This thread is losing focus quickly. Let's keep it productive. If at all possible.

FYI, mazda designed the 2.3L. It's fastER, but not faster than the MSP. The MSP is the worlds best handling production FWD car. The next closest car in terms of speed is the Porsche 911 Turbo (through a 60ft slalom). Not shabby for a $16K car.

Also, Ford bought up mazda for their 4 cylinder technology. While ford makes a good engine they can't touch mazdas for reliability. Also, I was a Mitsubishi tech for a year and never heard of nor saw anyone take any kind of "ranking test". Not to be negative, but this reeks of BS.

Lastly, the 3 is a cool car. I can't wait to see how the aftermarket embraces it. 'Nuff said.

 

You have obviously never owned a 93-95 Mazda RX-7. Yeah that car was reliable and never required an oil change. It dripped enough oil to change it self every week, and only required a service every 20,000 miles. That service was a new motor unfortunately! I will agree about the Mazda 4 cylinders that I have owned, 2 B6t's and 1 BPT. All ran flawlessly and never missed a beat.

Brett.

 

Yeah, I agree.

 

The comment I made about reliability is about mazdas FOUR CYLINDER engines. I mentioned nothing about the wenkel engines. and Yes, I owned a 94 RX-7 for 2 months. I got pulled over so many times my wife made me sell it. I believe however the new renesis engine will be amazingly well received and durable.

 

...here's a statement taken directly from mazda.com........ * The Large-size I4 engine (1.8L, 2.0L, 2.3L) developed at Mazda as a Ford Global "Center of Excellence". In addition to the large-size I4, the MZR
engine family includes the small-size I4 engine (1.3L, 1.5L) and a diesel engine, which were newly developed completely at Mazda......................................how that strike you?? still think it's a Ford Engine?? Or is Mazda Motors lying......also I think someone showed how much they know about rotaries...quote from thxbrett "You have obviously never owned a 93-95 Mazda RX-7. Yeah that car was reliable and never required an oil change. It dripped enough oil to change it self every week, and only required a service every 20,000 miles"...........the rotary wasnt dripping the oil, it was USING it!!! The rotary sprays oils on the apex seals so you have to add oil to the engine all the time!!!!!

 

Everything has pretty much been covered so far.

However, just bring everything up to speed, the next US version of the Focus will remain on the current platform but uses things from the new "C-class" chasis. Namely the motor.

The European Focus will be on the same platform as the Mazda3 and the Volvo.

The 2.3 liter is all Mazda design. So is most of the stuff on the Mazda3.

The intial platform design was done by Ford, however, the rest of development was left up to Mazda.

Ford invested in Mazda as a long term strategy to use Mazda to design it's small sedans; because Mazda has a progressive design philosophy, as seen with the Protege and the new Mazda3.

As for the mechanic comment, I'm sure your friend is a great mechanic. But, he is slightly wrong about where the Mazda3 came from.

 

Are you serious??? Did you change my oil seals twice on my motor? Did you also mop up the puddle of oil under my car every day? I worked at M2 Performance for 2 years( a RX-7 shop). I know plenty about the rotary..........enough to know to sell that damn car. 3 motors in 75,000 miles is a little too extreme maitanence for my tastes.

Brett.

 

I've seen numerous RX-7's (both turbo and NA) last well over 100k miles on the original motor. These cars were very well maintained and raced. I'm sure you're not being entirely forthcoming with the reason WHY your RX-7 leaked oil or blew seals. I've also seen brand new 3 rotor motors fresh from the shop go into a race car, lean out and detonate one time. Ruined the motor. It's very easy to destroy a wenkel if you're not treating it properly. the new renesis I think will set standards for reliability/performance/and style.

 

whoops, sorry....guess i stuck my foot in my mouth on that one...

 

The thrid gen RX-7 was notorious for blowing seals on a perfectly stock motor.

Something happened in the manufacturing process and some people lucked out. Others, like Brett, got crapped on. Or rather, oiled.

Mazda fixed the problem shortly after the car was released but it was to little to late for the US market.

Most rotaries are reliable, and the RENISIS is a huge leap forward. But it is a common fact that some people got crappy seals from the factory on the third gen RX-7.

 

Macdaddy, you're half right. the new renesis motor does use special oil injectors to lubricate the apex seals. The process has all but been perfected. No the new renesis will use 1/10th the oil that the previous motor used, but yes the 13BREW did also use oil injection to help lubricate. So yes you're right, they do use oil as a common occurance. another thing, how reliable do you expect a 1.3L engine making 300-600hp to be? I'd say 50K miles is DAMN GOOD!

 

Stutters....he said 3 motors in 75K miles....does that sound like normal use to you? You tihnk he left the motor stock and 3 motors went out?

 

I don't know. But, but some stock motors had issues too. Issues similar to what Brett had.

 

I know this...the 12a and 13b were perfectly reliable engines, but did use oil because the oil was sprayed on the apex seals...the 13btt was a warranty nightmare for mazda as they had serious reliability issues...the rotory doesnt like the extra heat of a turbo...there was a good way to fix this...if you switch to the carbon apex seals that mazdatrix offers, this makes for a much more reliable engine...also people didnt know much about the rotary and didnt maintain them properly, so of course there were issues

 

both good points but OT. if you guys want to discuss the rotary in greater detail let me know and I'll start a new thread.