AAS shock question
 

88 GXL equipped with the Auto Adjusting Suspension, curious if I will need to replace the shocks with a special type of shock, still not sure how the aas works. Time for shocks so any advice would be greatly appriciated.

If you want AAS, you'll have to get mazda struts for your car. If you don't care about AAS (most people don't), you can just put in any aftermarket struts and save alot of money.

Any aftermarket shock will work like alex said. Since you are taking things apart, you might want to go ahead and get springs and upper strut mounts at the same time. Refresh everything. I am still running AAS on my GXL, but I plan on getting KYB AGX's with Racing Beat springs and sways. Also at the same time I am getting the strut mounts from Mazdatrix and building the whole assembly on the bench. That way the struts can be swapped out in a jiffy. Also handy if you want to put it back to stock to sell.

So here's my question... does the AAS really work, or is it just some gimmick that Mazda decided to put in the car?

They worked very well IMO until they wear out just like any other strut around 80-100k miles. I replaced my AAS struts with plain jane Monroes and the ride is excellent. New AAS struts from Mazda are around 200+ bucks EACH.

its both... basically what it is, is an adjustable shock, like an illumina, with a stepper motor on top, so that the controller can adjust the shocks on the fly.

the part where it doesnt work, is that there wasnt (isnt?) much difference between full soft and full hard, so its doesnt really feel like it does anything.

My AAS is still functional, previous owner replaced all 4 struts in 1999. I can tell a big difference between the sport and normal modes even though the front will need replacment soon. Aside from the extra money I think I am going to stick with the AAS due to the fact that its a NA GXL and Im not out to race anyone. My fascination with these cars is more about the asthetics and my love for the wankel.

I am glad someone posted this, I was wondering about this on my newly aquired gxl. I wanna keep it original because it works, and because the normal mode is a little softer. I have some illumina/RB spring combo action thats great for my other FC, but I like the softer ride for my daily.