is the 5 better?

[bruce95fmla]

Doesn't the Protege 5 have a slightly stiffer suspension...

I know that the Protege 5 is supposed to be a slightly stiffer chassis because of the hatch area.

I would rather the Protege 5 over the sedan, but then I have seen some new style sedans (not the 3) that look really nice..
Bruce

[RipperSnapper]

Originally posted by NegatiZE
The Protege5 and ES have the same engine and suspension, with the exception of the front strut bar on the Pro5. The spring rates may be different due to the extra weight in the rear but don't quote me on this.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Sylvestre]

I looked at both like other said, it came down to style. The ES (with all the options) is the same as the prot5 so the question for was - was an extra grand worth the extra space?
In the end I preferred the sedan because it's a bit more understated

[N2OInferno]

I always liked the styling of hatchbacks more, and I liked the extra room, so I got the P5 over the sedan.

[AFwestPunk]

i have the sedan, did not want to look like I was a family man. However i wish i would have waited for the '03 MSP

[Lil Freek]

Originally posted by AFwestPunk
i have the sedan, did not want to look like I was a family man. However i wish i would have waited for the '03 MSP

Ay.. I wish I had waited, too...

[dweezle83]

There is!

I owned a 2002 Protege LX for a year and a half. Last sat. I traded the car in for a 2003 Laser Blue P5. I love the look of the car over the sedan. After driving both quite a bit, I really do think there are some big differences between the two cars, not neccesarily speed wise, but in other ways... The 5 has a much better audio system, and much better suspension. One of the posts in here claims that the p5 does not have a rear sway bar, but it does...if you go to mazda.com and look at the specs you will see that. Another advantage of the P5 over the Pro is the braking system. I believe that the ES pro comes with 4 wheel disk brakes, but the P5 only has one trim level...and it comes with 4 wheel disk brakes. Overall, the car is much funner to drive and I'm extremely happy! I had done alot of things to my pro...springs, struts, shocks, exhaust, rims, tires, intake...trying to make it funner to drive...I will be leaving the P5 stock however, as I feel it is much funner to drive...just my experience, don't mean to offend anyone if I did.