1 month later with my RS.
A slight mishap but within expectation, my gearbox is undergone overhauling, due to excessive shock while shifting between 1->2 at low speed and some on other gear and transmission light was flashing after usage for a while (under hot condition).
(She looks good in the sun!)
Turns out that some of the clutch pack is worn due to excessive wear.
(As there was no actual service record of the transmission fluid, even I’ve checked the condition is good and the previous owner claimed that just changed the fluid, yet not know how was the fluid change. As I suspected not properly changed the fluid for the whole transmission system)
There are pros and cons of this car.
Pros:
This car is pure fun to drive! It zips around the town almost effortless! (even 141/131 hp from FS-DE engine + Automatic, pretty low power when compared to this era) One big caveat, make sure that your gearbox is OK (no problems whatsoever, no flashing “HOLD” light) so that won’t affect to your driving experience.
Note: This car uses F-4E-AT transaxle.
Throttle response is awesome, even with automatic gearbox.
I don’t know why, but this is compared with some of the car I’ve driven with lightened flywheel. Fun to stomp on the gas, but not fun on driving economically.
Handling is top notch, with good set of tires (don’t go too cheap) this car will beg you to push harder in the corners while screaming confidence! One day I’ll put on “affordable” tires set then go for track to test her limits. (that might be another list on my purchase, as I won’t do the track day with these wheel sets due to rarity of the rims and cost of the tires which I’ll put on Bridgestone Turanza RE01 later)
Mazda’s OEM, this is the strongest point! All performance part for Mazda 323 (BJ) is usable to this!
Cons:
Fuel consumption, this is not Mazda/Ford’s forte. This car born in the era of not too stringy emission and consumption control. Sure this car is quite quick, but not a gas sipper. The fuel consumption is best while on the cruising, not on the city driving. My advice (also to Mazda 323 BJ type owner) is, use the engine’s torque, light on gas, keep steady on revs.
A bit too responsive on throttle, as I’ve mentioned earlier that this car response much like with lightened flywheel. It’s good when you need the power, but not good when you need to modulate within low powerband in which as the reason of “slightly adequate” fuel consumption.
Suspension isn’t meant for city driving, this car is firm but not too stiff. Also equipped with 50 series tire spec (from factory’s spec), you’ll feel all cracks and bumps of the road. (my Girlfriend told me that she can feel when I’m speedy by the vibration of the road)
Gearbox, this is not one of the direct drawback, but being old technology (4 speeds) means inefficiency of power transmission. Also, being old means some of the mechanism will worn overtime, especially mechatronic parts.
Sometimes being old doesn’t mean bad, there are many transmission mechanic who knows the repair.
My recommendation is, if you have any transmission mechanic, better send to repair rather than replace with 2nd hand gearbox. You’d not know what’s condition inside, especially the rubber seals.
Too much of blablabla, but one thing for sure.
I love this car, this is more like a love at first sight!
