll give the MS3 the same power, but the ball is definetely rolling in a positive direction.

the MSP brakes are VERY good stock, compairable with almost anything out there (in terms of real world stopping distance). I don't understand this statement?

i'm saying give the MSP the brakes the 3 has and it's not as far off the mark. The 3 has better brakes, now add EBFD and ABS and it's way above the MSP. Funny thing is too, the MZ3 has bigger rotors and calipers than the bigger/heavier MZ6.

and don't get me wrong, i'm not bashing the MSP or nothing, merely discussing and offering my opinions, as i beleive you to be doing the same. Just wanted to make that clear, incase anybody thinks this is headed towards a flame war.

My biggest gripe about the MSP, is it's underpowered engine. Mazda dropped the ball on that one....but the handling is awesome and tends to make up for it's lack of (stock) power.

 

[ND4MSP]

I own a mazdaspeed pro and a 2.3 sedan, and I must say the 3 feels 10x more refined than my speed. Handling is rock solid and the interior is pretty edgy looking yet very clean. Power delivery is pretty good, but I agree with the other poster about the gearing feeling not aggressive enough. It feels like a slug after I get out of my speed and in the 3. My speed is pretty much stock too. My only tiff with it is the gas and clutch. I don't feel very connected to the car during gear changes and it could use a bit more throttle response. Maybe its the drive by wire effect.

 

[SilverBulletES]

I think all the car magazines said it themselves that the 3 is a very good car but not as fun to drive as the good ol' Protege. (laugh) Kansei engineering baby.

I like these cautious flame wars.

 

[Solo2Protege]

i completely agree, the driving experience is much more heightened in a Protege. Even with my Pro being 15 years old, it still *feels* better than my 3 and 99% of other cars out there. I feel at one with the car at ALL times.

Yes, i too get the exact same feeling of being disconnected, the feedback from the gas pedal is non existent on the 3, due to the hotwire TB, and the shifting is slightly different, due to it's cable shifter, but i find it's pretty smooth still. I have no issue with the clutch pedal, other than Heel-Toe is way better on the Protege than the 3.

Throttle response on my 3 was greatly enhanced with the addition of the CF SRI.

 

[Aricjm15]

^^ Wel lif you get the auto than yeah its geared for economy most automatics are. But in the 5spd it definitely works well for spirited driving. With my stock suspension and all It handles pretty darned well out on the AutoX course. cant say how much better it is over the protege as Ive only ever drive one 95 protege and it wasnt in the best condition.

the car I drove was a 5speed, with the 2.3, I thought it sucked. Shift at redline hard into second, there is a horrible CLUNK and your revs drop below 3k and you have to wait for the car to come back into its power band.

 

[Aricjm15]

I thought the trans sucked I meant, not the car, the car itself was nice, just lacking in the power department

 

[nautical2086]

I forgot to mention the seating in the drivers seat is uncomfortable too, Seat dosnt go back far enough. No leg room for driver, And im only 5'11

 

[ebmp5]

feel the same damn way

Can I just have both? I like my P5 for what it is. It ain't fast, but it handles well and looks good.

That said, I would also like a 3 sedan. The interior on this car is beautiful and I want the projector beam HIDs. The 160hp wouldn't hurt either. I still have yet to drive a 3, but most major publications think it rocks.

I still wanna keep my P5 for my "fun" car. It will become rare some day to see a nice one on the road. Most of the people who have them do not appreciate what they have like us here on the boards.

good coment

 

[JOS3]

im seeing a trend develop here..

the mazda 3 owners are biased towards the 3 and the protege owners are biased towards the protege, go figure.

having owned a protege, i can say that while the p5 looks and handles better, the 3 is a better car in almost every other way.

 

[MazdaAxela]

^^ Yeah I didnt really have much to base my Protege comparison..it seriously was a very old protege that had probably seen better days.

 

[goldwing2000]

I forgot to mention the seating in the drivers seat is uncomfortable too, Seat dosnt go back far enough. No leg room for driver, And im only 5'11

In the 3 or the Pro?

If you're talking about the 3, I have to completely disagree. I'm 5'10" and I actually had to move the seat up a couple notches to get it in a comfortable position.

If you're trying to get a 'gangsta lean' going, then it probably won't accomodate you but if you want to drive like a normal human being, then there's tons of leg room in the front AND back.

 

[SilverBulletES]

im seeing a trend develop here..

the mazda 3 owners are biased towards the 3 and the protege owners are biased towards the protege, go figure.

having owned a protege, i can say that while the p5 looks and handles better, the 3 is a better car in almost every other way.

Hey no disagreement from me. Let's say for an OLD car in many ways, the Proteg is still DAMN good and pretty much more fun to drive than anything made despite being saddled with a VERY OLD engine.

And the 3 is the best compact car made now, hands down. But I don't see the 3 having the cult following of the 3rd generation Proteg-- just as the 2nd gen Proteg doesn't have the (smaller) cult following of the 1st gen.

Just remember, cults are cool. That's what David Koresh told me.

 

[Solo2Protege]

In the 3 or the Pro?

If you're talking about the 3, I have to completely disagree. I'm 5'10" and I actually had to move the seat up a couple notches to get it in a comfortable position.

If you're trying to get a 'gangsta lean' going, then it probably won't accomodate you but if you want to drive like a normal human being, then there's tons of leg room in the front AND back.

i agree, i'm 6'1" and i even move the seat up. Maybe it's my racing, but i prefer to sit *up on the wheel*. I don't mean i eat leather wrap, i just sit alittle closer than normal.

Also, the 3 has a tilt and telescopic collum. Nice feature indeed for us tall guys.

there's been a few ppl here with both cars (myself included) how can they be biased? Ok, so mine is 15 years old....but it's far from a clunker (lol)

 

[fam]

People always fight obsolescence.

 

[SilverBulletES]

I wouldn't call it fighting obscolesence. I had a 1st generation SE-R and I NEVER would have traded "up" for any of the "improved" later models. Maybe I just get attached to certain models. The MX-5 is the only Mazda model I like at all anymore. If they brought back a lean mean fighting machine hatchback RX-7 I'd be in love with that too.

I like beating this thread to death.

 

[spike blue]

i will get the 3 is a lot better than the normal protege imo , the engine, the inside and the ride its a lot better i like it a lot but i wouldn't trade it for my msp

 

[Kooner]

I still wanna keep my P5 for my "fun" car. It will become rare some day to see a nice one on the road. Most of the people who have them do not appreciate what they have like us here on the boards.

You may want your P5 as a fun car.. but once you get your mazda 3 its gonna turn into your fun car in no time

 

[MakeMeGoFast]

each car is good in its own repsect. but the 3's exterior just just doesnt look right, kindof looks like a squished 6. to chunky in my opinion. they have the engine advantage but, its only a matter of time before we transplant it into the protege. MMMMMM I can wait.