Just bought a Mx-3. Need help on engine.

[Qwiksillva]

Well, I don't really need help with the engine, but I just bought this car for $650 with the 2.5 liter V6 swapped into it. It came with Apexi exhaust which is not currently installed on it. This car is intended to be my daily though because I own a faster car (rx-7) already.

What is the name of this engine (i.e. 2.0 liter DSM engine = 4g63)?
Who and where should I look for performance parts?
Where are some good resource sites for this engine?
With 3" exhaust all the way back what kind of numbers can I expect currently?

[vozaday2000]

well it is kinda hard. there are two versions of the 2.5l you can get. one is the klde and the other is the klze. the klde has approx 164hp and the klze has approx 197. exhaust won't do much without doing headers but the largest you would want is 2.5". for performance parts you will have to search for using the search function. there is alot but if you want stuff like turbos you will have to build the kit yourself. this is the ultimate resource site for this car and engine. you can also try probetalk.com and mx6.com.

[Gro Harlem]

why not do a search? your questions are as basic as they come.

and we all will laugh at you if you really do install a 3" catback on your car. do a search to find out why

[vozaday2000]

we all will laugh at you if you really do install a 3" catback on your car

lol....

[Qwiksillva]

Well, I am a Mazda man, but I specialize in rotaries.

This is the first Mazda I have owned with pistons

I figured everyone would be "do a search". That's how it is with every car forum I am a member of.

Anyways I am very pleased with this car so far. It ran like crap when I got it, but over the second day of ownership, I have gotten her to run nicely. I definitely want to do some nice performance mods to this vehicle, but I will not turbo it.

I have a turbo car already. Boost is a nice thing, but sometimes it's troublesome as well.

When you speak of 2.5" exhaust, do you mean per header or as a whole (like if you brought them together with a y-pipe)? I don't really see an easy way for duals anyways.

[vozaday2000]

2.5 exhaust from the headers back. one pipe. there is an explanation in the v6 faq called myths of backpressure. other mods are outlaw thermo spacers, flywheels, clutches, cai, exhaust. basic mods and you will find alot of shortcuts and nice little tweeks you can do through the faq and searching. and if you find any secrets or special ways of tuning things then please post them, we all want to learn new ways to mod them.

And Welcome to the Wonderful World of MX-3's. you will learn to love it.

lots of people will tell you to search but some answers are just to hard to find and usually people are kind enough to answer or give you a link.

[jschrauwen]

2.5" appears to be the max size desireable however since you probably have a KLDE than that or even a 2.25" should would work. For all around performance throughout the rpm range the 2.25" may be the better choice. That accompanied with a good after market header would do well along with a CAI. Your sporting an engine common to the 626, MX6 and the Ford Probe. My perspective wrt finding the best performance parts and technical info would best come from Probetalk. It's a wealth of information with lots of items always available for sale from members as well as numerous ongoing group buys. There are a number of things that you can source through PT (Probetalk), however when it comes to a few select items you will have to stick with MX3 exclusively. When it comes to headers, source only for MX3 since the disatance measurements from collector to Cat and so on are not shared by any of the other vehicles. MTX transmissions are swappable between these cars as well as nearly all engine parts as the 1.8L and the 2.5L share the same block and heads. Of course the KL08 normally refered to as K8 has a smaller bore and stroke the heads are all fairly similar. Wrt Intake manifold (IM), the MX3 has a few limitations not shared by the others due to it's engine bay size and relative positioning to the firewall. You'll find that some PT members will transplant KLZE heads/cams into a KLDE and sometimes the IM and TB (throttle body). A cold air intake can be made from a 90 - 93 integra CAI which can be sourced from ebay for a pittence and must be cut down to meet our needs. There are a number of threads solely on this and it's an easy and inexpensive mod. As well wrt some suspension and brake parts, the MX3 shares the same platform as the Protege and last gen's of 323 (I believe). There are a few parts from the Miata (front rotors, interior door handles) that are also shared with the MX3. The list will be too exhaustive to post all here so if there are specific items that can't be easily found on a search please post them up and someone should be able to give you the (short version) answer. If they don't ... I will. The aftermarket world is not very kind or generous towards the MX3 and it's fortunate that we can look to the MX6, 626, Millennia, Protege, Miata and Probe for sourcing after market goodies. Hope this helps. Good luck and post any specifics you may need. BTW, welcome to MX-3.com !!!
*John*

[RoundTop]

An e-bay search yields a number of products..some worth it, some not.

There are some group buys here (though getting fewer) and several places that do body kits for MX-3s.

For performance parts CorkSport ( http://www.corksport.com ) has a lot for all Mazdas, but a fair amount for the MX-3 as well.

The other posters are very correct about the 3" exhaust essecially losing you power, if you go to 2.25" and get the larger headers you will get better performance. Also an air intake is a good thing. if you move the coolant bottle there is a great place to put the intake end. (I actually cut a hole in the sheetmetal at the bottom and ran a flexhose to there to suck cold air in from outside the bay (using a PRN Jet Intake, which is in the middle of the line).

If you have come from an RX-7... have fun by stepping on the gas when entering a corner, rather than the exit. as it is FWD it will help pull you through if you keep enough traction.

[Mnemonic]

The other posters are very correct about the 3" exhaust essecially losing you power, if you go to 2.25" and get the larger headers you will get better performance. Also an air intake is a good thing. if you move the coolant bottle there is a great place to put the intake end. (I actually cut a hole in the sheetmetal at the bottom and ran a flexhose to there to suck cold air in from outside the bay (using a PRN Jet Intake, which is in the middle of the line).

Yes putting your CAI in teh fender well is one of the best ways to deflect heat, but i wouldnt recomend cutting a hole in it, 1 reason there are small holes already that when your CAI "breathes" it can pull air into it. And 2 its an enclosed space, if you were to cut a hole, then lets say it Rains and your run through a slightly large puddle, you have more area for the water to flow through, and where's it going right into your CAI into your Motor and say good by to your VAF, say goodbye to your rings, and you can probably say goodbye to the bearings as well.

I know this from experience...


now ive been thinking about sealing um fender well with sheet metal to create a "cold box". by running pipe from the same general region that the original intake pulled its air from, into the "cold box" and then it would go into the engine. Would it really increase Power? Prolly not but the theories nice

[jschrauwen]

ive been thinking about sealing um fender well with sheet metal to create a "cold box".

There's already those type of plates available on ebay CAI's for the 4cyl MX3. Unfortunately, it's part of the package deal and one retailer was not willing to sell to me separately.

[kiwi_MX3]

4G63 is the 2.0litre MITSUBISHI motor, soory it does'nt fit in.

You could slap a 12a or 13B in, a 20B is just a tad to fat.

[Qwiksillva]

I could never put any of those engines in my daily. There just are not reliable enough...

By the way guys, thanks for the info. I am learning a lot so far. I see some potential in this car.

[fieromx3]

4G63 is the 2.0litre MITSUBISHI motor, soory it does'nt fit in.

he was askin what the name of his engine is and he was using the 4g63 as an example of what he wanted for the info on the engine he has. that would be cool if a 4g63 could go in but i guess with alot of modding it is very possible

[FIMotorMX-3]

You can fit a rotary in the car. But like he says, not reliable enough for a daily driver. There is a lot of fabrication that goes into a rotary swap. There was a tuning shop up in Lodi NJ called action tire. I believe they were the ones that had the rotary mx3 running on the ndra circuit. The K series engines are pretty reliable if you ask me. Just be warned about the distributors. My ze is my daily driver and it's left me stranded a couple of times but that's just because I was still working out bugs after the swap. Lately she's been running like a champ though. It was just a little hairy for the first 1000 miles because I was trying to break the clutch in while the car was still running like a$$. I needed the clutch broken in so I could do a long road trip. Since I've gotten it running right (first time doing a swap) the car has been great. You'll have a lot of fun with the mx as a daily driver.

[RoundTop]

Actually I live in Vancouver, BC. Lots of rain. And no problems. why? a) the hole is not at the bottom but on the side, behind the side of the bumper. b) It goes through a flexpipe that has several ridges, so it can't suck it up the sides of the tube.

I have run this setup for over a year now and not had a single issue with water coming in. (the water would have to go up 2' of this sort of pipe before it even reaches the filter, let alone anything else)