foofighter

and with the release of teh Mazdaspeed Portege...will there be plans to do the same for the MP5??? I would love to have this package in the avant errr wagon version!

Are there plans? Release date? Thanks!

Sir Nuke

FooFighter, Welcome to our happy little corner of the net, and to our Club. There are TWO BIG fridge'S in the corner with anything you can think of in them...help yourself...of course only take what you can LEGALLY have.

make yourself at home on one of the big fluffy couches, kick your shoes off, put your feet up on one of the tables, yes we are allowed to do that, mom don't care....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!!

to answer your questions.....YOUR guess is as good as ours....we would all LOVE to believe it will become a reality...but as of yet...there is no OFFICIAL word that the P-5 will undergo the MS treatment and be released in NA or anywhere else for that matter.

foofighter

Thanks for the welcome! I know how "food fights" can get; i moderate over on audzine.com so yeah it can be interesting when things get a bit heated

But yeah, much like the infamous RS4 it maybe something that NA will not see. I would sure love to see the MSP5 that would be another cool wolf in sheeps clothing.

Wonder how receptive Mazda is to the enthusiast market? If people all clamor for that would they listen?

Sir Nuke

not so sure they would listen.....would seem to me it would take a VERY BIG clammor to get their attention.....and not so sure that the protege has that big a following in the import car market....a good example of what I mean is just look at the available aftermarket for our cars....its pretty weak compared to a lot of others.....we can only wish and dream that they will expand the MS into the P-5 line.

ZoomZoomH

I would bet against a MSP5, since 2003 is the last year of the 3rd generation of Proteges (99-03). for '04 they are bringing out a brand new Mazda3 (aka 4th gen Protege).

If anything, I hope they start designing a Mazdaspeed3 right away, so it will get noticed faster

foofighter

perhaps mazda is waiting to see what the public's/consumer's reaction to the MSP before they decide on what to do w/ the rest of the product line.

So anyone seen pics of the next gen?

jstand6

I haven't seen pics of the Mazda3, but a contact I have at Mazda has seen it. The final production styling has been completed and has been given a "go" for production. It has been shown to dealer principals at the dealer show a few months ago in Las Vegas. From what I hear, it is supposed to incorporate design cues from both the RX-8 and Mazda6. And there will definitely be a Mazdaspeed version... Probably after the MS6 and MS RX-8. The Miata will get the treatment as well, but probably after its nearing redesign.

And the Protege is actually getting quite a bit of notice from the aftermarket now. Especially since the new Civic has been catered towards comfort. I have been seeing Protege's and Protege5's on print ads for tires and wheels. They are also showing up on the packaging of generic aftermarket accessories.

hihoslva

With only 1500 MazdaSpeeds shipped here and THAT'S IT, I doubt public reaction is going to play a big role in the decision making.

Most of the MSPs had deposits on them before they were ever shipped.

~HH

foofighter

well that absolutely sucks!!! VW brought over the 337 in that quantity after just the clammor the enthusiasts whined I think Mazda should

hihoslva

If you think that sucks, wait 'till you hear this one:

The turbo setup from the MazdaSpeed WILL NOT be made available for retro-fitting to other Proteges.

Only Mazda dealers will be able to order parts for the turbo (the unit itself, the manifold, etc.), AND - they will have to provide a valid MSpeed VIN, AND return the damaged parts. There will be no way for a P5 owner, for example, to go to the dealer and get the Callaway turbo setup.

~HH

foofighter

wait a minute...this is the company that prides itself on being different and sporty and enters itself in the speedvision challenge and wont even let consumers order those goodies???? Are you serious???? I thought only the germans were uptight bout that kind of stuff! OMG!! I mean seriously, any joe schmoe can walk into an audi dealer and if he/she has the part numbers to the RS4 turbos/downpipes/manifold etc they could order it...even the fenders!

Why is Mazda so uptight bout that? Don't they know that it's the enthusiasts that really creates and draws attention to their name brand? That's just not right...

hihoslva

The only reason I can see for this type of thing is exclusivity - they want to keep the MazdaSpeed an exclusive car, and one that the enthusiast CANNOT truly duplicate. If anything, it should keep the re-sale value high.

I can't really understand it myself. But, according to info I've read, if the parts were available, and a regular Protege owner wanted to create an MSpeed from their car, the parts alone are worth over $10k. Turbo, manifold, thicker axles, LSD, wheels, exhaust, suspension, stereo, etc. - Mazda is most likely losing lots of money on every MSpeed sold. And it's really a nice package - there is very little that the MSpeed shares with it's normally aspirated brothers. Which only baffles me more, because they could sell the parts through the dealers, and make some of that money back. I just don't really know.

There are a few manufacturers making turbos for the Protege however. And I believe they will make more power than the MSpeed setup. But it's still not that factory-fresh assembly, and of course, no Mazda warranty.

~HH

foofighter

that's exactly my point...factory warranty for all the goodies that you get Yeah i'm a big proponent of that...but who knows it's such a shame though.

as for the MSP that is truly one hell of a bargain if you ask me...can't beat the pricing point...really good bang for the buck!

redrims

Welcome Foofighter and are you getting the new MSP as a second car?

foofighter

I'm looking into it as a daily...and have always been drawn to the design and styling of the MP5...but wanted to see if they were coming out w/ MS5 of this car anytime soon, then i can hold off for a yr or so...but from everyone's feedback thus far...it doesn't look that way considering the new gen of this is due for release soon...I may just wait to see how that turns out...

And thanks for the welcome!