The ES gets a 1.8-liter engine that’s rated at 122 horsepower. EPA ratings are somewhat higher, and I’m not sure why we were so low. In addition, we averaged more than 25 mpg. An automatic would have strangled the engine and cut back on whatever performance was available.
#Protege car car manual#
This isn’t a big engine, and 105 aren’t a lot of horses, but thankfully they were connected to a manual gearbox. Acceleration was decent and on-highway performance capable. Thanks to the five-speed gearbox, I was able to extract the best performance out of it. It is the first vehicle in its class to achieve this level.īut the engine is more than just economical and clean. This engine uses a special swirl control valve on the intake manifold that helps it achieve Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) status in California. It drives the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.
Protegé is powered by a 1.6-liter DOHC inline four that develops 105 horsepower. I would have liked it more if it was slightly bigger, but that could be my fault and not the car’s. It’s been around for a couple of years as the replacement for the 323. The Protégé isn’t a new car in the Mazda lineup. When it was time for the company to expand rapidly, it didn’t. It’s just that with the overabundance of quality Japanese compact sedans, Mazda somehow got lost in the shuffle. Engineering has always been inventive, from the first RX7 with the Wankel rotary engine, to the Millenia with its Miller cycle engine. Stability is the one thing the company did need. Ford increased its share of Mazda stock to 30 percent and gave the company some stability.
We’ve all heard about the problems Mazda has undergone in recent years and how the company was at the verge of bankruptcy. As always, it’s a pretty good Japanese compact sedan. The redesigned 1999 Mazda Protegé, while it has crisp "European" styling, isn’t going to fool anyone. Power mirrors, cruise control, air conditioner,ĪM-FM stereo radio with in-dash CD player, INSTRUMENTS: Speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge,ĮQUIPMENT: Power windows, power door locks, LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT: 174.0 x 67.1 x 55.5 in HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 105 hp rpm/107 ft-lbs 4000 rpmįUEL ECONOMY: 29 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, 25.3 mpg test A closer look reveals a roomy car that is well equipped, competent, fun to drive and competitively priced.New Car/Review Mazda Protegé LX by John Heilig SPECIFICATIONS It is easy to lose sight of the Protegé in the herd of small sedans. Manual and automatic transmissions are available with both. The top-line ES has a 1.8-liter engine with 122 horsepower. The DX and LX models use a 105-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine.
Mazda says the “European-inspired styling” was done jointly by designers in Europe, Japan and California. A split, folding rear seat supplements the 12.9-cubic-foot trunk, giving Protegé commendable cargo space for a small sedan.Īt 174 inches end to end, Protegé is one inch shorter than the best-selling small car, the Honda Civic. That translates into adequate rear legroom and headroom for adult-size passengers. The five-passenger Protegé is one of the roomier small cars, with interior volume of 92.6 cubic feet. However, Mazda’s rendition is expected to look much different than Ford’s. Ford owns a controlling interest in Mazda, and plans are to switch the Protegé to the Ford Focus platform for 2002. Protegé was redesigned last year, but it has a short future in its present form. The new side-impact airbags are part of option packages that include anti-lock brakes. Side-impact airbags are a new option for the LX and ES versions of the Protegé, Mazda’s front-drive compact sedan.
0 kommentar(er)
