The bold grill and angled headlamps from the 626 are up front, while tall, thin tail lamps grace the rear. Smooth curves have been replaced by sharp edges all around. Unlike the nearly invisible redesign Mazda performed on the 626 last year, the new Protege looks completely different from last year’s model. Mazda’s hoping to change that with a completely redesigned Protege for 1999. However, like its big brother 626, it is considered an also-ran in the big picture. Mazda’s Protege traces its heritage back to the 1977 GLC. It’s just that when you’re dealing with something as subjective as a “review,” you just never know what’s going on in the author’s head. Not that any of my complaints are invalid. I’m sure that given more time and an open mind, I would have realized superior ride and handling to its peers, or a better trimmed interior and more comfortable seats, but I just didn’t care. For comparison, the contemporary Corolla with an engine of almost identical size and power was EPA rated at 28/36 versus the Mazda’s 24/29. ![]() Mainly, it would have taken away the two main complaints: Weak off-the-line acceleration and piss-poor gas mileage. I’m willing to bet if they’d supplied a model with the manual transmission, like they did with the 626, the review would have been more flattering. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Mazda – I even own one. Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.Īll I can say is that I remember being in a really bad mood the week I had this car, although I don’t remember why.
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