That said, the Protege’s taut, self-contained styling is attractive and looks a bit more sophisticated than most subcompacts. When purchasing a subcompact, such matters usually take a back seat to durability, ride quality, and value. Obviously, the lines of a subcompact won’t be as long nor as sleek as those of a sport coupe or mid-size sedan. Styling is a relative term in the subcompact world.
All of this boosted the total price to $17,845. Our test car came loaded with options: Carpeted floor mats & armrest guards ($105), automatic transmission ($800), and the $1,195 ES Premium package, which includes power sunroof, alloy wheels with locks, keyless entry and alarm. (All prices include the $450 destination charge.) Our Protege ES came with a high level of standard equipment, including air conditioning, AM/FM/CD stereo, cloth sport seats, and reclining front bucket seats with adjustable thigh support and seat height on the driver’s side. We drove the ES, which has a base price of $15,745. Safety is enhanced by high-strength steer bars in the doors, dual airbags, and available anti-lock brakes (ABS).
Mazda ferrari protege car manual#
This engine is also used in the Miata and turns the Protege into a small luxury sports sedan.Įither engine can be ordered with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 4-speed automatic transmission. Equipped with double overhead-camshafts (dohc), it produces a respectable 92 horsepower and offers good performance.ĮS models come equipped with a more powerful 1.8-liter engine that produces 122 horsepower. It’s rated at 37 mpg on the highway when equipped with the standard 5-speed manual gearbox. LX and ES models come with cruise control, power windows, power mirrors and power door locks and a split fold-down rear seat.ĭX and LX Proteges are powered by a highly efficient 1.5-liter, inline 4-cylinder engine. All are equipped well, including a tilt steering column, adjustable front seat belt anchors, dual cupholders and rear-seat heater ducts.
The Protege comes in three trim levels: entry-level DX, well-equipped LX and more powerful ES. While they were at it, Mazda’s design team improved the Protege’s aesthetic appeal by giving it a more ovoid shape. In fact, it’s roomier than some mid-size and luxury cars. The Protege is roomier than the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sentra. Mazda’s engineers employed some clever space-management techniques to increase interior space. It was strengthened with an extremely rigid, but lightweight, chassis, which substantially improved ride quality and handling. Mazda completely redesigned and re-engineered the Protege for 1995. Quality is at luxury car levels because the Protege is built at a state-of-the-art assembly plant designed to produce Lexus-like luxury sedans. The Protege offers a luxurious ride quality, sporty handling, respectable performance and more interior space than many luxury cars.
Mazda’s Protege is a great example of this latter category. Instead, people bought small cars that offered quality and features that approached the levels of larger, more expensive cars. Chrysler listened to its customers and designed bare-bones Neons that retailed for less than $10,000. Consumers who attended their product clinics said they wanted a five-cent cigar–an economy car that was cheap, inexpensive, economical. Chrysler recently learned this the hard way. Today, makers of economy cars know they have to deliver the goods to consumers.
Buying a subcompact just a few years ago meant settling for a spartan, low-quality econobox that lacked power and handled poorly. Mazda’s Protege shows that subcompacts aren’t the barren transportation devices they used to be.
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