Mazda definitely injects the fun factor in their Mazdaspeed cars. I had one of these before and SO much fun to drive. Now I drive a 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. Another fun car do drive daily. Thanks for testing Mazdaspeed's Thumbs up!
I "upgraded" from a Mazda 3 to a Mazdaspeed 3, but I had more fun in the regular 3. The speed had too harsh a ride and the understeer was horrendous. Now I drive a Miata :D.
The Mazdaspeed Protege used to be one of the best reviewed as cars back in 2003. People used to give a praise like they give the FRS and BRZ praise today even though it's a completely different type of car. this seriously used to get 4.5-5 star reviews because if it's fun to drive personality and handling.
CeeStyleDj -it still gets n has a 4.5-5 star reveiw. N I still get compliments on my 03.5 MS Pro. I think the main reason why they maintain excellent reviews and still have a coolness edge to them is because b4 04 they were still Japanese cars. They call em sleepers because nobody expects them to be as fast as they are or hug the road like they do. I think its simply HP to weight ratio n knowing how to drive a racecar that allows me to keep up with N smoke some STI's. I LOVE my MS Pro! I'm never getting rid of it!
Not that much different than a FRS or BRZ, actually kind of the same idea. An affordable car with not a huge amount of power, but handles amazing, super fun to toss around, and a unique personality. Just fast enough to satisfy your needs without getting you in trouble, while still being enjoyable enough to make most drives put a smile on your face :)
People should let you know right away if their car is going to have a power steering problem. I'm sure no one wants to hear Matt ran off a cliff cause the owner of the car didn't tell him the car lost power steering on a turn.
jolmeaki I thought the same thing. I would be pretty pissed if I was Matt to be honest. You can't really just say "lol nope!" and turn around, but you are now in a very nervous situation. With transmission problems and steering problems, who is to know whether the brakes are solid and the guy isn't just "hoping it doesn't do that".
Yes you should tell him if you're car is a shit box because you know he's going to drive your car hard ! Mat should have some one do a safety check on the car before he drives it so it's really on mat to judge the car but he's got balls driving cars that hasn't seen an actual technician one day your going to see him off the cliff because the owner didn't tell him they upgraded parts but don't know what they are doing like him rebuilding the transmission and not putting it back together right then blaming the previous owner of the car
The Mazda "Mazdaspeed Protege" America saw an increase in the OE performance brands that were once exclusive to a certain few select markets. Performance parts & Factory Sports tuned models from TRD, STi, RallySport, Nismo, & Mugen had JDM exclusives not available in the US. Mazda released the Mazdaspeed Protege with support from Calloway Cars, Tokico, Racing Beat, Garrett Turbochargers, Sparco, Kenwood Audio, Racing Hart Wheels, Bridgestone Tires. These things came packed from the factory that way and for $20k flat.
I think if you have your car driven for One Take, you should address all known major issues before asking. You know Matt is going to drive it hard and the last thing you want is for something bad to happen. What do you guys think?
LittleCD I hope that he is just trying to work on a budget and not complacent and I like that he is trying to build a well rounded car and not just horsepower
@@_cam- I’m 16 years old and I got a Mazda protege5 from my parents and it’s my first car and manual I learned how to drive it and in 2 hours I was driving in the freeway like normal I love it because it’s a manual
The time frame that the MS Protoge is from was a near golden era for FWD econosport vehicles. The Nissan Sentra SE-R, Ford SVT Focus, MKIV GTI and Honda Civic Hatch SI were rejuvenating the small car craze.
Cool car and great video as per usual. Side note: when your car regularly looses power steering and pops out of gear maybe it's time to stop "fixing" your car yourself and take it to a shop. Although I do understand it's not always that easy.
Vern B you want to pay for a shop to replace my transmission? ill gladly take it to a shop if you do. If i had the money for a new trans I am very capable to change it myself, funds are the issue here, the issue is not that I work on my own car
Ryan Wolfe Hey Ryan, I love the MSP! I really wanted one as my first car but after a lot of research I've found the common problems are the diff breaking early on, the motor isn't the strongest and indeed the intercooler is terrible! My cousin has a Spicy orange MSP, he loves it and so do I haha! Have you done any work to the motor? I've read the motor isnt very strong with the factory turbocharger. Love your car though, they look excellent on STi BBS rims.
As the only owner of a series 2 (basket handle wing vs the early MP3 style wing) I was glad to see this review. The MSP seems to have been forgotten about sometimes, so it's nice to see others appreciating it. I'd love for you to try mine once I have the funds to modify mine the way I want. Oh, and btw, the curb weight is listed at 2,843 lbs.
Nice! I have a Protege5 I've been waiting for a Protege or the like on here. This guy has all the right stuff! The short shifter, the solid mounts, the 6's brakes, the fmic. I'm really glad Matt noticed the torque of this engine, it's not just the turbo its a fairly long stroke 2 liter. I'm also sure Matt will be very pleased to know that the KF or KL V6 is a direct swap into these Protege's. But as goes for the power steering problem.... time to take off the steering pump and A/C comp! But really though I don't live in CA so I'm sure you want A/C more than I do
One thing ive noticed is these proteges are the most front wheel drive feeling car ive ever driven. You can tell the front is steering and powering so that steering gets stiff under speed in a corner
Ah, the memories. I had a Protege5 until recently. Paint is on all Proteges is dog**** and rusts horribly if it even looks at a car wash, but the motor was solid and the shifter had that lovely bit of notchiness that is missing in all new cars. Glad to see some are even found out there in Cali.
My 9-5 pops out of 2nd and 4th around tight corners if you don't have your hand on the shifter. And if you're parked on uneven ground, it's impossible to shift into reverse. #manuellyfestyle
Dinsdale Drummond Basically what I have to do. Of course, it always does that when there's no room to roll forward and I can't roll backward because the car's pointed downhill. Gotta love my Swedish cars.
FrankTheCat It's not "just a saab" thing - it means something is worn out. Generally if it pops out of gear when accelerating, it's worn syncros, if it pops out of gear fairly randomly eg going around a corner, it could just be the transmission and/or engine mounts, but more likely also too much shaft play in the box. If replacing the mounts doesn't fix it, then it's going to require gearbox rebuild or replacement (on most cars, it's cheaper to try and find a good transmission than to repair your existing one)
I use to own a Black Mica MSP. Very cool car. The only issue I had was the tuning. But I loved that car. Got totaled and I upgraded to a M3. Nice to see a review on the MSP.
He seems like a good guy. When these cars were new i remember looking at them with a bit of envy while driving my Neon R/T. The 180hp or so seemed like a lot. My, how times have changed in the car world.
I've always been interested in this car but could never see myself actually spending the money on one, I have a hard time trusting mazda's. Love these videos and love seeing a legit reviewer do modded cars :D
Its a neat little car, but I really disliked them when they were new because, despite the "Calliway" name, mazda took a plan ole protege motor and bolted a turbo onto it, gave it the thumbs up, and hoped for the best. Weak rods, weak pistons, compression that was too high. That being said, I'd like to have a protege5 with turbo motor in stock form. You guys never know... These Cars maybe very very rare in 10 years and worth a good amount. How much would you guys pay for a mazda 323 GTX in stock perfect low mileage shape? I've never even seen one.
The power steering pump often has on smaller motors what's called an "Idle compensation switch." And it's because the power steering is engine driven, so that the engine doesn't get over loaded, it raises the idle. On older 4 cylinders, it'd be possible for them to shut off if you turn it to the stops on the power steering pump.
No, you’ll ruin the car. Hear me out, but there’s a reason Mazda doesn’t build rear wheel drive cars: THEY ALREADY HAVE ONE. If you want a protege you should get one because of that engine, not to just rip it out and chop the whole shell to pieces to make a Frankenstein build.
@@thatgaykid420 yeah you could go to all this effort in a protege - Or you could just K swap a Miata. Even turbocharged 1.8 BP miatas make decent power
Yo when I use to live in AZ one of buddy had a SpeedProtege, I absolutely loved that car. Great power great handling and nice and spacious surprisingly. My buddy's was pushing out 400hp, was so a sleeper. Hard car to find though in decent shape :/
***** Found a guy with a Turbo one: www.wheelwell.com/profile/552c036a2018b7cc55554b5b/vehicles/552c03b12018b7cc55554b66/specs/ MATT REVIEW IT PLEASE!!!
cuntdestr0yer We're constantly trying to mess with audio to find something that works. Unfortunately, with just GoPro's, options are limited, and because we shoot 4 of these a day, whatever settings I choose, for better or worse, have 4 videos attached to them. The only way I've found to improve it is to use a separate audio recorder, which is something I'm not going to do. The most recent 2 videos I've shot, my C5 video from last week and the S3 which I'll post later, I ditched the lav entirely and just used internal audio and it actually sounds better.
TheSmokingTire I'm not sure what 1320 video uses for their mics but their sound quality is pretty good on their go pros. They might know a good mic for you to use.
FatCatJohnny sometimes even better mics have the same issues. Running a high pass filter on most recordings however, is free and can clear up a lot of unwanted lower end noise ;)
My Stoner Mind That doesn't help in this case. The problem is that the audio quality is fine when we are sitting there, and then the second we start driving, you get all this noise distortion. I've tried high and low pass filters, and various compression settings, and nothing makes it better. Granted, manipulating audio isn't my specialty, but I've tried everything I can do and had no help.
TheSmokingTire Pretty sure MotorTrend's found some good answers. If you guys don't mind asking your own competition for help, that'd be wicked. And a Smoking Tire-Drive-MotorTrend collab would be awesome
These are great cars with a few big faults. Rust is number one and the reason I no longer have my Protege5. There are a few interchangeable parts you can get from other Mazdas/Fords, they responded alright to modifications, of which there were a fair number and they handle fantastically. The stock transmission is a bit weak, but it comes with a limited slip diff. It wasn't up go handling the power too long, especially once modified. All in all, good car, relatively rare.
Please put up that GLI video soon :) . Side note I've had both a Mazdaspeed Miata and Mazdaspeed Protege. The Callaway kit was a great start but ultimately the FSDE just wasn't terribly power friendly. The BP in the mazdaspeed miata was definitely easier to squeeze power out of. Overall great start for his MSP.
Concerning comments about the audio quality, try viewing via a different device. On my Samsung Note 3 the audio sounds just right. Its a nice blend of vehicle noise and narration, neither overpower the other.
His power steering rack just has a tight spot in it, probably from sitting for a long period of time. The "sensor" the owner is referring to is a p/s high pressure switch. The shifter may pop out of gear from a misadjusted short throw, it should have a couple stop screws/bolts that can be adjusted.
I wish he had gotten to drive a healthier example. The fact that he took issue with the steering is proof that the car needs work. The MSP's steering (and subsequent handling) is EASILY it's best asset. It's one of best handling FF's out there.
robmanueb2 Location location location. Australia and NZ have good imports from japan thanks to being so close. Our laws are a little more relaxed than the US too. I was surprised when I first heard how incredibly rare skylines are in the US, theyre everwhere as you know.
yeah they aren't kidding about that tiny turbo. My brother's is fun and relatively quick in second and third gear if you really get on it, but that power seems to taper pretty quickly in 4th and 5th gear. I've only ever driven his so idk if it's just his car or they are all like that, but it's still a sharp little thing.
Hey Matt! Congrats for you great job. I was wondering if your able to review a 2005 SRT-4 (Neon)? One of my favorite car of all time (budget car). Keep up the amazing work!
The GT25 was by a good margin NOT the smallest Garrett turbo made that was ever put into a stock car...the Saab 9-3 with the B207L 'base' engine has a GT2052. Now that's a tiny turbo. Still a fun daily driver though even with that little mini-snail...
That's a brave man romping on a bone stock MSP transmission...... Diff is mandatory on any MSP. I love/hated my 2003.5 MSP, felt so relieved to get rid of it. Still a good car with great potential if the proper precautions are taken prior to up'in da boostz
My mom used to have a pretty basic, non-turbo 2003 Protege and I thought it was a fun little car to drive around in. I remember reading somewhere that Mazda tuned the chassis to be as stiff as a 3-Series. I never got to drive a Speed though...I bet it's a fun little ride. As for audio...sounds fine on my TV's speakers (connected to an HTPC).
830sxz Yea my grandma had one, she drove like a fucking race car driver in that thing.. Accelerating til the last second before hitting the brakes for a line of stopped traffic ahead.
I've got an 02 Protege with the 2.0 (NA) and the 5 speed and it's SO fucking fun to drive. It's the exact same color as this but it blends in to traffic and is a little more discreet haha
TheSmokingTire I have a 2003 Ford Focus SVT, but I'm all the way in Tennessee. I'd love to see you do a one take or review one of those! I think you'd be impressed. Thanks!
I'm not sure if it's just me, but he doesn't seem to know what exactly is done to his car. He seems kind of clueless on what matt was talking about. Msp's are awesome cars and are getting harder and harder to find. Beautiful car man, but learn more about it. You didn't even know what shifter you had which could be causing your shifting issues if it's from ebay.
I have a 1997 dodge neon coupe that's pushing about 400whp and weights 2600lbs full stock trim. I would love to polish it up and drive it to the west coast for a one take...
I felt for ryan so bad on that 3rd gear. If you push it too much after it starts to slip out youll explode the 3rd gear syncro ring and wont bea ble to shift or stay in third at all. I could see hi cringing the whole time when Matt shoved it back in 3rd without double clutching first.
LOL couple close calls there. That biker took a shit 4 sure lol. He was way in your lane asking for death. The power steering pump one made me laugh pretty hard hahaha. That car is a death trap. Epic lol.
Should fill some oil to the PS tank. It's audible (hissing sound due to air suction) when it runs out of oil. It doesn't make any good to the PS pump either.
+TheSmokingTire This Mazdaspeed protege was lame and didnt work right, if you come near montreal canada someday try mine, look at it on my chanel, all self built from a bare shell
I once forgot my brakes in my 85 pickup were out and I just got so used to ebraking and slamming it into first gear it wasn't a big deal..... well sorta
Almost lost my driver lisence the other day while drive my Mazda 323F N/A, I realized after a minute or so of going to fast there was a cop car behind me so I chose to speed a head and ruin their "record" of how fast I were going for a certain speed since they couldnt keep up. In Norway the cops have to follow you for a certain amount of time in kilometers, so I jumped out at my friends house close by and waited for them to come, three cops arrived! And after some "serious talk" one of them fucking raged and got mad and told me he were going 150 kmh(90mph) and still didnt manage to keep up, so I said "Oh..really? I didnt realize that, how fast were I actually going though", "I didnt manage to keep up over a certain period so I didnt manage to get your aprox speed", I smiled and said "okay :)" FUCKING REKT! Never give them an opportunity to catch you or to get something on you!
Protégé was a fun car but they weren't built to last and this one looks like it hasn't been particularly well cared for. I had the first version of this (sans turbo) and it always felt faster than the 140bhp would lead you to believe-- mostly because it was so light and handled so well. Around the turn of the century it was understandably over shadowed by cars like the civic Si and svt focus but if you needed a four door and couldn't quite afford a wrx this was a much better choice than the gli or spec Sentra.
sage11x - That s in fact quite wrong... Forget what some know it all dip-stick tells ya, do some research look n see how many MS Protege s are out there with 175k+ miles,stock with original equipment,turbo clutch shocks etc. Check wiki for the specific build of the 2003.5 MAZDASPEED Protege and try 2 tell me "they just slapped a tiny turbo on" ha lol. That couldn't be more false. It was Japanese Mazda last time to build a sport eco racer(sti lancer ECT) before mazda went American/ Mexican. So they went all out for 99-03 specificly 02-03.5. They even have an even more rare mazda speed protege special edition LIMITED numbered 001-500. 250 stayed in Japan 200 to US 50 abroad. They were n are very proud of this design. But people please don't believe everything u hear n read do ur own research. People often make opinion appear as factual! God bless u all
Considering when the stock FS-DE blows (and it will, KL SWAP!)...OR...you can just stick in another bone stock FS....is easy replacement....That's exactly what Callaway did......They designed the Turbo system for this vehicle and did nothing with internals....Doubt they even lowered the compression ratio....Kids get these and stick boost controllers on and go past the stock 7psi and grenade these all day long....Go on craigslist, you'll see...AND THERE'S NO OIL PRESSURE GAUGE! DAH! Why, Mazda? All Performance and Turbo cars need Oil/volt readouts!!! And I also use the same brakes on my 94 Ford Probe GT. Mazda 6/Ford Fusion G platform brakes (calipers, brackets and rotors) bolt on. Matt really does need to drive this same car with a KL swap.
I loved my Protege but the PO demolished it so it was a giant POS, leaking everywhere and a gearbox vibration like a motherfucker. Took me on a 6 hour round trip to Chicago on 2 cylinders and still kept on trucking. I simultaneously loved and hated that car and specially hated myself for being too poor to help the old boy out
Rather than have the unpredictable power steering, why not just remove it? The car is light enough that lacking ps shouldn't be much of an issue. (small parking lots well sick though) Haven't had it in my prelude for awhile. Hondaprobs
well its rolling with camaros and shit so it must be pretty quick just got my brothers for $450 needs a airduct and insurance do you have the EGR hose plugged for wide open idle
