![]() ![]() 's WRX, for $18K this car still has reasonably roomy back seats, gets very good fuel economy, and doesn't look like a remainder from a rental fleet. And although it's not gutsy enough to take on serious performance cars like Which gives this Protégé-a rather standard economy car-enough sports car clout to be a heck of a lot of fun. Not enough horsepower to really compete as a compact sports sedan. Great handling, amazing sound system, cleanly remade interior. 130hp), thanks to different electronics in the engine management system, and also handles much better, courtesy of a trick suspension with stiffer struts and beefier stabilizer bars, 17-inch wheels and wide, 45-series Dunlop tires and a tighter steering gear. We like the MP3 because this front-wheel-drive compact sedan has a more powerful engine than the stock 2.0-liter Protégé unit (140 hp vs. That's a fair chunk of change and, besides the off-beat appeal of owning a car named for a digital recording medium, it may seem a pretty penny to pay for a four-door audio accessory.īut what makes the MP3 so appealing actually has very little to do with the cranking sound system. This system, along with several other additions we'll enumerate below, boosts the sticker of the MP3 to $18,020 (versus $15,535 for the base ES Mazda Protégé). The sound system comes fromĪs does a giant, 10-inch, 100-watt subwoofer that lives in the trunk and is powerful enough to vibrate the car's windows. MP3 (really a reskinned Protégé) is superlative in each of the aforementioned ways, and to us that makes it a slam dunk.īut before we get into all the details, you should know that this car takes its name from a dash-mounted 280-watt six-disc CD changer that can also play home-burned CD-Rs in the MP3 digital audio format. Or, it could just be plain nutty, something not yet completely understood by advertising or industry and, therefore, still full of quirky character. Or it might be because the car has a finish quality so well-executed it reminds us of a great piece of interior design, one so artistic and yet not so overly wrought that it loses functionality. It may be because they are simply a delight to drive, with perfect footing around tortured bends in the road. ![]()
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