I'm curious to see if there is a correlation of year to problems. I know this doesn't take into account miles which is probably a big factor, however, I am more interested in the relationship of the updates of the 94&95's to the number of problems.

At the end of it, maybe we'll see a trend...

 

I have a 93 that i personally have put 30k+ miles on and have not had any real problems. i have split a couple intercooler hoses open and some other little stuff, but it has never left me stranded anywhere.

 

There were a number of changes from 93s to 94 and 95s. Looking at Mazdas list of changes many of the problems weren't reliability type problems. Here are some examples.

Interior paint peeling.
Wheel center cap paint peeling
Hood squeaks
Hatch squeaks
Clutch material wears quickly (Hard to find an FD with the original clutch, especially the quick wearing type)
Fuel tank baffles improved
They added sound deading to the door panels and doors for 94.
Door seals changed for easier closing.

The engine, turbos, trans, diff, brakes, etc are all effectively the same from year to year. The 94+ cars tend to feel more solid. This doesn't mean that a 93 won't feel solid but the chances are that the 93 won't be as nice. My 93 R1 built in 2/92 feels very solid, just as solid as my friends 94. We've both had 93s that weren't as solid though.

Jeff

 

Good points. I'm just trying to weigh the parinoa per year. I think the number of problems *may* be overstated. Talked today with a guy with 75k miles and has BNR turbos running 16psi on is first engine.

 

I got my 93 at 98,000 miles, and I've put 10,000 on it in the past 10 months. The two major problems I've had I caused myself. 1st, I burnt up a clutch learning how to drive stick. No biggy, I like my RPS better than stock anyways. 2nd, I floored it while it was still doing the automatic warmup and had to replace the radiator. Only nonhuman problems are the stock CD player is awful, the antenna won't go up, and I have to pry the hatch open with my fingers because the hatch struts are gone.

 

Just the normal problems. No biggies just a busted IC hose and alternator gone. That's it so far. 2nd year of ownership on Halloween with about a total of 18k miles put on it by me. 111k total.

 

jeff is right, they didnt do anything for the "reliability" issues until 95.
1994: clamp on white solenoid hose
1995: fuel and coolant recalls from the factory
1/96: better ecu, metal intake gasket, "efini" y pipe
10/98: better ecu again, redesigned vacuum rail, better turbos etc etc

mike

 

If anyone is interested, looking at the TSBs will tell you what problems were fixed from the factory over the course of the production. There were quite a few TSBs over the years, all little problems, but some of them can be annoying. I've already personally run into some of them, including replacing the LIM gasket with the metal one and putting in the newer clutch material, both of those are pretty big jobs.

 

Note that the metal LIM wasn't put on the 95's. So that isn't really a reliabilty difference from year to year here in the US.

Jeff