Mazda 323 GTX

Looking at Mazda 323 GTX for auto/rallycross, as well as AWD winter DD. Anyone have experience with them?

Rust, rust, transmissions are kinda fragile and hard to find parts for, more rust.

Other than that, they're awesome.

What he said. I'd like to add that the aftermarket has all but dried up for these cars too.

I love mine as a dd.

Never Rallycrossed it.

Capable fun autocrosser, but not class competitive. No aftermarket.

The diffs are hideously expensive to fix or find replacements for I think

Jaynen wrote: The diffs are hideously expensive to fix or find replacements for I think

Yes. The transmissions are pretty much made of glass and when you break one, good luck. You will ACTUALLY be overnighting parts from Japan, F&F style! At exorbitant cost, too!

I have wanted one since before I had my license but much like the Subaru RX and Toyota Celica All-Trac they are rally weapons from a time gone by and the aftermarket no longer gives a E36 M3. At least the RX and All-Trac share drivetrains with other models which is why you see more of them.

They appear to make a 300ZX TT look easy to work on, but I've never turned a wrench on one myself, so who knows.

I used to own one of 5 or 6 up here in BC canada.. They are getting really hard to come by in good shape...

Like most have said, rust in a problem.. Make sure you get a really good look at the seams in the rear strut towers.. The front half is usually pretty good, but everything behind the doors likes to rot...

Aftermarket is hard to come by, so you have to be pretty good at making E36 M3 work... I did manage to fit some 2wd stuff on mine... If you do pick one up I have a lot of good comparison pictures of 2wd suspension stuff to the 4wd stuff.. The transmissions can be fragile.. If you can get your hands on one and do the fab work needed to fit a BG chassie GTX or GTR transmission in the car it really helps..

They do go fast and you can usually do it for cheap.. The motors are pretty strong..

Haven't people been adapting a Toyota trans to work?

Joey

RexSeven wrote: I'd like to add that the aftermarket has all but dried up for these cars too.

There was an aftermarket for them?

Parts specific to the GTX are high-enriched unobtanium as well, be prepared to use custom stuff to replace any such parts.

Yes, there was an aftermarket. They were successful rally cars for a long time, so it was a racing-based aftermarket. But with less than 1500 cars in the US that are now a quarter-century old and no longer competitive, the aftermarket has drived up somewhat.

Diffs are shared with the Miata, I believe. It's the other transmission internals you have to watch. And they're fine at stock power. It's when you try to feed 250 hp through them that you have trouble.

Best description I ever heard was "reliable but not durable". By now, a lot of them are used up. You'll find that anyone who owns one tends to own several. I do know of a very good one for sale in SLC if anyone's interested.

I had a couple. I miss it, great little car. But unless you want that particular one, a WRX is probably cheaper and faster.

I had a couple, fun cars, but little support as others have noted. Unless you're really tickled by them at this point it's probably best to not get one as a DD/rally cross car...

Have a spare one or two laying around to help keep the one on the road.

SlickDizzy wrote:

Jaynen wrote: The diffs are hideously expensive to fix or find replacements for I think

Yes. The transmissions are pretty much made of glass and when you break one, good luck. You will ACTUALLY be overnighting parts from Japan, F&F style! At exorbitant cost, too! I have wanted one since before I had my license but much like the Subaru RX and Toyota Celica All-Trac they are rally weapons from a time gone by and the aftermarket no longer gives a E36 M3. At least the RX and All-Trac share drivetrains with other models which is why you see more of them. They appear to make a 300ZX TT look easy to work on, but I've never turned a wrench on one myself, so who knows.

Ehhh... the AllTrac is an entirely different scenario. It's much better supported, and has the advantage of having a completely 100% bulletproof driveline. However, they do not share drivetrains with other models. Only motors, and only with the MR2 Turbo.

They're a higher cost of entry, though.

joey48442 wrote: Haven't people been adapting a Toyota trans to work? Joey

Yep. A few have adapted the Celica AllTrac/GT4 driveline to work. I also know of one that has adapted an Evo driveline.

There is/was (seems to be missing) a rust free one on the Raleigh craigslist that caught my eye.

They are the kind of car I'd love to drive at a rallycross, but would not want to own.

Too short-wheelbase to be effective AWD rallycross cars.

They are very fun to drive but the trans, wheelbearings, unobtanium parts like hubs etc, pretty much require a gtx owner to either be or become an accomplished mechanic with inside sources for parts. Joining the yahoogroups 323gtx mailing list is pretty much mandatory. Rust isn't any more of an issue that it would be for anything else of that age. If it's on the west coast it's prolly just fine. Doing a BPT 1.8/BG awd trans swap will help, but not solve, the transmission issue. Replacing the rear diff is easy, 1stgen miata guts work, and you can apparently fit ms3speed hubs with some effort to eliminate the wheelbrearing problem (seriously.. what were they thinking?). But I'm here to tell you, doing that alltrac trans swap Is Not Worth It. Trust me on this.

I disagree with the too-short wheelbase. They are nimble as hell and can run around the tight stuff in the muck better than just about anything. You do have to stay awake whilst doing so, however. I miss mine but don't think I'll get another one.

..Unless a really nice one pops up!

Every 323GTX I've seen rallycrossing had pretty bad handling problems - bouncing and cantering all over the place. (The utter lack of available struts probably does not help) Then they break the trans and you don't see them come around anymore.

I was offered one for "are you kidding me??" cheap and it came with two known-good transmissions, and I still turned it down...

I put a set of stock Protege5 struts on mine. A welder was involved. They actually worked very well, no handling problems. Never took it rallycrossing, but it sure liked dirt roads.

I got one for free one time. It had no turbo, no transmission, the wiring was a mess. I was told I could have the transmission after he dug it out of storage. It never materialized.

I pulled some battery cables, gauges and other junk from the car to use on my LeMons car, then sold it to a guy for $300. I'd love to drive one someday, but I don't miss that particular one.