Sputnik

Boowana also took a couple of shots of the Protege'

Feature List
Protege'

---jps

zoom44

if and when they get around to the 6 and the 8 i hope they do the job so well. that car looks great.

Schills

I am going to test drive one on Wed. What is the difference between the 2003 and the 2003.5 Same engine and trans right. Slightly different exterior is the only change, or am I just talking out my A$$:D

wakeech

uhhhh, Grimace knows for sure... try PM'ing/mailing him, or maybe he'll see this and tell us all...??

Grimace

[booming voice of God] Here I am to answer your questions. [/booming voice of God]
The 2003.5's differ from the 2003's in the following ways:

Colour (obviously) -
The 2003's come in Spicey Orange (a really awesome, eye-catching colour in person) and black. The 2003.5's come in the titanium colour pictured above, plus yellow

Production -
There will be more 2003.5's than 2003's. I don't know the exact numbers, but it will still be very limited production. I know for Canada, we got 250 Spicy Orange, and no black. The (very newest) rumour has it that Canada is slated for 350 Titanium and Yellow.

Body kit -
Taller, "Evo" type spoiler, and a more aggressive, slightly more squared off front end (without foglights) on the 2003.5's. See http://www.mazdamp3.com/vbb225/showt...threadid=11244 for more pics under bad fluroscent lighting.

Interior -
2003's: Shift **** and aluminum pedals by Sparco. Interior stitching is orange (very sharp looking!) 2003.5's: Shift **** and aluminum pedals by Mazda, engraved with "Mazdaspeed" lettering. Interior stitching is yellow (not too crazy about that).

Exhaust -
2003: muffler by Racing Beat with round tip. 2003.5: muffler by Mazdaspeed, oval tip (slightly larger looking from the pics I've seen)

Wheels -
Same manufacturer (Racing Hart) but on the 2003.5 they are done up in "Hyper Silver" (a darker silver colour than on 2003's) to better match the titanium paint (don't know how they will look on the yellow car).

Boowana - wherever you are - thank you for the pics of the RX-8 and Mazdaspeed Protege. They were truly awesome. That pic of the 2003.5 Mazdaspeed was gorgeous, thats the first time I've seen that colour and I love it. You made my decision between the 2003 Orange and 2003.5 Titanium car much, much more difficult. :p

cueball

Grimace did you finally narrow your car choice down to just the Protege? If so good choice.

Grimace

Yep. I just have to decide whether to get the Spicey Orange car now (well, in February) or the Titanium car in the summer.

Grimace

Hey Boo, question for you (that rhymes!)
Is the titanium colour on the Mazdaspeed Protege the same as on the RX-8?
How did the Protege look in person?
Do you know of anywhere I can find more pics of it?

Ok, I guess that was 3 questions....

boowana

Grimace:

The sticker lists Titanium Gray metallic which would make it the same. The two cars were fairly close together but not close enough to make a for-sure determination. Based on the sticker, i would say they are the same as manufacturers tend to use different names for different shades.

I do agree the color looks great. i ordered my RX-8 in Titanium with Black/Red Interior.

Boowana:D

Grimace

Thanks Boo. Its a terrific colour for sure.
I am having a fair degree of difficulty deciding between it and the spicey orange on the 2003's.

boowana

Hi Grimace:

The Spicy Orange in the sunlight looks "killer!" I wish it were offered on the 8. Maybe we'll see some interesting other colors when the Mazdaspeed version hits.

Boo:p

Fëakhelek

Grimace,

Have you seen the Black Mica in person. I thought that black would not show the body lines as well as a lighter color, but the mica picks up the sunlight and really makes the contours stand out.

Edit - oops, just saw the dates on these posts. You probably have made up your mind by now.