Mazda's best rally car?
 

This is posted in the second gen section, but you race guys might miss it????

https://www.rx7club.com//showthread....hreadid=279220

Nah, the 323 GTX was the best rally car with championships to prove it. That thing is a hemorphadite.

I like the suspension and chasis of that car, but the second gen guys are right is is very ugly. No problem, a new body could be made for it.

1st-gens are still winning national championships in the US of A.

Of course, Mazda isn't exactly backing them anymore... :)

I dont think that car actually ever got to compete coz of changes in the rules... it was the end of the Group B era by then

awd, the 323gtx

rwd, 1st gen 7. infact there is some guy that is surprising everyone in his 1st gen. i'm guessing that's who pj is referring to.

Several people, actually. :) Although Andrew Havas's seems to be the most photogenic one...

actually mazda campaiegned a 3 rotor awd fc for pikes peak back in 89 i believe. I have a picture somewhere. but to answer your question that would be mazdas best rally car.

the 323 gtx is an awesome rallycross car but it has major tranny problems.

That's funny I have had 3 323 GTXs and I have never heard of or personally had any major tranny problems. Unless, you put it a 4 puck unsprung disc, the weakpoint in the drive train is the clutch.

Rally guys break 323 trannies left and right.

Even the 2WD version of the tranny is pretty weak...

Yeah, I used to do SCCA Club Rally for several years (not in a Mazda).

As was stated above the 323 GTX does pretty well but is now very outclassed by the WRX and the Lancer. Sometimes a 323 would still win at a club or regional event but never a national event.

However, the 1st generation RX7 still does pretty well in RWD. As a matter of fact a 1st gen RX7 took 1st place OVERALL at the Prescott, AZ rally a few years back.

That was not a Mazda effort, but Rod Millen's car.

ok, but it was still a mazda rx7, correct ;)

That's a bunch of nice parts, but do they work well? Has that car ever raced and won? 323's and 1st-gen's are proven competitors.

For rally, I'll take the Suby please...

-s-

You can't compare a 323gtx to a tube framed, 3-rotor AWD RX7. The former's a nice Prod-GT club rally car. The latter used to hold the open class record (circa 1990) at Pikes Peak (driven by Rod Millen).

My old GTX didn't have any tranny problems, then again I never rally'd it :cool: I think its the 2nd gear synchro that gives everyone problems. Weak tranny aside, the car did have one major short coming, a god awful cable shifter.

It isn't ugly if it's fast.

I rally-x'd my GTX all the time on a course that was as bad, or worse, than any rally stage. I never had any problems with the tranny.

Don't forget that infamous crankshaft nose!

That's one ugly car. Dont think it's a Rally car though because of the Homogulation rules (must be based upon a production car with minimum run of ??? ).

Dont know how many AWD RX7's were made but I do know of 1 I saw in Nevada...


http://www.4seventeen.com/images/awdrx7.jpg

http://www.4seventeen.com/images/rally7.gif

As previously mentioned, it was built by Mazda as the ultimate rally weapon, but then the rules changed... just a piece of history now.

A friend has a Japanese GTR-323 as a circuit / targa car and it is forever braking tranny's. http://mrec.homestead.com/files/members/sc_323.jpg

The top rally versions ran non-mazda x-trac transmisions (spelling?) which cost more than the standard road car, but at least they did not go pop every second event!

Crankshaft nose? Never heard of that!:D

Was is right, haha.