I just remembered something I've been wondering about for a while, although I'm pretty sure its not a problem. I have a 2003 manual ES and the modulation on the gas pedal doesn't feel right. See if you press it down a bit, the car gets goin, but once you reach about halfway down that's full power! Mashing it all the way down makes no difference! Is this just because the car has no freakin power or is there a problem??

Thoughts?

 

no freakin power.

 

They probably did that to make the car feel more responsive. So, if you were to get out of a 200 hp car and drive away in the protege, anything up through mid-throttle would feel about the same. There just wouldn't be much in reserve for passing, etc.
If they spread out the power more linearly, the car would feel underpowered all the time (or I guess until you got used to it), just by how deeply you'd have to prod the throttle to get the car moving.

 

I have seemed to notice this with every manual car I have even driven. Now I cannot say I have driven everything but I have a feeling that an engine with higher torque would give more response on a WOT.