When they redesigned the Protege for 1999, Mazda's designers in Hiroshima made a number of chassis-strengthening improvements. They increased the bending strength by 22 percent and torsional rigidity by 12 percent. Protege's crash protection has been improved by the addition of side-impact reinforcements that Mazda calls Triple-H" construction. This stiff unitbody chassis, working in concert with its responsive rack-and-pinion steering and four-wheel independent suspension, translate into a comfortable ride, good high-speed stability, and excellent handling.
We tested the Protege in early January, when Mother Nature dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Detroit area in just 10 days. Not all compact cars handle snow particularly well. Starting out after a night of heavy snowfall, the Protege was able to plow its way out of a foot of snow--with no prior shoveling.
Out on the highway, whether the pavement was wet, dry or covered with snow and ice, the Protege offered crisp predictable handling and offered good grip under acceleration.
Working with its 5-speed manual transmission, the 1.6-liter engine in our LX allowed us to pick through traffic without unnecessary theatrics. The Protege offered good acceleration performance whether starting from a standstill or accelerating out of corners. (With its 1.8-liter engine a Protégé ES offers even better performance.)
The Protege's brakes--disc in the front and drums in the rear--bring the car to a quick stop. This car is stable under hard braking and the brakes showed no evidence of fading or locking.
Road noise and engine noise can be a problem with small cars, especially on the freeway, but Mazda has expertly damped it out, making the Protege one of the quietest cars in its class. It seems quieter than an Infiniti G20."
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