General Comments:
This is my second Probe. Had it for approx 6 months and used only as a second car.
Key's are weak on this car - get spare ones cut!
Central locking is playing up a little.
I won't bore you with all the negatives. This example is a little rough round the edges, but was a bargain in price, so imperfections forgiven. There are a few dinks on the car. However, from a distance it's still a stunner to look at.
The CV joint needs changing as it's clicky, but that aside, car drives without fault. It's got that lovely silky sound and performance to match. Lively at lower speeds, but hits a lethargic area for a while before picking up speed again.
Handles fantastic for a big car - love it!
It makes you think real hard what this car was designed for... big engine so you'd think it'd be nice and lazy on the motorway - it's not - it revs too high. But with cruise control on your don't notice it. 70mph upwards is slow compared to other cars of similar engine size.
From standstill this car feels very quick off the mark, and if you're being lazy will pull like a normal car in 5th gear at 30mph.. very good.
Handles nicely, but not on very tight bends, good for long sweepers.
So, it's not really a fast cruiser, nor a rally type experience car...
Seems to fit in well with the big Mustangs you see on the British motorways poodling at 50mph... they're quick and powerful, but no point driving it fast as it'll drain your fuel and not go that quick - so stay in the left lane and smile - you're driving a cool car!
Just needs a little extra something... maybe it's just the engine needs a few more guts to make it amazing - but think that's an okay compromise between power and handling (guess the 2 foot wide tyres help grip).
Bottom line is, it looks so cool all is forgiven. If you're after something very different from normal cars, this is it - not really been anything similar since?!
8th Sep 2010, 21:09
I have a 1996 Probe V6 (GT), and other than the distributor dying (a Mitsubishi product), I've had no problems.
I have just rolled over 183,000 klms, and it's running like the day I bought it 8 years ago.
My maintenance is meticulous, I use only Mobil 1 5w-50 synthetic oil, K&N air and oil filters, NGK iridium plugs and Redline coolant additive. I change the water pump, cambelt, idlers, tensioner, fuel pump and fuel filter at every 80,000, rather than wait for something to fail, and it has paid off!
Other than the distributor, which cooks itself and eventually the module goes open circuit, so best to replace the lot (costly, but worth it), I have had no other problems whatsoever.
I am just about to get my front discs skimmed and new pads put in, but that's just on going maintenance, and if you are a car lover, it's not a problem.
The motor is Mazda k series, but its design was assisted by Porsche and Yamaha, so of course it's a good long lived engine.
Problems are always associated with poor maintenance, mineral oils (they sludge up), and a just a wait till it breaks attitude. These are good cars, you should read TOP GEAR'S TEST report on one!