Japanese perfection
The engine blew at 60000 miles from a scratch in the rotor that allowed coolant to enter the combustion camber, but the car has spent many hours at the track.
The car handling is impeccaple spot on it is closet to perfect I've ever experiened.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 24th November, 2002
This a car for someone who wants a thrilling ride and who doesn't worry about maintenance cost
Car was purchased as a project.
Original engine frozen (not an apex seal problem)
All under-hood wiring damaged by bad repair procedures and by a small animal eating wiring cover.
Turbos were shot, needed overhaul.
Radiator, belts, air conditioner, and almost all accessories needed overhaul or replacement.
After installation of Mazda factory "new" engine, turbos, radiator, light-weight flywheel, improved intake air and exhuast system, and replacement overhaul of various accessories, and after a 1000 mile break-in period, the car proved to have every bit of the performance expected and more!
The cars acceleration from any condition, including a dead stop or from a medium speed to a higher speed, is breathtaking! It leaves all production cars and most motorcycles in the dust.
Handling, cornering, road feel are all excellent.
The "project" to get the car up and running cost four times the original estimate.
The engine lost a seal at about 1500 miles, resulting in a warranty replacement.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 25th June, 2002
A true sports car, but has many reliability problems.
There is not enough room on this page to describe the problems I have had with this car. Dealer and factory support was awful. I have had to replace the engine, transmission, and turbos before the car had 20,000 miles. Many smaller problems and factory recalls. Some of the problems were very serious safety issues.
This has been a love hate relationship. The idea and design of this car is wonderful. Bang for the buck you cannot beat it. Extremely fast stock, and with very little money can easily break 200mph. In a straight line it will stay with any car, but in the corners will leave them all way behind. I will keep this car but would love to buy a improved version if it was ever available in the US.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 22nd January, 2002
Perhaps you should have left some of the problems you say you have. Is the purpose of this wonderful site not to educate potential buyers of the problems associated with their cars?
I have owned one since I bought it in 2003. Had an A/C problem which was misdiagnosed, but the dealer and the regional Mazda service guys treated me right. As a matter of fact, they were more than fair considering the car had been out of warranty for seven years. Main problem I have had is keeping the car clean as I just don't have the time to wash it very often.
Have had mine since 1993 and the electric antenna pigtail just broke. Antenna will not go up and down when radio comes on. Engine and transmission (automatic) have been great although fuel economy is not very good (but was expected).
I have never personally know anyone to get much more than 60,000 miles out one these "hand grenade" motors. In modern times that's a scandal. Beautiful, expensive and goes like a Rocket... a Bottle Rocket...earlier rotor motors were long lived...this one was just way over-stressed in effort to get top performance..
A great car!
I had a minor light/electrical problem with the car, but that was taken care of easily.
Transmission has a problem going into 1st gear on initial startup once the cars been sitting over night, but can be take care of by slipping into 2nd first. Other than that, the car's a jewel.
I love it, with a couple of minor upgrades, some new tires and the right driver, the next time you see a Viper/Corvette etc... Smile and blow them away.
There are many cars that can keep up with this car in a straight line, but when the turns get sharp or the traffic gets heavy there's no comparison. This car takes the cake! Very little money to upgrade to big horsepower too. Whether you plan on racing it or just enjoying the ride, I give this car 2 thumbs up!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 29th October, 2001
Poor man's Lamborghini
I have burned out four clutches from revving it to 7,000 rpm, dumping the clutch and watching the heads turn.
My 15" subwoofer blew out and my amp overheated once, but that didn't effect the performance of my car.
Tons of power, I've wasted so many Camaros in races and a couple of Vipers too. It sucks down gas really bad though. Especially when above 6,000 RPMs.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 11th September, 2000
It's a 1.3 L... that's all... oh yeah... did you really smoke a Viper... Corvettes I can believe, I have smoked them myself... but a Viper?!?
It is the 1.3 Wankel Rotary... I dunno about that Viper stuff either. You'd have to have NOS, or upgraded Turbos for that kinda performance. I have seen it happen before, only once. And he had NOS, and 24 PSI of boost running at the time.
17th Dec 2004, 23:42
"Leaves most motorcycles in the dust".
Come on, the FD is fast, but not as quick as a sport bike.
I'm thinking quarter mile times, not Autobahn speeds.
Think power to weight ratio. Very very few production cars can beat a quick sport bike. (Ofcourse we could cite exceptions).