What we all have to remember is that even when new, the Protege didn't generate the interest in modding that other cars in its class (eg Civic) did. Try finding go-fast parts for it. Now that it is older and considering the sparse aftermarket there are few people who might be inclined to join a forum for info out there.

Gary I agree about the newb questions. One of my favorites is for the Speed6 (I disconnected my battery now my windows don't work...read the manual!). Unfortunately a lot of people want instant gratification with no work on their part. For others it is hard using the search function on a new board. We all know how because we have been around. I do try to answer some of those questions without blasting the person if I feel like I can do so correctly.

And I agree with everyone else, I will not get rid of my Protege. It is way too much fun. Hell, I still have my RX-7 after 27 years!

Oh, I don't plan on getting rid of my Protege, not at all! I just don't know
if I want to keep sinking $$ into mods.
As much as I want to, the lure of an upcoming (rumor, I'm sure) Supercharged RX-8
is making me re-think my priorities.
Even if no such beast is produced, my next car is going to be a Rex of some kind.
I've always lusted after one but it was never a practical consideration before, either because of money, family obligations or some combination of both.

same here, i couldn't imagine selling my car to someone. i'd want to keep it in the family, probably give it back to my dad since he likes it...but then again, i'd just want to keep it as the back up car when i finally get out of school. it's been too good of a car to give up.

I actually came across this thread in a google search, no lie.

yeah I'm on themazdaforum.com of course but I'm still here too. No hard feelings, but the new owners just don't seem to care enough.

Aside from talking about the day-to-day happenings with our cars there isn't that much going on. At this point I'm modding just for the sake of modding (dumping $900 into new headlights just because) to give me something to distract myself.

A guy can't just sit around doing homework all day with no social life.. I need an active forum or like 15 largely inactive ones so that when I need it, a distraction is there. The new forum kept me very distracted while I was sulking about my car getting smashed up (just got the car back yesterday btw) as I took the role of technical admin and did all the vbulletin customization and logo work for the site.

It's much easier to check just a couple forums (themazdaforum.com and toprotege.com) than it is to check the 15+ that I was active on (serious). I still go on the other forums, which are not just car forums, but only maybe once every few days just to see if threads I'm subscribed to are updated.

This site was never really much of a Mazda3 forum at least during the time I was active on here (started posting here in June 2007), seems like those guys are on mazda3club and in general that whole community seems pretty empty especially considering the 3 has now been for sale over 4 years.

eggynatey --good to hear about your plans for your Protege! I definitely approve :D

now that I have my car back I too can say I don't plan on getting rid of it (how could I with so much fresh paint lol). Sure I'll get a Miata or an rx-8 and de-mod my Protege (once I graduate and have a job) but the car has been my main hobby since before I started college and that means a lot to me. The 87000 miles I put on the car (bought it with 8k on it) are filled with many awesome memories and I just can't put a dollar figure on that and sell the car. So many people, even many car modding enthusiasts, can just put a car behind them and throw it all away after a couple years. I think this car must have been designed with me in mind or something, I just can't see a better all around package for me.

I do have future plans for the car once I have another car that I can use as a daily --they involve an engine available in Europe and Japan but not here, and yes a turbo. It'll be a very different car when I get to that point.

I still love this place a lot, you guys were so welcoming to me when I was suddenly no longer welcome (or allowed) on a forum I was so deeply involved with for years. It was an emotionally trying time (honestly I have no social life so forum stuff is pretty important for my well-being, hence why I often take things on forums way too seriously and often get hurt) and you guys welcomed me like I was one of the gang. I felt instantly at home.

oh before I forget, another reason this forum has been dying is that people are having so much trouble registering on here. Totally serious, I have been in contact with 5 people through many different forums (including non-protege forums such as www.howardforums.com and www.hidplanet.com) who registered on here but never received their confirmation e-mail to activate their account. I think they even show up in the member list but just can't post :P

yes I PMd the owners abotu it months ago.

yup, the new owners don't give a shit it seems. I'm 99% sure they just bought this forum as a package deal to get to the real meat and potatoes....rx7club.com .

protegeclub generates NO revenue for them but RX7club is MASSIVE.. It's THE largest rx7 forum in the world.

no one could give two shits less about us here.


frankly, I'm pretty well done with automotive forums in general. I donated to the other forum and offered my admin services (which have been ignored) and there is NOTHING to talk about. You have 2-4 key players (who think they know everything) and no one else is allowed to speak.


I'll keep coming by and updating you guys with some life changes I'm going through right now but I'm not getting excited about these cars anymore until I can open doors on my new shop.

Not sure what you're getting at there. If your an admin, admin away. There's 6 or 7 admins on a forum with like 160 members so there isn't all that much to do on a daily basis, but the usual thread moving, splitting, etc is there for whoever feels like doing it.

I find there's plenty to talk about since I'm still modding my Protege. Plus there's a decent number of members who aren't newbs but also haven't done much modding, and they're very receptive to suggestions and help.

Really though who makes you feel as though you aren't allowed to speak? Sure not everyone agrees 100% on everything but that's what prevents things from getting boring and dead.