The Fordspeed Protege?

shaolin said:
Wow "**** me he's joking around" huh...wtf like I'm ******* psychic and can read the sarcasm in his post. And I didn't say the ECU's programming wasn't crap, but I look at it like this. I'll sit here and talk s*** about my car all day if I want to. But when a jetta owner (or any other car owner) tells me my car is s***, I'm the first one to jump down their throats. It may be a piece of s***, but that's my piece of s***. So **** off.

BTW I have much better things to do than to ***** around on a board that I don't even own that type of car.


hes on this board because he is my friend. good enough for you?

why dont you make fun of the jetta window regulators, the cold start issue and the coil packs ******* up. im 100% sure he wouldnt give a s***.
 
Ford is not that bad...they make great trucks. My dad is still driving a 93 Ford Ranger (the B series Truck). I drove an 98 Explorer for 5 years without any problems...only the stupid tire issue which I didn't change till a year after the recall. They just replaced the damn thing with Bridgestone (same comapny). I traded my explorer because I didn't like driving a SUV cuz of the gas issue. I'm a bit bias cuz my whole family drives Chevy, Ford or BMW. I'm the first Mazda or Japanese car owner in my family...and I love my MSP, more then my ex(plorer).

Anyways I heard the FS-DE is good reliable engine. I don't know how good it does under boost. I do know the MX6 has the same engine.

I believe Ford owns 33% of Mazda. Ford also owns Volvo, Linclon, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Linclon, Mercury and Land Rover. Not a bad line up but what do they have in common? We were just discussing why Ford would be intrested in Mazda, Volvo and etc in our marketing class. My professor might be crazy but he claims its all about marketing and image. He made a good argument.

What company did Ford Motor company steal parts from for the GT-40? Aston Martin and Jaguar? I finally got to see it up close at a autoshow...ITS AMAZING. I wish my MSP had that kind of suspension. Mazda needs to steal some of that technology from Ford. The new Mustangs are nice too (IMO).
 
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It's true that Ford owns Mazda partly. They rebadged the Protege 3rd Gen as a Ford (Tierra and Lynx) and it's being sold side-by-side with the 323 Protege in Taiwan I think. Also the Mazda Tribute is being sold as the Ford Escape. The Mazda pickups are being sold as Ford Rangers here.

I've been to the Ford plant here. Proteges for export to Malaysia and Lynxes for domestic use were being assembled side by side.

But I guess since you guys have all those all-american Ford cars, I know why you're all ashamed of Ford owning part of Mazda.
 
My car was built in Japan I don't know what you're talking about. 98% Japanese origination.
 
shaolin said:
My car was built in Japan I don't know what you're talking about. 98% Japanese origination.
Not the only place it's made, but the Hiroshima plant is the source for U.S. imports
 
ricenudles said:
lol mazda is an italian car... good one

but yeah Ford owns 33.4% of mazda. They call it an "alliance" more than ownership and no its not a fordspeed. If anything, Ford bought mazda in order to learn engineering and development (saves ford $$$$).

33% is considered a controling share per japanese law if i am not mistake. So even though in this country that would entitle them to only a serious opinion in Japan it gives them the last word.
 
oliver2000 said:
Ford owns 33.4 % of Mazda and according to japanense law this is a controlling interest.

for more read this

http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/MAZDA/tokusyu4/e980526.html

Thats a cool article!

"Ford does not want Mazda to become just like Ford. That would be of no interest to Ford. Let's make no mistake about that. Ford says it wants Mazda to maintain its own distinctive existence, and to produce characteristically Mazda vehicles. Ford doesn't want to make Mazda indistinguishable from itself. These sentiments are very strongly held at Ford, you know."

On a side note: GM has relations with Subaru's parent company Fuji Heavy Industries. Nissan is now owned by Renault. It is all about survival in the automotive industry...:(
 
yup, its a two sided thing... mazda was going to go belly up, ford came in and saved them...
we have way too many re-bdges here the ford laser/protege the courier/bravo escape/tribute

big thing is ford don't want to sell ford through mazda.... that would be silly, and now mazda has been having great success ford want to share complete models and not just technologies!!

eg the new mazda three has the same chassis as the focus and the new volvo 4wd.... thats where the similarities stop...

i am curious to know who tuned the protege suspension, coz stock handling is out of this world
 
Tell your Uncle that I saw him once, there was a 20/20 special about chicks w/dicks. Ford, **** him.
 
Ford's controlling interest in Mazda means they run the show. Ford is the boss. They share some parts. Chrysler shares parts with Mercedes Benz. Ford with Jaguar. The X-type Jag shares its underpinnings with the Mondeo (Contour). The Volvo s40 and Mazda 3 now share a platform. GM shares parts and platforms and owns a chunk of Isuzu. They own a chunk of Subaru, who will be making a revised WRX wagon as the new Saab 9-2 (which GM owns also). Chrysler and Mercedes Benz are starting to share lots of parts and some platforms. GM is starting to source engines from Honda. Toyota will be selling its excellent hybrid powerplants to a bunch of other manufacturers in the near future. The SRT-4 has a mitsubishi sourced turbo. There are a zillion examples and they don't always flow from companies that share ownership (ie. GM sourcing Honda motors).

Its the way the auto industry works. Look under the hood in the top corner of the drivers side on your MSP and there's a little electrical doodad sitting there with a Mitsubishi logo on it. I don't know what it is, but its sitting there.

Honda and Toyota are the only two truly independant Japanese auto manufacturers.

I think someone asked who tuned the suspension for the MSP- it was Racing Beat.
 
I just hope we don't see rotary engines in other vehicles...thats Mazda's trademark and Ford better not change that. YOU HEAR THAT FORD MOTORCOMPANY...rotary is off limits!

rocketspeed said:
I think someone asked who tuned the suspension for the MSP- it was Racing Beat.

I think he was asking...

ahb11m said:
i am curious to know who tuned the protege suspension, coz stock handling is out of this world
 
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I don't think you have to wory about Ford using the rotary. Or any other car manufacturer, for that matter.
 
One interesting thing to note here is that the two best handling front drivers on sale in the US right now are probably the MSP and Focus SVT. I guess Fomoco knows a thing or two about front drive performance.
 
actually some of the dashes in Honda's are apparanty made by an american company. My Honda mechanic said this to me with my last Honda. Said there was Ford stickers on the inside of the dash like it was assembled in a Ford plant. first I ever heard of it, haven't heard anything else abou it either.

Ford does own a lot of shares in Honda as well, so I wouldn't doubt it. Yes Honda makes all of it's own stuff though.

I've said it time and time before, and I'll say it again. Ford's relationship with Mazda is and was the only thing preventing me from owning a Mazda earlier. I still will NOT buy one of their shared vehicles...aka, tribute, MPV, B2000 series. They are NOT mazda's in my mind, and the troubles I see people having with them are typical of Ford vehicles.

The Mazda 3, while mostly Mazda, shares a little too much with ford for my taste, and to be honest, I may not buy another Mazda passed this one. I don't want a 4 cyl Mazda 6 ( all Mazda btw ) and I do not want a 6 cyl. Mazda 6 that has anything to do with Ford.

So, your uncle is both right/way wrong. 33% of Mazda is owned by Ford. that's the controlling interest for the Japan market, which means....Ford is the boss.

The ECU, and I think ( rumor warning ) the seatbelts, and airbags are Ford. Seen no proof that the seat belts/bags are Ford yet though. Everything else is all Japanese, built in Japan, and shipped from Japan.
 

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