First Drive: 1993 Ford Probe
Sporty Is Much Better The Second Time Around
By Ken Zino

Timing makes the difference. That's John Valentine's short answer for how the dramatic improvements in the dynamic manners of the 1993 Ford Probe GT came about. I had just stepped out of a red prototype when I began a "how 'n-the-hell-did-this-thing-change-so-much" barrage. The questions were prompted by back-to-back drives of 1992 and 1993 Probe models around a test track in Dearborn, Michigan. The transformation from quirky sporty car toward a more predictable sports car is remarkable.

Through a series of sharp left and right turns, the prototype 1993 Probe rolled slightly, then took a confident set, gliding from apex to apex. Brake, pick a throttle setting (and stay with it), turn in, and the front-drive hatchback responds with precise trajectory. Up the speed on the next lap, and a muted response emerges from the Goodyear rubber, letting you know that the complex of suspension links, springs, bars and tires is working harder. Explore the
limits and understeer grows, while the width of track suddenly shrinks from two lanes to sidewalk size. React stupidly-heavy braking in the middle of a turn is my instinctual dumb move-and the anti-lock disc brakes dial the speed down as the chassis remains pointed in more or less the right direction.

Missing, delightfully missing, are most of the old Probe vices: on/off-throttle behavior that can move the car over a full lane if you're inattentive and don't come about-now!-with the steering wheel; the sudden onset of turbo boost, which can break the tires loose, inducing understeer or wheel hop or both; the lift, dive and tail waggle during extreme maneuvers that automatically present a whole range of steering angles at just the moment when one line is welcome.

Timing, as Valentine avers, makes a big, big difference. The manager of small-car development at Ford explains that Ford's involvement in the first Probe (introduced as a 1989 model) came in the middle of Mazda's typical Japanese development cycle of eight years. With the old 626 sedan underpinnings firmly set when the project began in the early Eighties and the so-called "hard points" (wheelbase, track, cowl height and the like) set by Mazda, Ford engineers were reduced to tuning a chassis originally developed for what was essentially an average economy sedan.

Even the styling that was Ford's major contribution to setting the original Probe off from its nearly invisible Mazda MX-6 brother was heavily influenced (or compromised, depending on your view) by these hard points. This time around, Ford was involved with the major redo of the chassis before any items were inflexibly set. Eliminated is the cigar-tubelike stance of the older Probe. The new Probe looks squattier and wider, with a better aspect ratio that's more toward my definition of a contemporary specialty coupe.

Helping the proportions and performance of the new sports coupe is an additional 4.0 in. in wheelbase, with only 2.0 in. more overall length, and a hefty 2.5-in. increase in front and rear track. A Cx of 0.30 is claimed for the base version. The less subtly styled GT model earns a 0.34 Cx rating because of its large grille opening, add-on foglights and wider tires. The mirror patches and fender accents are gone, reflecting the 3.0-in. drop in cowl height of what Ford is calling a "cab forward" design. The wraparound look of the rear glass is about the only old Probe cue that is retained.

Inside, the panel-mounted turn-signal and windshield-wiper paddles are replaced with conventional, column-mounted stalks. Gauges are large, round and analog. Heating and ventilation controls are easy to use. Best of all, the "mad mouse" electric seatbelt that hummed across the door frame has been replaced by 3-point safety belts and a steering-wheel mounted airbag.

Under the hood, there's one of two new low-profile 4- and 6cylinder engines from Mazda. The base engine is a 2.0-liter inline-4 with 115 bhp and 124 lb.-ft. of torque. GT models have 164 bhp and 156 lb.-ft. of torque available, thanks to a dohc V-6. The naturally aspirated, 60-degree V-6 engine is smooth, quiet, high-revving, and linear in its output. As a result, it is much easier to hustle the GT through corners and switchbacks than the old Turbo model with its peaky boost.

Smooth and predictable doesn't necessarily translate to faster, though. My hand-held stopwatch says the GT with a 5-speed manual transaxle is around a 7.5-second car in the sprint to 60 mph, or about where the old force-fed 4-banger appeared in our tests. The quarter mile should work out to 16 sec., about the same too. But here's another example of how raw numbers can be misleading. In feel, response and spirit, this new powertrain belongs to a higher order.

In 1979, Ford helped bail out a struggling Toyo Kogyo (as Mazda was then called) by purchasing 25-percent ownership. It's proved to be a good investment from all perspectives. Joint-venture project after project has been successful. Ford Escort and Festiva, Mercury Tracer and Capri, Mazda 323, Protegé, MX-6 and Navajo all have benefited from international cooperation. On first drive, the Probe GT is yet another example-the strongest to date-of the happy alliance that Ford and Mazda have formed.

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