![]() The inner track is mounted on the side of the tunnel, and the outer one attaches to the side of the sill, leaving a remarkably wide floor space for rear-passenger feet. Mazda did a clever thing with the front-seat tracks. The driver's seat slides rearward too far for six-footers, and they have ample headroom even with the sunroof. It seems to have all its room in useful places. The Protegé is one of the rare cars that didn't rub us wrong in any way. You can forget for a while, but then you notice, and it's annoying again. The longer you drive, the more irritating it gets. In most cars, larger ones, too, something about the console, or the underdash, or the door, rubs on your knee, or your shin, exactly on the part where there's hardly any meat to pad the bone. But our relatively normal-size drivers report something unexpected, maybe even unprecedented-the Protegé doesn't hurt them anywhere. Anatomies vary, and we can't foresee the complaints of every human settling into the driving position of a small car. The Protegé does something else exceptionally well, something perhaps even more valuable: It fits the driver like a custom suit. The grille has an in-your-face chrome accent, too, a rich touch you'd expect on a Lincoln Continental or a Mercedes, but which seems utterly extravagant on a budgeteer. The rather formal profile of this four-door-only body is softened by a smoothly arched roofline and then given character with big taillights and boldly sculptured wheel-opening flares. Rather, it did the hard thing in creating an econobox that actually looks classy. That's a perishable condition (though you wouldn't know it from the Neon's still-spunky shape), and now it's a crowded corner of the market populated by the roly-poly New Beetle. Now Mazda has an all-new Protegé-new body, new engines, new automatic gearbox-and this one has a shot at celebrity. And we've always liked the Protegé because, well, it just seemed to get all the basics right. The Neon remains a cutie and a lusty performer besides. Still, a few econoboxes manage to stand out from the blur. They shop price and they keep shopping across brands until something fits the budget. Price, quality, and dependability are the important issues for Protegé buyers, Mazda says. The only shoppers who care about this class now walk straight to the price sticker. And in these cheap-gas days, big numbers on the EPA mileage label no longer draw a crowd (remember when they did?). Nobody dreams of winning the Powerball lottery so they can show off a Chevy Cavalier in their driveway, or a Ford Escort or a Nissan Sentra. There's a certain who-cares anonymity to the cars in this econobox class. As TheMAN explains it, the FP is essentially a destroked version of the FS with all specifications the same except for the connecting rod length, center-to-center distance, (129.2 mm 5.087") and the intake camshaft lobe height (43.0062 mm 1.6931").From the November 1998 issue of Car and Driver. For this information, as well as removal and replacement of such things as the intake and exhaust manifolds and all engine accessories, you need to consult the FSM.įinally, according to TheMAN's FAQ, The FS Engine Manual can also be used to rebuild the FP-DE 1.8 L engine. Operations such as removing motor mounts and the description of the layout of all vacuum lines are not covered. The manual covers removal of the engine from the car and complete disassembly, inspection, repair and reassembly of the head, block and internal components of all FS engines. Since the basic engines are the same, the manual can also be used for the FS-DET (turbo) engine. E-Bay is often a good source for automotive manuals.Īll FS-DE engines (2001-2003) are covered as supplied in the sedan, MP3, and P5. To obtain a copy it might be necessary to search online. Montgomery Mazda apparently no longer sells the manual and I don't know about its availability generally from other dealers. ![]() Even if you're not planning to rebuild an engine, the information contained here is worth acquiring. The service was extremely prompt - I received my manual one day after it was ordered. The cost was US $30.00 and shipping was free. I obtained my manual from Montgomery Mazda: This factory manual for the FS-DE engine contains ~ 50 pages and is divided into two main sections: General Information and Engine.
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