What exactly does 3rd Gen refer to?
 

First post by a random lurker here.

About a year ago I bought a 2000 Protege ES that has managed to become "my car" vs the random car I drive. I really do like this little car, and this coming from a guy who typically goes for '70's muscle.

Any way, I see on all the enthusiast type forums that '99-'03 Proteges = 3rd Gen, but when I'm looking for parts (body kits, etc) '99-00 is one set and '01-03 is another. What's the difference? Can I use a front bumper for the '01 on my car? If not why isn't 01-03 considered 4th gen?

I'm just a little confused on it and trying to figure out what parts I can and can't use. Some landscaping guy stuck an edger through my bumper cover and scratched the paint on the front quarter just above it. The company is going to cut me a check for quotes (which I ran around to body shops and asked for them for "appropriate" quotes :) ) I figured it was a good time for me to put on a front bumper I like better than the stock one. I have only been able to find 3 body kits for '99-00 and I don't really like any of them. It's the 3 on this page, but they're the same 3 I find everywhere:

http://www.grounddynamics.com/Templa...460&SearchYN=N

There are a lot more options for 01-03 kits though. Also if one of you 2 read this, _Kansei_ & JoshP5, what bumper is that on the car in your signatures, is it just the stock P5?

strictly speaking, 3rd gen refers to 1999-2003 model years. when there is a minor/specific change from year to year, without changing the platform to a new generation, it is known as a "refresh"

very little changed, perhaps the engines offered, minor safety enhancements, stuff you wouldnt notice except for the styling changes.

i do not believe you can use the bumper from a 2001 model on your 2000. if you look at the shape of your headlights, they do not match the shape of the bumper on the 2001 although i could be wrong. mounting location may be different among other things. a popular bumper for the 2000 is the "Sport 20" bumper. it is JDM spec and a few protege owners have it installed and it looks amazing

The 01+ front end is different, but if you got the 01 hood, fenders, lights, bumper etc you can bolt them on the car. The sport20 bumper is nice like a lot of ppl say, and there's a couple guys on mazdas247 with a MSP bumper that they molded to fit with the 99-00 lights.

Kansei, JoshP5 and others have migrated over to themazdaforum.com fyi. I only came on here today because I got an email from the site. You might have a better response there.