I'm thinkin' about gettin' one but can't decide...there's not much difference between the two...maybe you guys can give me some opinion.

 

I guess I'm biased towards the P5 (as I bought one)... but I really think that hatch backs are cool... much more useful for lugging stuff around....

Of course that bias might be more like an addition... my first car was a Mitsu hatch back and my second car was an '86 Subaru wagon (now THAT was underpowered).... the third one was a Chevy and that is when I realized the drawback of not having the hatch!

 

I like the hatchback too...um, but isn't P5 a wagon?.....

 

if you can deal with the "wagon" aspects of the P5, i would get that one. with the P5 you get a strut bar and cool ground effects. if i am not mistaken, those are the only differences between the two for 2002. (besides the obvious)

 

It's a small wagon or big hatchback, take your pick. I prefer the lines of the sedan most of the time, but the Protege 5 is one of the very few exceptions. To me, it's basically a tie, they both look very good compared to anything else available in the same size/price range.

 

call it what you like... I think of it as a small wagon.

But, as some other post on this board pointed out, apparently the P5 is actually a little shorter than the sedan Protege and it is not usually the case that a "wagon" is shorter than the sedan... hence it is a hatch back...

best I can say, it has lot's o room and looks pretty good to boot...

 

Go for the P5

Sport Wagon!!!

 

I had the same thoughts... hatch or not.... I had a saab 900s
3 door and found it very versatile... now I need 4 doors for sure... the hatch and the GT are both as posted above the best looking and best value in this class. Flip a coin... it all depends on what you want. Me? Im going for the hatch... only a few more dineros.... 5spd of course with the a/c moonroof - colour mine silver... hope this helps

 

Funny question. We bought a Protege LX for my wife in 1999 and we really like it. My car of some 11 years started acting up this summer, and while it had its problems (it was a Dodge Shadow) it was a hatch and I didn't want to give up the versatility.

I thought I'd have to get a wagon and was sorta resigned to saving up another year for a Passat. What I really wanted was a faster hatchback version of my wife's car.

Then, lo and behold, Mazda made one! Too amazing, so of course I had to go out and buy one. Now that I've been had it for a while, I'd certainly tend to recommend the P5 over the ES sedan. I love the front fascia and big fog lamps on the P5, but the real kicker for me is the versatility. I had to move a baker's rack not long after I got the P5 and the car just swallowed it whole, no muss, no fuss. Can't do that in the sedan. Christmas tree? That'll get thrown on the roof rack.

I do think of it more as a hatchback. Given that it sits right next to a 3rd gen sedan in our garage, I can confirm that the P5 is definitely shorter than the sedan. Big hatch? Small wagon? Hatchgon? Wagback? Whatever it is, it's versatile...

 

people, let's stop dissing my sedan, go for the ES!!!

hehe, j/k, actually I honestly think that the p5 is better looking ever so slightly, but I don't regret buying the sedan at all. I can always add the front p5 bumper and then mine will be better looking

 

I personally like the looks of the sedan better.

Is it just me or does the sedan seem to have more trunk space?

 

The sedan has a lager trunk than the hatchback. I like them both.

 

actually, i think the 5 looks better stock. but the sedan is nuts when you customize it! i have a 5 and i love it cause it looks sporty and all, but at the same time all my honeys say it's cool cause i'm single and own a sport wagon. actually, they don't even call it a wagon...they just say it's really cool.

it's practical, yet fun. true, the sway bars are nuts too. i love my p5, but the sedan is cool too. esp for almost $6000 less.

but my girls love riding in my 5 cause they get more attention sitting in my car (yes, i cruise w/a lot of shallow, vain, self-centered honeys...but at least they're pretty!)

2 sum up: p5 is da bomb, but that doesn't short the sedan in any way. both are cool to me.

 

I had a 2001 ES/GT sedan, then saw the P5 and had to have it... the P5 is slower, but i think it handles better, whether thats due to the extra weight over the rear axle or the strut tower bar or both who knows... the sedan "felt" like the rear end was going to step out, the P5 doesnt display a similar feeling to me...

Scott

 

When I first saw the P5 (in the commercials) I thought that it was a total WAGON. I wanted a hatch so I didn't even consider buying it till my bf took me to the lot to 'just take a look with an open mind!' approach. Well, to my surprise, when we pulled up next to it in the Type-R (yup, that's what he drives!) the P5 is shorter! That's when I knew that it was gonna be my next car

so now i drive a HATCH and that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!