I just got a 2002 silver es in a 5 spd. i learned how to drive a stick on the way home from the dealer. its defanitely worth getting it in a 5 spd. you will learn it in no time...

 

I can give you a very honest opinion of the manual and the automatic since I've driven both. I had a loner with automatic for two weeks since my car was late arriving at the dealer. Although I would totally recommend getting the manual which I did. I was slighty surprised by the automatic. I did find the automatic was definitely harder on gas since I had the overdrive engaged most of the time. I was relieved once I had mine and it was easier on gas.
Spend a weekend driving standard with someone and I'm sure by the end of the weekend you'll think it's nothing. Also on the plus side you can upgrade the shifter to a B&M short shifter which is even smoother and less effort.

 

I play ball all over, Yeah i'm on a tourny team, I would be going to the vegas nppl, but finals for school are keeping me from it, but i plan on hitting all the rest of the nppls(or whatever they are going to call themselves, if it stays alive) this year. .....I also went to the dealership today, and sat down with a guy, talked to him, hinted to him i never drove it and i think i want one, Never once did he mention if i wanted to take one for a spin. And for all of you peeps that keep telling about driving a stick, I know how to drive one, just dont like it at all, I figure no sense in having a stick if your car isnt fast I also was going to get the black ES, but the yellow p5 is looking pretty TYT

 

Get the black mica ES with the 16" alloys

 

I was at the my dealership the other day and talking to my sales rep. He said that when they took their yellow mp3 for waxing etc., they basically rubbed the paint down to the bare metal, using their HANDS. 1 of two things happened here, 1. They just suck at detailing etc. 2. the yellow paint isnt applied properly.
As for the yellow p5's. Ive seen 1 around town (I had a yellow one on order for about 2 months) and it went from that nice bright yellow to a nasty orangish yellow. again it could be the fault of the owner or bad paint. Yellow is a tough color to keep clean and nice.
Btw... after I had mine on order for about 2 months I went to the dealer and I got a loaded Red P5 for the price of the base model. Dealerships wont budge on price on the yellow p5. You will have more luck "bargning" on an ES or another color p5. I LOVE my p5 and I do have it in stick and I learned how to drive on the way home . Anyway, Mazda has done their homework on their new line of cars IMO. Their are a few minor probs but if you can handle a rattle in the cold months when you first start it up then your fine. Im not sure about the stock tires on the ES but I love my dunlops, if they werent so expensive I would keep buying them. Handling on pretty much all Protege's is awesome.

Sorry for rambling on....

 

keep rambling trex, it's all good!
manual vs. auto... it all depends in what you want out of your ride. there are a lot of manual-lovers in here, and even tho i find it fun to drive, i am not a fan of standard. maybe i'm getting old or whatnot, but i am now in cruise-mode and just like to kick back and let all the ladies stare at my ride. but my p5 has enough speed for daily driving, should i ever have the need for speed. i've been driving standard all my life (and so has my friend who just got an auto/bmw) and we both agree now that automatic is somewhat of a relief.

but if you want speed, buy a c5 vette... this sounds like a familiar "off topic"... LOL

 

Hey Trex,

I'm pricing P5s on CarsDirect.com, (and btw the
base P5 they're offering at $15,984 vs. the
quoted $15,734 invoice price).

Anyway, what I noticed is that in the color
selection box, choosing yellow adds another
$500 to the CarsDirect price. So I guess that
extra charge is pretty well established now!

-

 

the only reason for the "surcharge" is cause it is now harder to get, so dealers will try their best to get one, then slap on a new price for their efforts. when you think about it, it'd be better to buy a base white, then paint your own custom color! then you'll have the only whatever-color-you-choose, car.

or get an aussie p5- they have 11 colors!