PRICE RANGE: $16,815 - 20,800 (MP3 starts at $18,500)
Pricing & Options

CONFIGURATION: Engine, 2.0 liter, 130 Front Wheel Drive

FUEL ECONOMY: 25 mpg city / 31 mpg highway

SAFETY FEATURES: Driver and passenger airbags, standard; ABS, optional on P5, not available on the MP3

Audio Interview: Sandra Kinsler and Brian Leshon talk with Gary Roudebush, Group Manager Passenger Car Platform for Mazda, at the introduction of the Protege 5. Click Here.

Audio Interview: Sandra Kinsler and Brian Leshon talk with Michael Sherrill, Director of OEM Sales at Kenwood USA, at the introduction of the Mazda Protege MP3. Click Here.

Audio Interview: Sandra Kinsler and Brian Leshon talk with Reuben Archillia, Manager Product Excellence Team for Mazda, at the introduction of the Protege MP3. Click Here.

IMPRESSION: MP3 lifestyle sedan and flexible Protege5 hatch are aimed at solidifying Mazda's reputation with the youth, however there is a lot to appeal to the 'zoom-zoom' in all of us.

Mazda's record in the US market has matched the history of our western neighbor's volcanoes . . . very exciting eruptions creating a lot of excitement and media attention, then long periods of dormancy when everyone forgets about them.

Mazda blasted on the scene in the early seventies with Wankel rotary engined sedans and a sports car that equaled the power and verve of traditional V8s. Then the doom and gloom of gas efficiency and emissions messed up the mix, but they again spurted in the mid-80s with a sporty 626 sedan, a new generation rotary RX-7 and a giant killer all wheel drive 323x that scared BMWs and Porsches on the rally circuit. Then came another period of the doldrums.

At the beginning of the nineties they turned the industry around with the Miata, giving other folks the confidence to come out with retro cars like the New Beetle, PT Cruiser, Mini Cooper and even the sixties styled Mustang. Then Mazda shot themselves in the order book by introducing 7 new designs in less than three years, overwhelming the dealers, confusing the public and not leaving anything really new to follow up for over five years.

Even though their luxury 929 offered features not duplicated yet such as solar powered cooling when parked, and the Millenia uses their unique Miller cycle engine with wonderful power and efficiency, or the third generation RX-7 that was the darling of the buff books, these great vehicles were plowed under in the domestic craze to fill our roads with tall and clumsy sport utes. And a network sprinkled with weak dealers didn't help either.

Underneath all this is a spirit of performance and a racing heritage that Porsche would be proud of. In far less time than any other maker, they dominated sports car racing, surpassing all brands in wins and even becoming the only non-western manufacturer to win LeMans. Many others try, but few achieve the balance all Mazdas have between sporty handling and comfortable ride. The 'zoom-zoom' ad campaign is truly inspired and reflects what the cars deliver, not what an ad agency would like you to think they supply. These cars bring out the innocent pleasures we thought we had left behind, at a price we can afford, not one we have to only aspire to.