A five-speed manual transmission was standard and a four-speed automatic was available.Īlong with a front fascia redesign for 2001, Mazda launched the MP3 model named for the Kenwood MP3-capable audio system. Topline Protege SEs received a 1.8L four with 122 hp. Initially, the 1999-2003 Protege’s base engine was a 105- horsepower, 1.6-litre four-cylinder, with 13 more hp than the previous-generation’s 1.5L mill. And what do you have in the MP3 without the stereo and that extra smidgen of g in cornering ability? Dolphins.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The twin-cam four generates far more sound than fury in its cast iron belly, enough decibels at mid-rpm to begin poisoning the atmosphere for the stereo. The 8.2-second 0-to-60-mph dash and the 16.3-second quarter-mile are admittedly breezy for the segment the MP3 beats all the "Little Cars" (the Hyundai Elantra GLS and the Chevy Prizm come within a 10th or two) and trails a Miata to 60 by only a 10th. In fact, power is something of which the Protegé could certainly handle more. In traffic, the manual MP3 has all the twist-and-lean squirt of a sport bike, minus the favorable power-to-weight ratio, though. A new Protegé 5 wagon tested the same day riding on 16-inch Dunlops managed just 0.79 g. You also feel the understeer, but it rotates the MP3's rear satisfyingly when you back out of the throttle lightly, a trait that helped the car post a blazing 0.85 g on the skidpad. You feel the car's organs working to digest corners. The major reason is that Mazda builds the econocar equivalent of a battleship hull and wires it with light, precise, and communicative controls.įrom the thick steering wheel, ergonomically sculpted buckets, and machined-steel pedals, the Protegé MP3 streams data to your appendages regarding lateral grip, slip angle, and road irregularity. In a rematch, the extra vigor of the Protegé MP3 would likely guarantee it the Stirling Moss Award. The last-generation car clobbered 12 other compact sedans in our "Little Cars 6.1" comparo in June 2000 with its fair impersonation of a BMW 2002. The Protegé has long been a favorite around these parts. Racing Beat gets featured billing on the MP3's trunk badge for its effort.
That and the Racing Beat exhaust downstream of the catalyst are worth 10 horsepower and 7 pound-feet of torque, says Mazda, raising the cranking capability to 140 horsepower and 142 pound-feet of torque. The 2.0-liter DOHC four gets an algorithmic stimulant in the form of reprogrammed ignition timing.
1990 PROTEGE CAR AND DRIVER DRIVER
They interface with the road through 17-inch cast aluminum Racing Hart wheels encased in 205/45ZR-17 Dunlop SP Sport 9000 rubber, and with the driver through a leather-bound Nardi three-spoke wheel. Helping out the firmer springs and thicker roll bars are Tokico shocks and stiffer control-arm bushings. Co-founder Jim Mederer and his crew had helped put together the original MPS show car for last year's SEMA aftermarket-parts show and have delivered a production version virtually unchanged. They include mild engine and suspension upgrades for which Mazda relied on tuner Racing Beat in Anaheim, California, an established company carrying street credibility with the slammed-Civic set. Particularly since the miniature controls require a degree in enigmatology - the hand-held remote is thankfully simpler - and the display vanishes like Brigadoon in direct sunlight.įortunately, the MP3 has some other noteworthy tweaks that bump the roadability value above the more pedestrian Protegé models.
The sumptuous sound from this radio and its 10-inch cochlea-compressing subwoofer seems as good as most bookshelf systems, but its presence alone isn't quite enough to get the resident rev heads here salivating. Hence, the name of this car and a big chunk of its $2230 premium over a similarly equipped Protegé ES manual. It accepts regular store-bought discs or self-burned jobs encoded with MP3 digital audio computer files. The MP3's 280-watt Kenwood Excelon Z919 head unit has a multicolor LCD that, when off, is populated by marine life and when on routinely performs a perfect imitation of Tokyo's Ginza district at midnight.įlip down the motorized faceplate (after locating the appropriate tiny button with an electron microscope), and a CD slot appears.
It may sound as though we've snorted the whole bag of nutmeg, but not this time. Should you heed the message and put power to the stereo, a blazing iridescent quasar vaporizes Flipper and begins pulsing in a spectral orgy to the thump of the giant subwoofer. Their little pixilated bodies duck and weave across the dashboard reminding you that your ears are going to waste. The Mazda Protegé MP3 is inhabited by dolphins.
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