Special little car this, hope you guys enjoy it! Ya boi made the LZ World tour too, updates coning up. Do a like, comment and share, any help appreciated x Peace ML
The look on Nick the owner's face starting around 12:17 is priceless. It's SO hard to allow someone else to drive your vehicle, let alone quickly. Props to him for not freaking out too much. Beautiful car.
Man these were the staple thrasher n basher here in New Zealand. A lot of Kiwi kids grew up learning to drive in the non turbo front wheel drive versions, the Mazda 323 Familia, Mazda 323 Astina etc. These GTX or GTR 323s were amazing little cars, gearboxes were made of glass but nothing a cyro treatment can't fix. Used to be sooooo many of them over here in the 90s Sex Spec era of shiney, flakey metallic paints and 17inch chromies with matching faux leather interiors and dashboards.
This was a special era. This car looks like 50% Nissan pulsar 50% starlet turbo, best way I can describe them. Even bog standard they are a lot of fun. Awesome episode.
This car and the Pulsar GTI-R , imagine those two ripping down the road .. sick vibe . Great video as always ! I swear RU-vid on some bull shit , because you’ve been underrated for a while with all the work you’ve put in
Yeah that would be sick, be nice to get another Pulsar on. All my platforms the same meh let's just say John has a good head on him, we got the best audience mind 👊 ML family ftw #ifyouknowyouknow
I got a spin in the original 323 4WD about 1987 - it was a mate of my dad had one - it was a rare car then - I never saw another one since - Fair play to you John for showing that rare precious wee car the respect she deserves - Special !
Well, I had one of them back in the day, red with cloth seats. The head work was quite extensive in a GTR compared to GTX - valves were larger and sodium filled, as was the intake manifold - identical on the outside, reworked inside. The larger VF23 turbo (GTX: VF21) was lazily spinning in stock form (0.6 bar), but nothing a manual boost regulator couldn't cure. 210 bhp in stock JDM form (EU-spec was 185 hp), the ECU has fueling maps up to 1.4 bar, though, so safe to push the boost and enjoy in excess of 300 bhp in a car weighting 1280 kg. Until the transmission says 'I'm outta here' and it says it quite often. The transmission was strengthened (compared to a GTX) by shot penning the gears, but it has a design flaw (or you may say: design and financial constraints of late '80s didn't allow for a gearbox worth the rest of the car). This flaw causes the casing to twist on load. Even in stock form a 4-wheel launch will put excessive stress on the casing which will inevitably crack. This leads not only to total transmission destruction, but also damages the driveshaft output gears. So, once you have sent it, you end up with a partially disassembled gearbox and transfer case spread on the tarmac, waiting for you to fix them. Personally, I went through 4 complete gearboxes and three transfer cases, running the car as a daily driver with 1.4 bar peak boost on 225/45R17 rubber providing much more traction and stress on the drivetrain compared to 195/55R15 stock size. The white one we can see is exceptionally clean and un-modified, apart from the non-stock exhaust (tiny dual pipes were stock). Many owners (as the owners group we assume not more than 1000 cars survived worldwide) frankenstein the car for some more drivetrain reliability. Celica ST205 gearbox swaps with a pre-made adapter plate are a common cure, although the stock GTR has 40/60 torque split making it very tail happy for an AWD. Celica 'box is 50/50 so less fun (I also had a GT4 Celica so I know). The other way is to have the transmission sent to Poland (burry_gtr) for modifications. Accidentally Poland is the largest market for 323 GTR in continental Europe (personally I know at least 15 cars) and a lot of research has been put into fixing the design of the transmission casing. I know of successful Lancer Evolution IV-VI box swaps in Australia, but it is a very tight fit and needs installing all the electronic gizmos Mitsubishi has put to the Evo, so much more complicated. However, some parts of earlier Lancer Evos fit bolt-on: brakes, rear hubs and obviously wheels. The GTR looks absolutely perfect on Evo 17" alloys that give the 323 a great stance with the offset pushing the wheels outward. #Protip: if the wheels are 4-stud, it's not a GTR but a GTX, as the GTR was unique in Mazdas small car lineup by employing a 5x100 stud pattern. I loved the car and it was way better than me. Probably got it too early in my life to explore the full potential and ended up trading it for a MR2 turbo which really taught me how to drive. Not a single Subaru I had later was comparable to the 323, they felt lazy and disconnected in comparison. Only my Evo VI was on par with the 323, adjusting for the power difference. But the 323 was about 3 times cheaper to buy. The great thing with the 323 GTR is that from most angles it looks like a regular old Mazda 323. A nervous BMW driver behind you will never have any idea. You will be far away before they start contemplating what the heck happened.
Man how wish I had a glass ball back in the 90's to see what these beauties would be commanding in monetary terms. Makes us older ones realise now what a special time and special cars we was involved in. 205's gti's Renault 5 turbo Uno turbo's even remember my pals MG metro turbo. Another memory was another pal getting a MG maestro that felt so futuristic as it talked to you😊, XR2 so many to name and fetching crazy money now. Luv this Mazda also👌
*I used to work for Mazda UK down in Tunbridge Wells when I was just 20 and looked after the Mazda press fleet in 88/89 and loved the 323 turbo. I used to own an early RX7 and had a 323sp which was rare even then. They were kinda like a Starlet and were 1.4 with Weber, 5 speed and RWD but weighed as much as a wet Rizla. BBR used to do some quick examples, as the engines in the 323 turbo were very similar to the MX5, which is why they boost so well. I used to love showing RS turbo owners what the back looked like on a regular basis. The only negative I remember was they'd get through HT leads. The lead mechanic at TW Mazda had a black example of this car. Anyway, lovely car and thanks for the trip down memory lane. Mark*
I had a 91 Protege in Canada. Ran into a GTX swapped 91 Protege once. That thing ripped. Really regret not stripping an AWD Protege with the Na BP I found in the Scrap yard when I owned that car. Those parts are priceless now.
I remember seeing one or two of these little beasts in the 90s . A few tear ups used to happen around the town where I lived lol 😂 Renault 5 GT turbos and escorts going sideways everywhere there was corners and roundabouts lol 😂 spent many nights cheering the yobs on lol 😂 was a big part of my teenage years lol 😂 most streets where like drift tracks lol 😂
I know you had a patch where you thought you might knock RU-vid on the head, I'm glad you haven't dude ! No word of a lie, Monday morning and I'm welding up a Farriers van (someone who fits horse shoes) van stinks, workshop stinks and worst of all I stink. A little voice reminded me "Monky Londons Mazda Monday" It made the farmyard shite that little bit better, so cheers man 🤙
Thank you Monky London. Greatly appreciated video. Really enjoy you go into the details and with the knowledgeable owner of this very nice and rare Mazda survivor car. Also if I may I'd like to mention it is awesome you take the time to show us around and include the engine and interior footage. Classy and cool motorcar, Mazda love 👓 Like 99 👀💯👊 Thanks again, I appreciate too the relaxed vibe in the video, coupled with proper smooth JDM acceleration sounds. Looking foward to more ML action!
Thank you sir, yeah very enjoyable this was John reports. I'm coming to NL on the monster tour as well 🤙 Have a good evening sir see you in the next video
My dad had a 323 GTR back then. He bought it only for 4 grand and wanted one cause he wanted to buy a modifiable hatchback. We had to sell it off in 2011 unfortunately cause our family wasn't in a good position. I used to thought it was an ordinary 323 BG Hatchback but then when we're looking for pictures, he showed me pictures of the car and we finally realized that the car wasn't just some ordinary hatchback, but a fucking 323 GTR. He's trying to look for it again
So einen Wagen sieht man heute fast nicht mehr,zumindest bei uns in Österreich😔.Jedoch gut das es noch Leute gibt die was so einen GTR noch haben,und schätzen Ihn.Nicht hergeben😀😀 👍
Got to go for a ride in a late 80s gtx about 18 years ago, pretty cool. Also saw a guy local to me who had one. Being in canada we never got the second gen but i did cross 2 or 3 of em on the roads when we were able to import them around 2005 2006. I even owned 2 fwd ones back in the day. Great cars always liked em.
I've owned a BFMR, GTX and then a GTR myself in NZ in the past . They're great zippy little cars, but unfortunately their major downfall was how piss weak the gearboxes were preventing these to become a lot more popular with modifications then they were. Currently now though after years, I do own a 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 aka a MPS though, which again is a great little car
Yeah, same with the Pulsar GTiR's, People are doing gearbox conversions on them now. I think VAG boxes (lol) but I can't remember. Tbh tho, I thought if anyone can mod the issues out of these cars to get em "Reeet", it''d be you NZ/Aussies. Feck me, you lot do some good shed-engineering, has to be said,
@Starfox_WR-45e yup I personally know of a few GTX/GTR's in New Zealand that have had either GT4 boxes swapped in or Evo boxes swapped in . Two of which are 9 and 10 second street cars respectively
@@WraithDeath great to know thanks for the info. Guess as they only made these to enter group A the stock box had to just withstand oem power levels, probably wasn't worth giving it anything stronger with such limited numbers. How many GT4's homologation specials did they make anyone know?
@@monkylondon great vid first up, love it. Beaut example of an well underrated JDM classic too 😊. The boxes weren’t that bad, they needed some mechanical sympathy but they held their own. The engine responded to simple mods really well so most if not all examples saw this happen and then inevitably thrashed including launched which they didn’t like. If driven well though and maintained they will hold 18psi and 300whp all day long 😊
Been around the earlier BF 4x4 turbos for decades, had numerous ones and got one sitting on my drive waiting for the weather to warm up so i can finish it. In all the years, never have i seen a GTR or GTX in the flesh, and only seen one other BF turbo on the road, and that was at Southend about 15 odd years ago. They are proper rocking horse poop.
We had a heap of these GTR and GTX families imported into New Zealand, ex Japan. Considering how common they were at one stage, when I was a teenager/early 20's, literally all of us had a GTR or GTX familia they were that common. Very weak transmissions on both, it wasn't uncommon for them to be "it's at home, blown gearbox". Possibly why I haven't seen one for nearly 20 years.
Had 3 BF 323, 2 BG’s , last BG was a GTR, had a celica box on it with an adapter plate, thing was mad rapid. And many people will say it’s got scooby front spots , nope , Subaru got that idea off Mazda
In west coast Canada I had a 1988 323 GT turbo sedan until October 2000. 2WD and loads of torque steer when you applied hard throttle in a corner. But tons of fun, wish I still had it. Knew about the 323 GTX but not the GTR. Very cool item!
I owned a 1991 GTA-E. It was the rally spec version of the GTR. Only 300 were made and 2200 road cars for homologation. Same engine and drive train but no electrics, manual heater (no climate), AC was an option, the speed limiter was removed (although in the GTR if you take the clock out the dash there is a screw on back with a wire labelled 180km/h that if you disconnect then no more limiter), there was also no sound deadening in the car. The GTR engine was factory hand built, had hollow cam shafts to save .5kg each, squeeze cast pistons, sodium filled exhaust valves and port matched. Gearbox was the weak point in these and known to break with hard launches and hard puck clutches. Most people do some bearing plate mods and use a single plate sprung center organic clutch to help. Also fill the gearbox from the fill point on top of the box under the battery tray and you can get about 3.5L of fluid in there which helps too. Can't wait to get another one.
My dad had one of those as a rally car early 90’s had to weld up the roof as it had a sunroof as standard always remember him moaning cos it was costing him an fckin fortune to build, compared to the mk2 escorts he was used to 😂
Proper decent whip. Saw you pop up on Adam LZ vid about s**t my pants 😂 buzzing mate congrats mate can’t wait to see how you get on mate well deserved 👍🏻
Very reliable engine motor...cast iron block...12 year using this car engine...never fail...lsd gb also... absolutely cannot compare this mazda gtr with gr
Still got my 91' GTX sedan along with my ep3 type r 🤟 the ep3 is a fantastic car all around but boy oh boy.. when i get the gtx for a quick Sunday evening, its a whole other level 😍 there's a few of us left, keep it up bois 🤙
GTR got phosphorus filled exhaust valves, pressure cast pistons, bigger (ball bearing) turbo, better exhaust manifold, different intake manifold, and massively thicker rods, the crank was also forged, but I don't believe it was any different than the GTX crank. My first car was the 4 door sedan Protege, the GTX and GTRs were never available here and I always dreamed of having one.
I have a bc08 323 gtr swap in my 1995 escort gt , awd , lsd 525 hp to the wheels with the help of an autronic sm4 full stand alone unit among so many goodies mate , cheers.
Had this in the 90s as my first car as a teen. I thought I was so fast til the day a B16a Civic passed me on the highway as I was bouncing off the speed limiter. Then I got my mrs to buy a B16a Si-R civic so I could do the same to other turbo cars of the era lol.
@@jeeves_uk My mate had a Primera GT in the mid 2000's. We called it the 'gentleman racer' lol Keep an eye out for the Micra.. they do turn up. There was one for sale on pistonheads a few months ago £8999 iirc They did an article on it, if you fancy a look
I read years ago by simply changing exhaust and inlet you could free up 60bhp. And I’m sure I saw racing cams which gave it even more power. I’ve always wanted one….
Great video as usual bud.I know these cars are getting up there in value,especially when left stock but how capable would this be with say another 50-60 bhp.Looks like great fun in the twistes 😁
Yeah fire sure, 350 be great figures, just would need a gearbox upgrade you can feel they ain't that strong but I suppose they only built these to enter group A so didn't need to invest in a mad box just enough for the oem power levels, makes sense really. Thanks for watching
A Mazda 323 4wd recently went through a classic auction in a mild rally spec . For under 3k i. Did not show interest I was thinking it was worth more. Then I found out it went for cheap gutted I could of got that. My fault.
What block did they base this on then ? Gutted wanted to watch this soon as it dropped but have to hot spot off the misses and leg it in the bathroom. Bless fellas for top vid. Nice to see younger laxs showing the passion and keep the realvars alive. 😎😎👌👌👍👍✌✌
We had these in Australia and the Kf/Kh laser awd with same engine combo. I owned one. Dam fast car. Very light and nibble but let’s be honest the gearbox was easy to break. People would put a Toyota rav4 box in to fix this issue.
I had the Aussie spec Ford Laser TX-3, basically a Mazda Familia GTR with a different shell, and "Ford" written on the valve cover....absolute weapon of a thing. All wheel drive, 1.8L DOHC Turbo. With a few extra boosties thanks to a solenoid on the wastegate... Yet another hot car I regret ever selling 😢
I had a front cut delivered from Japan delivered to Adelaide then to my hometown Perth What a fkn animal of an engine Forged pistons. Sodium filled valves for heat transfer Into a ford laser. Best 100000 kms of racing round Perth streets ever chopping Audis skylines. Rexes b8s Straight thru 2 1/2 inch zorst and this think mover ina 1200 kg car Broke gearboxes and driveshafts regularly Keep it above 3500 rpm and reduces lag Gtr box was close ratio. Gtx box wasn’t
These cars are still a best all rounders in my eyes came with the 1.8 mazda BPT engine sodium fill valves crankshaft fordged thicker rods than its 1.8 bpt brother that came in the gtx plus the gtr had a upgraded intake manifold a ball bearing turbo very solid engine's sadly 😥 mazda discontinued with these engine's I am currently running the gtr engine in my mazda protege5
