I'm new to the MX-3

[SwimDude0614]

Hello all!

I've been a Saab lover ever since my uncle gave me my first car 2 years - a 1991 Saab 900S. But today, he told me about something else. Something intriguing. Something lighter, cheaper, quicker around the corners, and easier to find parts for than a classic 900: a Mazda MX-3. So, of course, being the computer guy I am I immediately looked it up and read the Wiki article from top to bottom. This got me even more interested! So now I ask you, kind MX-3 owners, can you point me to further information on this car? I very well may pick myself up one of these sporty little beasts if I like it enough, but I need to do my research first.

Also, I am a die-hard DIYer. I seem to have picked a lemon of a classic (for those not Saab-Savvy, GM ruined the 900 name by building a whole new car in 1994 but using the same name as pre-'94... so we call the 1979-1993 the "classic") 900 and in the last year I've replaced the head gasket, the transmission, the timing chain, and the clutch. Three months after I got my liscense, I ran into a curb and had to replace the rear axle... but that of course wasn't the car's fault. Anyway, point of this paragraph is, I'm also very interested in how easy it is to work on the car and how easy it is to find parts for when something does go wrong, since I'll be doing everything myself.

Thank you for any and all information!

David

[Nd4SpdSe]

It depends on what you want. Performance wise, neither stock 4cyls or v6 are NOT worth investing money into. And you don't want auto.

If you want a turbo, ideally yould get a 92-93 4cyl (you can go with the 94+, but need to swap the harness) and swap from the 88hp (or 105hp) 1.6 to the 1.8L BP 4cyl, bolts right in. Ya, it only makes ~130hp, but it's a turbo happy motor. You can also get the turbo BP-T(urbo) GTX that makes 180hp on factory tune and turbo, or the rare and expensive BP-T GTR rally motor that makes 210hp. With that, they suggest to upgrade the manual transmissions to a longer geared and stronger one from a Protege LX.

There is also the MX-3 GS with the 1.8L V6 that makes 130hp. That motor is little to no aftermarket for upgrades. Again, the way to go is a motor swap, You have 3 choices of bolt-in 2.5L V6, the 165hp 9.2:1 KL-DE from a Probe/Mx-6/626, the 170HP 9.2:1 KL-DE from a Millenia, or the imported 198hp (we just say 200hp) 10:1 KL-ZE. KLDE's are what most people would recommend for boost, ZE if you want to stick all motor. Plenty of aftermarket for these motors not only because of the wide range of vehicles that they were in, but thanks for the Probe/Mx6 communities for getting the stuff out there too. Ideally you want to find an OBDI v6 Mx-3 (92-93, 94 where mostly OBDI, 95 OBDI is farily hard to come by, 96 and up are all gov't mandated to be OBDII) for a motor swap, but the OBDII system is still doable and there's a few progressing on it, but you don't have any ECU or chipping options that way. Also, on the 94+ OBDI, there's a slight problem with the ECU not liking that it only has 1 coolant sensor, so the rad fan would run all the time. The only fix would be to swap to the 92-93 harness and use the 2nd coolant sensor, or get a KLDE ECU that supports only 1 temp sensor.

[RS_OBD'oh_2]

parts are fairly easy to find. Aftermarket support is there, but not nearly to the extent as honda. We are all pretty much DIYers here as well. If something blows on the engine, most guys drop in a bigger engine. There are 3 different engines that go in to mx's: 1.6 sohc, 1.6 DOHC (94+) and 1.8 V6. Each trim has it's ups and downs. Expect to do some work on the car as soon as you get one. Suspension upgrades are a must IMHO.

Good luck. If you have anything specific, the search button will be your best friend.

[fowljesse]

It depends on what you want. Performance wise, neither stock 4cyls or v6 are NOT worth investing money into.

I want to clarify what I believe the point is; It's not worth putting a bunch of money into the stock engine, if you want to get respect while racing, unless it's autocross, or other forms that have categories for modifications. It does really well in stock categories, but if you want alot of power, you need to do a swap.
I just wanted to clarify, because when I first read it, I thought "What?!".

[SwimDude0614]

great info! thanks guys! i'll keep browsing around the forums.

has anyone here driven a VW Corrado? in terms of handling, how does the mx3 compare? both stock that is.