AZCentral.com's view

Here’s a simple formula: Take a little economy sedan and enhance it with enough style and substance to change its personality. It has been done many times, some more successfully than others, but the goal is the same. In the case of the Mazda Protege ES, the result is a good-looking little critter that’s reasonably quick and sporty.

Upgraded with a new 2-liter engine, a mild facelift and a stylish interior, Protege goes from basic to desirable, though still offered at a budget price. Those sharp-looking 16-inch modular wheels and performance tires alone are worth the price of admission.

Mazda’s budget compact has never approached the popularity of Honda Civic, Ford Focus or Volkswagen Jetta., all cars that transcend their economy status to become favorites among young drivers. Protege has settled into the ranks of dull little sedans that are cheap to buy, reliable to own and good on gas. An appliance. An econobox.

The basic Protege DX is still available at just under $13,000 and is powered by a small four-cylinder engine that spins out just 103 horsepower. Raise the bar a couple of grand, and the upgrade is significant.

The ES engine, new for 2001 and carried over to 2002, is a smooth, competent runner that churns 130 horsepower. Maybe that’s not enough for Fast and Furious drag racing, but it’s enough to propel this lightweight through the gears.

The five-speed stickshift is tight and precise, much better than I would have expected, though the clutch in the test car felt out of sorts. Manual is the way to go with the Protege ES, instead of automatic, for more power and control.

The rack-and-pinion steering is responsive but still pretty numb, despite some engineering improvements, and the handling is just fair, though it does corner with a balanced feel. It would be nice if the engineers had buttoned down the suspension a little better, maybe added some premium shock absorbers, to give the ES a tighter feel and better control.

A major advantage the ES has over lesser versions of Protege is four-wheel disc brakes, which perform well. On the freeway, the ES exposes its budget-car roots with road roar that is loud and intrusive. Aggressive tread on those performance tires don’t help any.

The restyling gives the front aspect some sharper features on the hood, a blacked-out grille and a rear spoiler. It’s a good-looking little car, clean and distinctive, but not really anything that will excite the young import crowd. I didn’t detect any covetous glances.

I did think the interior was really nice, with the sort of techno, textured looks with black and aluminum tones that the Europeans do so well. There’s good evidence of attention to detail, such as the shift knob with a rubberized texture similar to the dashboard surface. The gauges are white-faced, sports-car style.

And very important to youn g drivers, the stereo system was really good.

Recently, Mazda unveiled a limited edition MP3 version of Protege that includes many of the performance and appearance upgrades craved by the import tuners. That includes the industry’s first production MP3-capable stereo system to play compressed music downloaded from the Internet. The MP3 is only marginally more expensive than the fully equipped ES tested here, but production is small, and it probably will be hard to get.

For 2002, Protege offers a five-door version, essentially a four-door hatchback, that’s very nicely styled and is arousing quite a bit of interest. This configuration, which disappeared in the ’70s, is making a comeback here as it already has in Europe. I recall that Mazda once had a good-looking 626 four-door hatchback among its offerings.

The ES comes well equipped out of the box, with all sorts of power and convenience features: cruise control, fog lights, etc. The test ca lso included a premium package that added side air bags, power moonroof and antilock brakes, priced at $1,580.

For a young driver, Protege ES is a lot of car for the money, offering decent style and driveability, plus a full load of features. Plus, it’s still an economy car.