Four wheel disc brakes?
 

I've always thought that four wheel discs were a lot better than drum brakes, but how much difference does it actually make? I don't know the technical differences between them.

In most applications a 4 wheel disc setup is superior in terms of clamping force and cooling, although on a few compacts the front disc/rear drum system out performs disc/disc sytems in stopping distances but cooling is still a problem...Also drums are usually lighter than solid iron discs/calipers...

Honestly I don't know how much of a difference it would make on a 99 protege...It is light enough that the stock system does not have much of a problem stopping the car...if you are into racing and need more resistance to fade and braking power, than the cost of upgrading to a disc/disc setup would be worth while otherwise the swap would be more of an aesthetic mod...You may shave a few feet off your 60-0, but better tires will do much more than that...

Drums are cheaper/simpler more or less/easier to incorporate an e brake cable when compared to rear discs...Theoretically all cars would have 4 wheel discs if production costs were not an issue but drums in back still get the job done pretty well...

Also a common finger pointer among some is if a car's brakes suck it is the fact that it has drums in back...There are plenty of cars that have 4 wheel discs and still can't stop between Philadelphia and Pittsburg (99-00 Civic Si to name one)...And plenty of cars that have drum brakes and perform just fine (00+ VW Jetta GL)...In general 4 wheel discs are better, but suspension design, tires, brake size, etc... are just as important...