kung fu hustle
Member
- :
- 1988 Mazda 323 GTX AWD
better than the warehouse photos, at least.
i edit: here's a mod list, in depth, of all the little tricky stuff done to the car
engine:
MBC, 10 psi, no spike at all.
massive FBE intercooler, custom welded and fitted.
Turbo XS bypass
Trust intercooler tubing, also custom fab.
2.5" mandrel bent exhaust w/ magnflow muffler.
i have a mazdaspeed 2.5" mandrel bent, its not as responsive with it, though. the cool factor is through the roof, however.
Accel coil and wires for the mcdonalds approach.
Ngk v-power plugs, gapped to manufacturer's group-a spec.
Walbro 255lph Fuel pump, stock tank transfer pump.
transmission:
Mazdaspeed 'competition' low ratio, very rare, using stronger componentry (all billet) and casing. up to 70% stronger than a north american trans. at 100 km/h im at 3500 rpm in fifth, do the math and the engine runs out of steam as the trans runs out of gear, leaving me with nothing but fat powerband until top speed. unavailable as NOS from mazda.
Mazdaspeed twin pressure plate clutch, '90s design. unavailable as NOS from mazda.
suspension:
Ground Control Coilovers
Koni Adjustable struts
CUSCO Camber plates. '90s design.
Mazdaspeed strut tower bar, unavailable as NOS from mazda.
interior:
custom carbon fiber gauge cluster, housing a/f, oil temp and water temp
a-pillar boost gauge
x2 racing steering wheel
analog metric gauge cluster, very rare.
gaywad shift knob
factory recaro seats
exterior:
Non DOT-compliant glass headlamps.
Non DOT-compliant amber signals
'turbo' grille. i dunno.
front lip, cut 'n' paste
hacked front bumper
butt-dyno horespower:
im guessing 160 at the flywheel, maybe 140 to the wheels. guessing until i can get to no limit, whose r32 skyline runs on their 4wd dyno all the time.
impression:
it looks totally stock, until you run it through the gears, which are almost annoyingly low. the turbo is audible through both the open element filter and the 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust even at idle, although the magnaflow muffler keeps the brappy noise of small displacement down to a dull hum.
the car loves a 5000 rpm launch, with absolutely no feathering or dipping of any kind, just tach it and dump it. 5000 rpm is ideal for a car this light, as the clutch needs almost no time to catch up with the power transfer. because first gear is so short, the engine must use 2000 rpm to run through it while your brain catches up. a 6000 rpm launch will quickly find you in the rev limiter in gear, making your 60' time suffer dramatically.
at 100km/h on the metric analog speedometer, the car sits at a drone-y 3500 rpm, which is annoying and not fuel efficient at all, but in order to hit 200km/h all you have to do is gun it, and the car will answer with a surge of boost. there is no fourth gear down shift, or third gear, for that matter, which is widely relegated as 'the passing gear'. i call fifth fourth and fourth third part 2. mazda calls this their 'competition' transmission, the history of it is vague and fuzzy, but from what i have gathered from factory reps was that it was a group a spec option in europe and asia only. mazda is baffled as to why a car that has no race history is equipped with this transmission. so are most poor folks that face off against the stock-looking econobox on stock wheels.
understeer is prevalent on cornering, with the ability to snap oversteer at just a lift of the throttle, its balanced, but in panic situations its easy to come unglued and spin. the ground control coilovers are tight and responsive, but my konis are blown in their seals, and are really ineffective at any speed, this makes the car unsafe and cornering is taken at reasonable speeds always. camber is kept at a reasonable 1.0 negative front 1.5 negative rear. side note: blown konis make for excellent drag race dampers. the tail nearly smacks into the ground on the launch.
the factory recaros are showing their age in the back, where it seems fat american asses have worn the padding down to framework on the seam between back and bottom. the cover is still good, but the frame digs into my skinny irish tailbone, making long trips a pain in the ass. forgive the pun, please.
there is the devil rust on the car, these pics do lie to you, the rear wheel well is infested with it, badly in some spots. this is the northeast united states for you, however, and with our massive disgusting heaps of rust comes knowledge of fixing massive disgusting heaps of rust. no worries, as the cancer will be eliminated as soon as i care enough about it. the floors are excellent, which is bizarre, the unit-body is rigid and not compromised, so the rust is cosmetic.
i hope you enjoy looking at this car as much as i enjoy owning it, i get people walking up to me literally all the time asking about the car, i even had a guy in a dump truck ask me to trade his worked '91 crx with some cash on the side this very morning.
i said no way.
-bill.
i edit: here's a mod list, in depth, of all the little tricky stuff done to the car
engine:
MBC, 10 psi, no spike at all.
massive FBE intercooler, custom welded and fitted.
Turbo XS bypass
Trust intercooler tubing, also custom fab.
2.5" mandrel bent exhaust w/ magnflow muffler.
i have a mazdaspeed 2.5" mandrel bent, its not as responsive with it, though. the cool factor is through the roof, however.
Accel coil and wires for the mcdonalds approach.
Ngk v-power plugs, gapped to manufacturer's group-a spec.
Walbro 255lph Fuel pump, stock tank transfer pump.
transmission:
Mazdaspeed 'competition' low ratio, very rare, using stronger componentry (all billet) and casing. up to 70% stronger than a north american trans. at 100 km/h im at 3500 rpm in fifth, do the math and the engine runs out of steam as the trans runs out of gear, leaving me with nothing but fat powerband until top speed. unavailable as NOS from mazda.
Mazdaspeed twin pressure plate clutch, '90s design. unavailable as NOS from mazda.
suspension:
Ground Control Coilovers
Koni Adjustable struts
CUSCO Camber plates. '90s design.
Mazdaspeed strut tower bar, unavailable as NOS from mazda.
interior:
custom carbon fiber gauge cluster, housing a/f, oil temp and water temp
a-pillar boost gauge
x2 racing steering wheel
analog metric gauge cluster, very rare.
gaywad shift knob
factory recaro seats
exterior:
Non DOT-compliant glass headlamps.
Non DOT-compliant amber signals
'turbo' grille. i dunno.
front lip, cut 'n' paste
hacked front bumper
butt-dyno horespower:
im guessing 160 at the flywheel, maybe 140 to the wheels. guessing until i can get to no limit, whose r32 skyline runs on their 4wd dyno all the time.
impression:
it looks totally stock, until you run it through the gears, which are almost annoyingly low. the turbo is audible through both the open element filter and the 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust even at idle, although the magnaflow muffler keeps the brappy noise of small displacement down to a dull hum.
the car loves a 5000 rpm launch, with absolutely no feathering or dipping of any kind, just tach it and dump it. 5000 rpm is ideal for a car this light, as the clutch needs almost no time to catch up with the power transfer. because first gear is so short, the engine must use 2000 rpm to run through it while your brain catches up. a 6000 rpm launch will quickly find you in the rev limiter in gear, making your 60' time suffer dramatically.
at 100km/h on the metric analog speedometer, the car sits at a drone-y 3500 rpm, which is annoying and not fuel efficient at all, but in order to hit 200km/h all you have to do is gun it, and the car will answer with a surge of boost. there is no fourth gear down shift, or third gear, for that matter, which is widely relegated as 'the passing gear'. i call fifth fourth and fourth third part 2. mazda calls this their 'competition' transmission, the history of it is vague and fuzzy, but from what i have gathered from factory reps was that it was a group a spec option in europe and asia only. mazda is baffled as to why a car that has no race history is equipped with this transmission. so are most poor folks that face off against the stock-looking econobox on stock wheels.
understeer is prevalent on cornering, with the ability to snap oversteer at just a lift of the throttle, its balanced, but in panic situations its easy to come unglued and spin. the ground control coilovers are tight and responsive, but my konis are blown in their seals, and are really ineffective at any speed, this makes the car unsafe and cornering is taken at reasonable speeds always. camber is kept at a reasonable 1.0 negative front 1.5 negative rear. side note: blown konis make for excellent drag race dampers. the tail nearly smacks into the ground on the launch.
the factory recaros are showing their age in the back, where it seems fat american asses have worn the padding down to framework on the seam between back and bottom. the cover is still good, but the frame digs into my skinny irish tailbone, making long trips a pain in the ass. forgive the pun, please.
there is the devil rust on the car, these pics do lie to you, the rear wheel well is infested with it, badly in some spots. this is the northeast united states for you, however, and with our massive disgusting heaps of rust comes knowledge of fixing massive disgusting heaps of rust. no worries, as the cancer will be eliminated as soon as i care enough about it. the floors are excellent, which is bizarre, the unit-body is rigid and not compromised, so the rust is cosmetic.
i hope you enjoy looking at this car as much as i enjoy owning it, i get people walking up to me literally all the time asking about the car, i even had a guy in a dump truck ask me to trade his worked '91 crx with some cash on the side this very morning.
i said no way.
-bill.
Last edited:
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