First. Car. LIVE! #19: [Mazda 323F GT V6] Rate it in the comments below.

12 Jul 2020

Intro: Well… I haven’t done one of these in a long while because the lack of time. I guess most of you forgot this even existed. But i suppose, if anyone still cares, i have 1 more besides this one i wanna talk about. Kinda ran out of cool first cars.

Specs

It was powered by a rather small 2.0L 60° V6 which pushed around 145HP and 180NM.

Description

In 1994 the seventh generation of the Mazda 323 was released in a variety of body styles, including the B-pillar-less doors fastback version.
Due to it’s distinctive design it didn’t sell quite well, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great fuel economy car which also has a sporty feel.
The 1.8L Miata-derived engine and the top end V6 were the best engine choices you could pick on this car. Having a lightweight chassis, only around 150kg heavier than the 1.8L Miata, the engine felt much more powerful than it actually was, some people calling it a “5-door Miata”.

Mods

First of all, i’d start with the usual, a K&N short ram air intake. Next would be a 6-2-1 exhaust stainless steel manifold to remove some of the flow restrictions coupled to a high flow catalytic converter. A larger throttle body would be a great addition too. And to finish the job, porting and polishing the heads.
It goes without saying that everything should be optimized with a chiptune at the end.
Hopefully everything will result to a grand total of 200HP, which would be more than enough for a car this light to make it fun.

Budget

The mods total up to 1400$ and the car usuallt costs around 1000-2000$. If we’d buy a cheaper one, maybe, in a 3000$ budget we could include some Zestino Hard Semi-Slicks for a bit of track fun, after fixing the minor issues a car this cheap might have.

Conclusion

Mazda surely knew how to make an otherwise boring family hatchback fun, it was even called Familia in some regions.
But in the end, it only matters to be fun and reliable, which it most likely will be after the mods.

Scores
Last Score:
6.25 Daewoo Espero CDXi
Best Score:
8.38 Citroën Saxo VTS

Comments

It’s finally back! Not a big fan of the 323F/Lantis/323 Astina front look, but that small V6 is too quirky not to notice it 7.75/10, but the vote would be a straight 8.5/10 if it was a MX-3 V6, that used a smaller version of the same engine

I thought about the MX-3, but people kinda know about it.
And thanks. :)

My friend has one and he lets me drive it sometimes, it’s a V6 too with stock exhaust that still makes a good sound. It can actually take 7600 rpm as well! It’s a good car. I can’t rate the ownership experience but the overall car I guess I’m giving 8.5/10. Very good for what it is. Quick little beast too, beats my 2.5 TDi A4 in a straight line.

Surprisingly high revving, almost 8K.
Thanks for the info.

Srijan Gupta | सृजन गुप्ता | {Comments>Upvotes}(#IndianCarsSquadLeader)(#CricketSquadLeader)(#PokemonSquad)(#CarLiteratureSquadLeader) (Rotary Fighter) (रोटरी का रक्षक) Ahmad Younes
Do you have this in your country?

Don’t think I’ve ever seen one irl… Actually now that I think of it I doubt they’ve ever sold the 7th gen over here. Other generations are pretty common but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 7th gen 323. And I believe the 323 Mazdas around here are all made in South Africa or Thailand. We rarely get any Japan made Mazdas.

Epic. I awaited the return of this series for long. And no, we don’t have Mazdas here except for these trucks. Also, I never knew such a thing existed so thanks for that too!

I’ve never driven one but I’d like to think that all economy cars need some work on the suspension before you can squeeze some fun out of them (and it kinda looks like it has a high center of gravity). With that in mind, I love a light car with few simple mods so it’s an easy 8 for me.

And here comes the fun part. They actually put sporty suspensions on the GT model.
They are quite stiff compared to other street cars.
One of the fun particularities of this car.