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Look closely, and you can see the changes for this year's ES. The most obvious
clues that this is an '01 are the foglights and bigger wheels with slimmer spokes.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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The cabin features white-faced gauges, metallic center stack accents and funky
seat fabric.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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In our collective opinion, this is one of the sharpest little cars around.
(Photo by Scott Jacobs)
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Road Test: Follow-Up Test
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Follow-Up Test: 2001 Mazda Protege
Mazda's Entertaining Econocar
By
John DiPietro
Date posted: 05-09-2001
Though not as popular as the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, Mazda's Protege is a small car that's earned the respect of many driving enthusiasts who need to buy a sensible and affordable set of wheels yet don't want to drive something that'll bore them to tears.
And this year, Mazda made a good thing even better with upgrades that, while hardly earth-shattering, do equip the Protege for battle against the current crop of capable subcompact cars. More power is always welcome, and the ES model has a new 2.0-liter, DOHC inline four that sports an increase of 8 horsepower over last year's 1.8-liter mill, for a total of 130 horsepower. This puts the Protege ES around mid-pack in the econo-sedan power wars -- more than the Honda Civic EX and Toyota Corolla, equal to a Ford Focus ZTS, and less than the Hyundai Elantra and Nissan Sentra SE. Other hardware upgrades for this year's ES include four-wheel disc brakes (ABS is optional) and 16-inch alloy wheels wearing 195/50R16 tires.
In addition to the ES, Mazda offers the Protege in DX, LX and LX 2.0 trim. DX and LX are both powered by the same 1.6-liter DOHC engine (producing 103 horsepower) that they had last year. LX models add the following luxuries to the base-model DX: power windows/locks/mirrors, cruise control, a stereo with CD deck and six-way adjustment for the driver seat. The LX 2.0 provides LX owners with the ES' 130-horse engine -- for those who would like more power, but don't want to spring for the top model. Those who do choose the ES will benefit from the bigger wheels/tires and four-wheel disc brakes mentioned earlier, a sport suspension, air conditioning, keyless entry, a rear spoiler and foglights. Pricing (including destination charges) ranges from $13,245 for the DX to $16,015 for the ES.
Being the "zoom, zoom, zoom" company, Mazda saw fit to enhance the steering and suspension systems in the Protege to make the car even more entertaining to drive. To improve steering precision and feel, components such as the shaft mounts were beefed up, and the power assist was recalibrated. Stabilizer bars were stiffened to sharpen response and reduce body roll when the car is taken through the twisties.
The exterior style of the new Protege has been tweaked slightly. So slightly, in fact, that at first glance it's hard to notice the difference between a '00 and '01 model. The facelift resulted in a more angular five-point grille (with a mesh insert and larger Mazda symbol) and new light clusters whose bottom edges continue the line defined by the grille. The net result is an even more handsome version of what we already considered to be a sharp car.
Inside the cabin, numerous thoughtful changes are found. The center stack has a new metallic accent around the controls and glossy accents replace the odd dimpled trim of last year. A new stereo features larger buttons and two big knobs, one for volume and one for tuning that make it much easier to use -- sometimes old ideas are better. ES models get white-faced gauges that are all the rage now, and revised cupholders, along with dual map lights, round out the interior improvements.
We drove both the manual transmission (although briefly) and automatic gearbox versions of the ES and were fairly unanimous in our take on the car. Build quality is tight -- the car felt rock-solid from the way the doors closed with a crisp "thunk" to the way bumps were absorbed without a shudder.
Even with an automatic tranny, acceleration was peppy, though we found that the engine note got a bit discordant at times. One editor commented that "For once, I prefer the sound of an American four-cylinder engine to a Japanese one. Specifically, our long-term Focus ZX3 produces a pleasing growl when pushed, which adds to the driving experience, whereas the Protege sounds buzzy when the whip is cracked." We were happy, however, with the performance of the automatic, which produced nearly undetectable gear changes and swift downshifts when prodded.
The five-speed manual transmission offered fuss-free gear changes thanks to linear clutch action and well-spaced gear ratios. Rowing through the gears was neither a chore nor a joy, as the shift quality was satisfactory though lacking the precise feel of a Honda Civic's manual gearbox.
With discs at all four corners, we expected braking to be good and it was, as the binders felt strong and were easy to modulate. When the pedal was spiked to test the ABS, the system responded with a swift, straight stop. Though the ABS groaned a bit as it performed its magic, this didn't alarm us, as the noise is typical of most antilock systems when they are called into action.
Where the Protege shines is in the handling category. We really had no complaints about last year's model in this regard, and the pains Mazda took to improve it this year were, to be honest, not readily apparent. Perhaps if we were to drive '00 and '01 versions back-to-back, the differences might make themselves known. Regardless, we thoroughly enjoyed tearing through twisty canyon roads in the ES, reveling in the car's precise steering feel and buttoned-down composure when pressed. Fortunately, the ES' athletic prowess doesn't come at the expense of ride quality, which is on the firm side but still comfortable.
Getting seat time in all types of sporty vehicles can sometimes make us auto journalists forget that not everyone who loves to drive can spend much money on a car. Mazda's superb little sport sedan reminded us that it is possible to have a practical, well-built and affordable car that's also a kick to drive.
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