learn me about mx3s

Wife had a v6 awesome model years ago and loved it, and one manual 4cyl model popped up in my area.

How much less fun are we talking about with the 4cyl? On paper...it looks like a lot less but this one comes with studded tires.....which means i buy a car instead of tires. I like that better

In reply to Antihero :

I’ve never even sat in one, but I remember reading here years ago that the stock V6 didn’t really offer much more performance than the 4-cyl. 

The 4 banger is basically a 1.6 Miata mill turned sideways. You can upgrade to a 1.8 as well. And the chassis is quite capable - one of my co-workers campaigns one in Chump Car and places pretty highly.

The chassis (EC) is 90% identical/interchangeable with the 90-94 Protégé/323 (BG) and 91-96 Escort.  The Mx3 has a slightly wider track and less cheesy swaybar endlinks.  Also better seats/nicer interior overall vs. the other related models.  I have MX3 seats & center console in my escort :)

The 1.6 engine has the weaker F series gearbox.  If you want to do performance things with it, upgrading to the 1.8/G series gearbox out of a Protégé LX or Escort GT will be a relatively easy & rewarding swap.

It's a stylish economy car,  1991-1993 4 cylinders had about 90 hp, after that a little over 100.   About 10 years ago I had a 1993 4 cylinder manual one as a daily beater.

The seats were comfortable and it got about 30 mpg.   Cargo area was pretty generous.

The shifter had one bushing that didn't have an available replacement so it was a little sloppy.  The rear of the body is pretty high and the B-pillars are thick so the view out the back is not great, especially if you look over your shoulder to change lanes.

My sister bought a new 4 cyl one back in the day with a stick shift.  She drove it maybe 10 or 12 years putting 130k or so on it, then my brother drove it another 5 years or so.  It was a great car and easily upgradeable.  I'd much prefer it to the V6.  We test drove a V6 back to back with the 4, and it was a bit quicker, but not by all that much.  The 4 drove better.

If you do find a V6 (1.8 liter!) you can easily replace that motor with the 2.5 V6 from the 626/Mx6/Probe for a significant bump in power.  Externally it’s the same as the larger displacement motor.

I remember having a 91 MX3 at the shop.  It was the 4cyl manual that we used as a parts-runner and courtesy car for customer drop offs and such.  I recall that what it lacked in hp, it made up for in perfect gear ratio spreads and way more torque than expected.  To this day I remember expecting blah and being rewarded with "oh, this is actually fun."

I bought a 1994 4 cylinder MX-3 new for my wife. She loved it. We ended up letting it go after a couple years because of arrival of son #2 and we didn't have a vehicle with more than 2 doors at the time. Creek Mica Blue was the color and it was a deep purplish color, much nicer than a lot of the more popular 90's colors.

Therieldeal nailed the commentary that I came to say with one addition. Just get it.

BP swaps are plentiful, easy and love boost. Limited slip options are available, as are COP conversions and PnP megasquirt. Platform sharing has kept most mechanical parts plentiful. 

I feel like you can't go wrong with a BP or KL, so the only real question is whether you actually want an MX3... or a Miata, or an MX6, or a Protege, or an Escort. MX3 availability seems to be the worst of all. Coolest shape and most rarity is worth something to me. Tiny hatchbacks are neat, i've had a few.

In my dreams of ever finding good ones locally at the right price, I'd take a v6 MX3, mostly because i'd also have an NX2000 with a snappy 4cyl already. 

In reply to Vigo :

I'm still having to resist picking up a local to me nx2000 that's prepped for autocross duty. 

Cool, looks like im looking at it. its a 95 looks well taken care of by the ad, should be cool.

Wife also said she might want to build a challenge car out of it. Im a lucky man 

I thought V-6 was 2.0? Which is still tiny, regardless.

In reply to Appleseed :

Nope 1.8. Which is why I want one. It's unique.

Vigo said:

I feel like you can't go wrong with a BP or KL, so the only real question is whether you actually want an MX3... or a Miata, or an MX6, or a Protege, or an Escort. MX3 availability seems to be the worst of all. Coolest shape and most rarity is worth something to me. Tiny hatchbacks are neat, i've had a few.

In my dreams of ever finding good ones locally at the right price, I'd take a v6 MX3, mostly because i'd also have an NX2000 with a snappy 4cyl already. 

You want rare? The 323F was sold in Canada briefly. Find one of those and nobody will know what it is.

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Nope 1.8. Which is why I want one. It's unique.

Same here.

To add salt to the wound she had to sell it to buy.... An Intrepid and an LHS because her ex was a deadbeat so many years ago.

This wrong must be righted!

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I see that and raise you, BG chassis protege AWD. 

Hong norrth run a couple in Lemons and have won overall a few times with them. Still 4 cylinders too. 

captdownshift said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

I see that and raise you, BG chassis protege AWD. 

But they look exactly like a non-AWD, so nobody cares that it might be different  Some nice updates from the previous platform, though...

To add salt to the wound she had to sell it to buy.... An Intrepid and an LHS because her ex was a deadbeat so many years ago.

At least she got a faster car out of it.   I still miss my 97 Intrepid.  But if I had to choose between that car at its peak and an MX3 with a 2.5 already swapped into it, well, I'd take the MX3. Maybe not a stock one since I'm having a hard time making time to modify my own stuff lately. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Yeah the BG awd cars not turning their transmissions and limited slips into dust made for a nice upgrade from the BF chassis cars. 

In reply to Antihero :

I've been on and off looking for one for about a decade now. If I do come across a decent one I'll have a hard time resisting.

The 1.8 V6, being that it is the same external size as the 2.5, is not as small as you might imagine it to be. I have one, but every time I day dream about putting it into something, it occurs to me that the 2.5 would fit as well (and I have one of those too).

Test drove it, came away less than impressed but i think it was more that car than all mx3s. The highlight of the test drive was when i found out that the brakes were really really bad.....when i was scooting around on a thin street faster than i should have been , quite scary. It wasnt pads and the owner said "oops....yeah i forgot about that. Pretty bad huh?" Also massive valve cover leak resulting in every stop looking like a bad 80s band music video complete with its own fog machine. I will say i was expecting slower than my zx2....but it was waaaayyy slower and less fun. 

Id like to drive a different one in the future but this one wasnt the one for me