Allegro, is it Protege5eable?>need some buying advice...
 

Hi, I'm about to buy a new car and I'm really into the allegro/protege hatchback, the thing is that the Allegro hatchback doesn't have the Protege5's body kit, is it possible to put this body kit on the allegro without having to do any complicated mods ? I'm also interested in getting the Protege's brushed alluminum(sp) dash trim, can I get it from mazda's web site, or maybe from a dealer?
I live in Venezuela (S. America) and we don't get the Protege5 here, just the allegro hatchback.

Thanx

Thanx for the info, btw, I was browsing through mazda's site and found this "protege performance accesories", would this also work with the P5? seeing that they're almost the same car.

Jac, first off Welcome to our happy little corner of the net. There is a BIG fridge in the corner with just about anything you can think of in it...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGEALLY have. :{D

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables....and take it easy.

oh...btw....every once in a while a food fight breaks out...so you may not want to wear nice clothes here.

Welcome!! :{D


ANYWAY....to your question....YES....everything there will work just fine.

Cool, I hope it does.

I also need some opinions to help me decide wich car to get.

The hatchback is 1.6 109hp, I think it would run nicely with that engine and it costs 12.700$ more or less. (using a manual tranny) I totally love this car, specially the interior wich is almost the same as the P5 except for the aluminum inserts and that it doesn't have as much black parts,but the overall quality is still there. The only thing that makes me hecitate(sp) about it is the engine.
I know you're going to ask why don't I get the 2.0 or the 1.8, I can't because they're not available, there's a 1.8 available for the regular protege but it only comes with an auto tranny.
My other options are:
-Neon: the exterior is ok, the interior sucks IMO, it has 132hp(nice) and it's a dodge...that's one of the main reasons I don't like it. it's 14.800$
- Nissan sentra GXE, dunno the price but it's probably the same as the neon.
- Seat Ibiza, kinda expensive (17.000$) for such a small car, 1.6 engine and it has like 100hp.
-The civic is way to expensive at 17.600$ for the "cheapest" one (LX I think) and the corolla costs about the same, but the corolla we get here is ugly as hell, both inside and out.

If I get the Hatchback I would get some 17" wheels, put on the P5 body kit (if it fits), dark tint, completely replace the sound system with an aftermarket one, interior aluminum or carbon fiber inserts, new shift knob....and....er....well, that's about it, for now ;)

what do you guys think, is it a good buy? underpowered? I know it's my choice but I'd like to hear some opinions.

BTW I might be able to test drive it next week,this is not comon here, it's quite rare actually, most people usually drive their cars for the first time after they buy it. you usually buy based on what you see in the showroom and on the specs.
I might have to re-learn to drive a stick though, it's been more than a year since I last drove one...hehe.

Sorry for the ignorance, but WHAT IS AN ALLEGRO?!

Well, IMO Protege's the nicest car out of the ones that you listed if you go by the looks and the interior. As far as the engine is concerned, I've never driven the 1.6L one but with all the money that you save, you could always work on making your car faster.

The only other car out of the ones that you named that I would consider is maybe the Sentra, even though I never liked the look of it, they're a pretty good package.

Sorry about that
 

An allegro is a protege, that's what it's called in south america, it's the exact same car. Here's a pic, it's the best one I could find: http://www.mimazda.com/allegro.htm It's all in spanish. The difference between the allegro hatchback and the P5, on the outside is the body kit, inside the aluminum inserts and it doesn't have a 3 spoke stearing wheel, but it has a very nice 4 spoke leather wraped one.

bump

My God! Those are some tiny little tires on that thing. It looks like a mutant. Want me to send you some 16"ers to replace those wee 14's?

Still, aside from the tiny tires I think the outside looks pretty good. I wouldn't mind being able to buy a Protege5 without all the extra body cladding on the outside.

It also brings to mind an important question. You guys notice how the Hatchback down there has the same antenna the sedan does up here? I wonder how hard it is to replace that with the antenna from the P5? Anybody know? I really hate that flimsy antenna.

Thanks for clearing that up...

I hadn't noticed the antena, I think it would be pretty hard to move the antena cables all the way to the back of the car. I don't like those wheels very much, as soon as I get some cash I'll buy some 17", is that the best size for a protege? or perhaps 16"?

BTW there's an 80% chance that Ill buy my P5-Allegro by the end of this week, YAY! :)

80% is pretty good hehe, keep us posted :D


I feel that 17" is the best size looks wise and also when you consider the comfort of the ride on a Protege. 18s look a bit too big for my taste, and 16s are stock, so ya know, gotta go in the middle. If you get 17s, you also don't have to get really low profile tires. Depends what you're looking for. If you don't care about looks, get 14s hehe ;)

I agree with TheMan on that one. If your roads down there are bumpy I would stay away from getting really big wheels. You will definitely feel it. But hey, if they are relatively smooth then go for the 17's. I'm definitely planning on hooking my ride up with some soon.

Well, actually there are lots of pot holes an stuff like that, and aparently someone thought it was a good idea to fill some parts of the city with huge speedbumps. so 17" is a bad idea huh? is it only because the ride would get rough or because of the risk of damaging the rim? do 16"s look good?

It all depends on what kind of rims you want. I say get some really light 16s if you can