Best or worst Mazda vehicle or motor?

Best: 20B.
Best car: FD3S or original Cosmo
Worst: the FS they tossed in the Protege.
Worst car: The MPV
 
I had what I believe was the 1.5L Z5 DE in a '96 Protege (purchased new). No real power to speak of but ultra reliable and no oil consumption at over 150K miles....or any problems for that matter.

That 2.0L FE in my parent's old '87 '626 (purchased new) was bullet proof as well. I think my dad had around 275K miles on it when they got rid of it for the '10 5-door 3. IIRC the electronic auto of that 626 took a dump early on but the replacement lasted all this time. I think it was the first year Mazda rolled them out.
 
Agreed about the old FE. The FE/F2's were some tanks of an engine. 500HP on stock internals. Hell, Mazda wanted a diesel motor, so took a FE/F2 block, and without any additional support, slapped a diesel top end on it to make the RF/R2 diesel. How many other gas engines have that claim to fame?
 
Agreed about the old FE. The FE/F2's were some tanks of an engine. 500HP on stock internals. Hell, Mazda wanted a diesel motor, so took a FE/F2 block, and without any additional support, slapped a diesel top end on it to make the RF/R2 diesel. How many other gas engines have that claim to fame?

Missed this reply months back... wow... no kidding putting a diesel head on a gas motor... that does have to be strong.
 
What do you perceive as the best or worst Mazda vehicle . . . ?

My long gone 2002 626. At 77,000 or so miles, the Ford made auto transmission started acting like I was getting rear ended at traffic lights. I found out about that generation of 626 transmission troubles shortly thereafter and got rid of that car asap. That's the only time I dumped a car in a hurry.
 
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Best car: Miata/MX-5/Roadster
Worst car: any from the mid/late 90's except the Miata/MX-5/Roadster

Best engine: BP or KL
Worst engine: FS-DE(T) and 13B-MSP (Renesis) are tied in my book
 
Why does everyone hate the FS-DE engine? Is it because of the lower power and that it did except bolt on mods very well for power gain? I had an '03 P5 and in seven years of ownership the only thing that failed me was the thermostat. Oil changes were done regularly, and the timing belt was changed at 105K but that was about it. I had one coil pack go on me and after that I would get some knocking at full throttle when it was hot outside but that was it.

Just curious why everyone hates that engine so much?
 
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