onehawaiian

i second the rx-8 option. if price is an issue, go with the ride that should rock. but as far as this whole usd/cad, it would not be easier to state everything in cad as there are a lot of non-canadians here as well.
but i don't see how a car with more options would be less than it's predecessors...

arl240

What I meant is that if you are stating Canadian prices use CAD, otherwise the default should by USD.

Patio

I cant wait to spank the 1st MazdaSpeed Protegé in Houston, I'm soooo excited!!!!!!

"Dude, wtf? what you got?"

*pops hood* "yeah, it's pretty stock..."

hahahahah

Brian99ES

If mazda has any brains they won't release it in the US for more than $19,995. If they try some $21k-23k crap they can watch all the enthusiasts drive right past the Mazda dealership on their way to the Subaru, Toyota, Acura, or even Hyundai dealerships who all have cars with more horsepower and more car for the same or even less money. I love my '99 ES and part of the reason is that I only paid $10,500 for it last year w/only 22,000 miles on it.

jstand6

And they'll get a less balanced car. The MP3 already outhandles anything from Subaru, Toyota, Acura, and especially Hyundai for anywhere near the price, heck, even double the price. Now add in a turbocharger, limited slip, and an even better suspension and you'll have a car that will spank these other cars on the road and track. Sure, the Mazdaspeed will only have 170hp (tentatively), but it's much broader torque band will give it an edge for straight line acceleration. Throw in a curve and the game is over for the others. The WRX only gets 165hp to the ground. And the others have no torque, just all high end. TRUE enthusiasts will pay a little bit more or the same price for a car that is way more balanced. I think the Mazdaspeed will definitely be more car for the money than these others... better chassis, more room, better sound, better driveability...

-Jerry

Makaveli

okay since cars are never a straight up conversion from USD to CAD this is my estimate on the price.......

Mazda said it will be $US 20-22k.......
MP3 was $US 18k I believe......

In Canada MP3 sold for $CA 24k.....

therefore in Canada Mazdaspeed Protege will likely be $CA 29,000. They always price the cars just under a round figure (ex. 99$, NOT 100$ lol) which makes me think that it will be mid 29,000$ in Canadian funds for one.

As for value...... well I'd still have it over all those other cars mentioned above that are priced in the range because of looks (interior/exterior) as well as the way that the power sounds to be distributed (not just going for the high numbers to boast).....

Pro_fan

If it's for $29000 CDN or so, then they may not be in trouble with the WRX. The WRX MSRP is $35000 CDN and the difference of $6000 CDN is fairly significant.

If Mazda decides to offer a moonroof and/or leather with the MS Pro, then I can see a lot of people going with it over the WRX. Plus a lot of people don't like the WRX styling (I for one DO like it) and the looks of the Pro are second to none, IMHO.

arl240

I have got a question....which of the aforementioned cars has a limited slip on it. I am lazy and did just a quick search and the only thing I could find was the the rear drive on the Subie had an LSD. So which if any do?

Makaveli

I think that the Neon SR/T won't have it and I know that the Sentra Spec V has one. Actually the one on Sentra got terrible reviews when I was watching a TV show (forgot which one) as it said that it would deliver too much power to one side once the other side lost traction causing the car to be very unstable in wet weather. They didn't mind it in the first two gears but they said that it even happened in the third gear when you're going pretty fast

arl240

Yah, I did some more checking and found RSX, Celica, Tibie all don't have a standard LSD. This of course was a five minute search on some forums so who knows if it is correct. So that leaves the Spec V and Mspeed....the Mazda is better looking so it wins. Heh.

Makaveli

the new Tiburons look very nice too. I've seen a few in person and they kind of remind me of new Maseratti's.....