1986 Mazda 626 GT Turbo from North America - Comments

There where a few problems with the engine that I attribute to poor instalation of a new engine. The valve cover gasket was leaking oil and the turbo intake gasket was slipped. But all that is due to poor workmanship on the part of the mechanic. 200 bucks and I got both of them fixed. there was a hole in the tranny pan from the previous owner jumping some railroad tracks at 50mph and put the cross member bolt into the tranny pan. a little bit of JB weld and some gear oil and the leak and hole was fixed. The interior appears to have been stripped and put back together at one point. The manner and condition it was done paired with the modifications to the engine leads me to belive one of two things. Either this car was used to run drugs from one place to another or someone did some serious dukes of hazard type stuff with it.

I bought this car on Ebay for $500 intending to strip it down for weight and tune the engine up for power. then drive it around the back roads at highly unsafe speeds doing very stupid things like power slide around corners and just plain beat it up till it dies or I put it on its roof, usually both. Then sell it to the local scrap yard. I fell in love with the sheer power of this car on the freeway. The turbocharger really puts a lot of stink to the ground when it kicks in at 3k RPM and I bark the tires in third gear going to fourth. I decided to keep my mazda as my daily driver and the 35-40 MPG @65 MPH was a deciding factor also. After I fixed a few of the small peoblems it had such as the O2 sensor and the leaks there was a dramatic power increase. The car tops out at around 120 mph redlining and has no problems or doubts about getting there. it is very eager and hard to keep at 65mph for the turbo kicks in and just jumps to 80mph like "it ain't no thing"All in all I would recommend this car to anyone who wants a lot of bang for not a lot of buck.

I agree with your comment. My 87 626 GT is pretty quick.

Hey, I'm not a drug dealer. I told you, the person that I had recover the car from that I originally sold it to really messed it up. They installed all sorts of unnecessary weird wiring. The hole in the tyranny pan happened from hitting a pile of rocks on a logging road. I've never jumped a railroad track before. A Mazda dealership did the engine install; I really don't know what could have been wrong with that. All in all, I guess it sounds like the car is still running... I still miss it...

Your comments are right on. I had an 86 GT in the late 90s and loved it. Got it with 90k and sold it w/about 150k on it. It would surge and sputter under hard acceleration when I sold it - could have been the turbo going or something. The driver's seat was coming loose from it's mounts too. The handling wasn't that great. Overall, I'd rank it just below my 89 Prelude Si.

What is it with buying these cars for the intention of smashing them up. I am going to buy one tomorrow and I am only getting it because I blew up my 85 pulsar and I need something else to thrash around in. I don't know what attracted me to them.

If you have a legitimate 86 GT T look behind the suspension control panel. There is a button push it to go into race mode. Howver be advised if you have one of the 150 legitimate cars you had better Know how to drive an inducted pre-fia I.M.S.A. Firehawk GT class race car! This was my first car and I can tell you from experience if you know how to drive this car there is NOTHING and I repeat NOTHING on the road today that can beat it. Especially if you can find an original stainless steel racing exhaust. Good luck and enjoy. Oh and if it is legitimate and not a dealer clone May God and the local Magistrate have mercy on your soul!!!

I own a 1986 Mazda 626 turbo and it beats any other honda on the road. I do a lot of burnout when I make turns... I wanted to sell mine, but I have no title.

I had one in the mid 90's. It had the auto adjustable suspension. The car was OK when I first purchased it, the motor blew shortly and I had to replace. That's when I discovered the Turbo wasn't working. With the newer motor the car became extremely quick. Combined with the sport suspension the car was extremely fun. The only option this one was missing was the 4wheel steering. I kept it for several years before the turbo started breaking down, causing the car to over heat. I sold it for next to nothing. Now, I really wish I could find another like it, restore, and put the honda's in their place (btw, I own a civic).