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2001 Mazda Protege Review

 Marc K. Stengel Marc K. Stengel
Editor

"So, Dad," began Daughter number three as we settled into the car, "which one is this?" She had me fixed in the stern gaze of a front-passenger CEO.

"It's the new Mazda Protégé," I replied.

"Oh," she said. She leaned forward to rub the dash in an approving, almost tender way. "The zoom-zoom car," she asserted, smiling. "Zoom-zoom-zoom," I said; and with that, zoom! We were on our way.

You'll have been a castaway for sure, lo these many months, if you don't recognize Mazda's catchy, surrealistic ad campaign featuring a fresh-faced little schoolboy in jacket and necktie standing beside a lonely desert highway. As various Mazda models whisk past, he whispers, "zoom-zoom-zoom." Had Saint-Exupéry's delightful little prince stayed on our planet long enough to embrace the television age, he probably would have landed this role for himself. I suppose kudos are in order for the creative team that has so successfully infiltrated zoomy Mazda notions into the rarefied atmosphere that passes for my 10-year-old's head space. Sure, it's a catchy and memorable gimmick; but the marvel is that my child actually gets the point: Mazda's new Protégé ES does go zoom.

Premium on sport

What's particularly remarkable about this latest iteration of Mazda's bread-'n'-butter commuter car is its new-found power of subtlety. Decked out in "premium sporty" trim designated by its ES badge, this 2001 Protégé features a new 130-horsepower, twin-cam motor displacing 2.0 liters. This is essentially the same powerplant found in Mazda's larger, midsize 626 sedan; and although there are only eight more horses than were produced by the 1.8-liter four-banger it replaces, this new Protégé engine achieves a noticeably more fluid and supple powerband. Even with the optional four-speed automatic transmission, the 2.0-liter ES zipped confidently away from standstill; and on the highway, it built up a head of passing speed without so much as a shudder or whine.

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See the Mazda Protege in Other Years:

2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997

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