2002 Mazda Protege ES review from North America

Too soon to tell.

My Mazda Protege ES is one of the best small cars on the road.

This car has plenty of power.

It also handles like a more expensive European Sports Sedan.

One thing that surprised me the most was that it is also a great value for the money.

Before buying the Protege, I was also looking at other similar cars such as the Honda Civic and Volkswagen Jetta.

What made me choose the Protege ES was the standard features that came with the car such as a 2.0 liter DOHC engine, 16 inch alloy wheels, a CD player, a rear spoiler, and an optional automatic transmission with manual shift mode.

When you look at the Civic and Jetta, some of those features are either extra cost or not available, and both cars are still more expensive than the Protege.

The only bad part about my car is that it does produce wind and tire noise at higher speeds.

Other than that, my Protege ES is a blast to drive.

There are other great small cars out there such as the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, but when it comes to pure driving excitement and small car value and reliability, the Mazda Protege (particularly the ES & MazdaSpeed version), there is hardly any competition out there in the small car market.

Features.