The Pros and Cons...

[beaterbox]

Soo I was thinking of purchasing one of these cars. I don't know too much about them and was wondering what the pros and cons for you owners.
I think they look really sharp I am a pretty fast driver so If this will fulfill my need for speed that'd be great. I'm also wondering if it is good on gas. right now the car I have is a POS and I spend money on gas like no tomorrow so the gas mileage is a breaker. Also what year would you say is the best?

[Mnemonic]

93-92 seems to be the year everyone likes the most simply because of the seat styling there is a difference in the dashes and seating, the 92-93 has better looking seats, but 94+ has a nicer looking dash.

There are 2 different versions of the mx3 (technically 3 but the SE is just a GS with black leather interior and specific colors) the RS (4cyl 1.6l B6 motor ) and the GS (v6 1.8l k8 motor). If your looking for power and fuel well neither really give you power, the GS has 130bhp (roughly about 104whp) and the RS has 100bhp and (roughly around 88whp) now the RS is going to give you the best miledge, but it lacks power and other options that the GS gives you. So based on the options, which you can easily find on the website, the differences between the 2 versions and you can decided based on that which one you want.

For mod info, DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON EITHER MOTOR, seriously dont, there are bigger and badder motors that are for the most part plug and play for these cars.

We have a v6 called the klze its a 2.5l that makes 195bhp (commonly people say 200bhp) whp it makes about 150-160 stock with no mods. you can pick these motors up for right around 1k, and you can swap them in a day - 2days. Great motors extreme increasement in power, but eh your mpg will not be so great, about average. You can also turbo the motor for more fun...
Note this is not the only motor swap available for the GS, we also have the K8ze, Klde, Kfze, but as i'm only giving you a little info i'll let you look up what motors these are and there power I'm just informing you the basics.

for the RS The main engine seems to be swapped more into these, is the BPT 1.8 4cyl from the 323gtr/gtx it has a bhp of 210 and if you didnt notice the T is a turbo 4cyl, these little motors ARE GREAT FOR POWER, but the swap is more work than the 4cyl, Most guy with them on the forum are running anywhere from 200whp-400whp depending on there setup.

We got body kits, we got cf hoods, we got rice, we got custom we got stuff.

There not as popular as Civics but with less $$$ than spending on a civic you'll spank them and make them cry, or say there clutch is slipping.

just a brief review hope it helps

[jrors]

Nicely put Mnemonic!

And beaterbox, welcome to our family. And please note that on this site, there are almost endless stacks of useful information you'll find here.

Good luck.

[Juans_93_MX3]

Pros:
Really easy engine swaps
Cheap engine swaps
V6 sounds really nice for such a small compact car... Honda ricers will be asking you what type of muffler you have
We (V6 and 4cyl guys) share the same engine series as Ford Probes, MX6s, 626s, Ford Escorts and 323. So whatever tricks they can do, we can do aswell. We also share parts with them
KLZE V6 swap (200hp/160ft trq)
BPT 4cyl Swap (190hp/160ft trq)

Cons:
MX3 you get may need alot of mechanical work
Auto trannies are awful, dont even consider one unless you plan to swap to 5speed
Parts are a little pricey and expensive
Low aftermarket support
Supercharger wont fit on a V6

[Bolverk]

Supercharger wont fit on a V6

I believe a couple guys supercharged their V6 with a few modifications.

[Nd4SpdSe]

the SE is just a GS with black leather interior

Pending your location, the front leather seats may be heated

If your looking for power and fuel well neither really give you power, the GS has 130bhp (roughly about 104whp) and the RS has 100bhp and (roughly around 88whp)

You really can't quote whp. I remember a few years ago, a guy with his stock GS dyno'd i believe at 124hp. I remember it cause the guy was thinking it was too low, that something was wrong. As well, you should note the the 2 options of 4cyl. 92-93 had a SOHC 4cyl @ 88hp, 94+ has a DOHC @ 105hp. Just a note, than although the 94+ 4cyl has more power, the 92-93 4cyl has the benefit of the wiring harness that will work with a BP/BPT.



now the RS is going to give you the best miledge, but it lacks power and other options that the GS gives you. So based on the options, which you can easily find on the website, the differences between the 2 versions and you can decided based on that which one you want.

For mod info, DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON EITHER MOTOR, seriously dont, there are bigger and badder motors that are for the most part plug and play for these cars.

We have a v6 called the klze its a 2.5l that makes 195bhp (commonly people say 200bhp) whp it makes about 150-160 stock with no mods. you can pick these motors up for right around 1k, and you can swap them in a day - 2days. Great motors extreme increasement in power, but eh your mpg will not be so great, about average. You can also turbo the motor for more fun...

198hp I believe is the unofficial official rating. As for gas milleage, normally people either see no difference or actually an increase in milleage. Because it's a more poweful motor, it doesn't have to work as hard, so if your driving normally, you will see an improvement im milleage. Especially if you have a high-milleage motor, putting in a nice young KLZE will give a good difference. Although I bought my Mx-3 with 109k kms, and swapped to a ZE at 141k kms, I gained 50-100kms per tank. My best tank was 510kms, my k8 never came close to 400km. Although, you can get worse milleage, but typically only when driving hard. Because it's a bigger motor, so if you push it hard and are always flooring it, it will use more fuel, naturally. And it's kinda hard not to, a KLZE is alot of fun

BPT 4cyl Swap (190hp/160ft trq)

Can't be that low. Forced induction motors typically make more torque.
Wikipedia list the GTX @ 179hp/174tq and the GTS @ 206hp/184tq

[jschrauwen]

Soo I was thinking of purchasing one of these cars. I don't know too much about them and was wondering what the pros and cons for you owners.
I think they look really sharp I am a pretty fast driver so If this will fulfill my need for speed that'd be great. I'm also wondering if it is good on gas. right now the car I have is a POS and I spend money on gas like no tomorrow so the gas mileage is a breaker. Also what year would you say is the best?

Hmmm, very confusing. With a nic like "beaterbox" I'm trying to understand the background. You drive fast so therefore you're not going to get very good mileage. Looking for a car to drive fast and still retain good gas mileage??? I think perhaps you may have to look at a much more expensive car that was actually designed that way. You must remember where the MX3 fits into when it comes to the big picture and what it was designed and built to accomplish. Is it intended for "beater use"? If so than, the 4 cyl as mentioned previously will fir that need. But you also want speed. The 2 needs may be in conflict. One at the sacrifice for the other. I'm sure you understand that. If you go to the homePage (not the Forums) you'll find all sorts of specs for model years, colours, engine info, trim levels etc. For a car out of production for this long, of course most of the subjects and topics you will be querying would have been already covered in one way, shape or form. You'll find very quickly that the search function is your best friend and has tons of great info at your disposal.
Welcome to MX-3.com and good luck with your search.




It's all in here;
http://www.mx-3.com/index.cfm