car advise needed

[mattheadfat]

ok, i've got a 91 mazda 626 lx (yeah, i know family sedan). it's in great shape, no rust, no body damage, perfect interior, well maintained at 182k kms. but i need a car like this for the room, i've got to be able to fit all my drums in it as well as some PA equiptment when i'm gig'ing and having a 5 door with a big hatch and seats that folds away gives me tons of room. plus i like 5 door vechiles.
now, i was thinking about pimping it out. nothing over the top (3 tier spoilers with an overkill body kit). how much would it cost to get the GT (2.2L turbo) engine for this car as well as redo the exhaust and intake and tune in up a little. are there performance parts built for 91 mx-6 cause i believe there are the same car (mine being an mx-6 touring sedan). would it be too expensive for a car like this? you see people doing it to honda's all the time.

my goal is to have reliable sporty sedan with about 200hp. Is this realistic?


thanks,



matt

[caddmannq]

Realistic is a relative term. BTW, we owned one of these for 9 years, and just gave it to my daughter. 120k+ & still runs well.

But: once you boost the HP, several things are going to become obvious:

The trans, CV joints, suspension, radiator and motor mounts are all tuned (sized) for a 142 HP car. You're going to shorten the life of most of these things dramatically when you "get it on."

Driveability will suffer, as you push the HP peak up the RPM band. You'll be barking it up to get off the line, as the torque curve will shift up also. Running at higher RPM will shorten the accessory life as well (water pump, alternator, etc.)

Gas mileage around town will suffer as well.

The brakes are sized for a 142 HP car as well. As you zoom about faster, they'll be taking more wear.

I'm not saying that you can't do what you want here; it's just that by the time you do it all and see what you've got, that you might just wish you'd bought a more powerful car instead.

The down-side to hot rodding has always been that practicality suffers, because you're tweaking one side of a system (the entire car being a designed system) without ballancing the other side(s).

Now, I do this kind of stuff myself (well, not with a Mazda...) so go for it if you wanna, dude. Just don't misunderstand what you'll wind up with. The TCO (total cost of ownership) will go up more that just the cost of the modifications.

[mattheadfat]

thanks for the input, i never really thought about most of that. 142 is the GT's hp rating?

[Bullion]

Hey, a friend of mine's brother is a mechanic (he rally's his own car). He is a firm believer that if you do something to the engine, you need to match that with the suspension, (am i right in saying the 626 is a front driver??) Which is especially the case in a froont driver that dont have the best handling characheristics under power.

my 2 cents

Ive been slowly working my alfa 33, and its been a heap of fun along the way (taking money away from my computer ) Its a good hobby in my opinion.

[mattheadfat]

yup, it's fwd. it's fun to drive, i wish it was a bit more ballsy, i was thinking about doing droping it a bit, upgrading were i can, some new wheels

[shahani]

Look at the BMW 760i turbo charged. Will meet your requirements.

[caddmannq]

Oh...I didn't realize it was a GT.

I'm not sure what the differences are there.
Ours was the basic 4-door '91 626 Mazda, w/ automatic, & California emissions package.

142 HP in stock trim.

[caddmannq]

Look at the BMW 760i turbo charged. Will meet your requirements.

Woohoo! Would it!

It also costs about $2 per hour to own one here.

[shahani]

It also costs about $2 per hour to own one here.

MINUTE, more likely. Does everything but make your morning coffee!!

[Bullion]

look at www.alfa-pages.co.uk under the suspension icon at the top(then go on to the suspension guide), while it is pretty much alfa specific, it has some good tips for 'dumpin', wheels and suspension.

catch

[Warthog]

yummmmmm 7 series

The Honda people you speak of are ricers......you would like to seperate yourself from that crowd IMO

Warthog

[FreakyOCR]

You dissin' my Honda wart??

[Warthog]

haha......didn't even know you had a car, let alone a Honda

Nothing against Honda's in general.....

Tell me if you/your car fits this profile, even slightly:

- fart can exhaust
- lowered
- low profile "racing" slicks
- monster "I Believe I Can Fly" wing on the back
- travels in herds
- races other, faster non-flashy cars that easily beat the 120hp 4 cyl just don't try
- thinks the car is "fast" because "it looks cool" ---> called the iMac Theory

I'm sure I missed some, others can feel free to add

This is my definition of an Uncle Ben driver.

Warthog

[Thud]

You forgot to mention the stickers, Wart.

[Warthog]

Ahhhhh yes, the Type R stickers or whatever they are.

The new Honda Civic hatches are actually capable of something speed wise.....unfortunately for them, those are far above the average ricers allowance...

Warthog

[FreakyOCR]

All I did to mine was put some rims and all-season "low-pro" tires tint the back 3 with limo tint and slapped some yellow HONDA and CIVIC stickers on it.

It looks pretty cool, but yeah. Gutless as skeleton....

'00 Honda Civic Hatchback DX I also took off the DX....

[mattheadfat]

you wouldn't believe what people can do to civics, there are civics that are in the 10's. but i agree, most of the rice rockets you see are all flash, nothing special under the hood.
i'm not about to buy any 7 series though. have you guys seen the new mazda (mazda 6 or some other name i forgot) that's replacing the 626.... droooolll......


caddmannq: mine isn't the GT. the GT is turbo charged, my dad's friend has one, he let me drive it, a lot more get up and go than mine, too bad his was auto. i need the stick. the stick is good.

my buddy has a 92 talon turbo that is slightly "riced" out. he's got about 230 hp, and man, i would LOVE to have car that go like that.
i have another friend who drives a 82 rabbit cabriolet GTI conversion (engine and trans from an 84 GTI) that car is a blast. it's supposed to be faster than new GTI's, not VR6's.

[shahani]

Anyone seen the Nissan Altima (2002). Very European styling.

[Toadman]

Mazda 6 = 220hp 6-speed, double wish-bone suspension=Altima Killer. Mazdaspeed 3 and 5 (formerly Protege and Protege 5) 180hp turbo = SE-R Spec V killer. 200hp 2002 SportVan(formerly MPV) = umm..any minivan killer. Mazdaspeed Turbo Miata = 200hp Z3/S2000 killer if imported, but Miata(MX-5) may go rotary. RX-8 = obvious. RX-7 production pending RX-8 sales.

"Always the Soul of a Sports Car".

[Cruez]

New Mazda 6....2002 Altima Killer???...
How...

The 60-degree V6, though it's based on Ford's Duratec 3.0-liter, uses the addition of the S-VT system to produce 219 horsepower compared with the 200 hp normally generated by this motor. Maximum torque, however, is only slightly increased over the standard-issue Duratec with 202 pound-feet available at 4,750 rpm compared with 200 lb-ft at the same rpm. These ratings give the 6 a 27-horsepower advantage over the 2002 Camry V6, but leave it 21 ponies shy of the 240-horse Altima 3.5SE. The Mazda 6 is also short on torque, with the Camry generating 209 lb-ft at 4,400 rpm and the Altima producing a whopping 246 lb-ft. at 4,400 rpm. We think Mazda's got some more work to do on the Duratec V6.

(Edmunds)

and

While admitting that the 6 is neither as large nor as powerful as the new Nissan Altima, Mazda says that size isn't a prerequisite for its Zoom-Zoom image. Certainly, the new car's attractive styling and competent handling mirror the company's sentiment. We'll have to wait and see if its new V6 has the moxie to back up the image.

(Edmunds)
I have to admit...the last Altima was not pleasing to me ......but this new one is sweet......and it looks like Stillen has already started on upgrades for it ...Stillen Altima