Installshield

I thought those 626/Mx-6s used a very torquey (190lb/ft??) 2.2L turbo? I didn't think it was an FS varient. I vaguely remember it being the same engine that was in the 1st gen FWD Ford Probe GT. when my best friend turned 16 his dad bought him a 89 (I think) 626 turbo, just fwd, didn't know if they were available with AWD. He had it for a few years, and it is still one of the coolest sleepers I have ever driven...

Installshield

cool I never researched it much, kind of forgot about it actually. did they make it with AWD and the 5speed box didn't have an LSD right? Oh yeah man by the way did you read the article on a V6 engine swap in an MR2 in the April SCC? Cool article very in depth. And they go on to say how awesome that things chassis is!! (Can handle upwards of 600hp and put it to the ground!!)

carguycw

Are you talking about the tranny from some overseas variant of the BH-chassis GTX or GT-R? The U.S./Canadian 88-89 323 GTX only came with AWD; its tranny is completely different from anything in the 323 or Protege, before or since, and it didn't have any LSD's- just a center diff lock. The ultra-rare 1988 323 *GT* 4-door sedan was FWD, but it did not come with an LSD either.

carguycw

It works the other way around... the FS is a variant of the old F-series 626/MX-6 engine. However, the FS is a shorter engine lengthwise and has narrower bore spacing so it can be installed in a smaller engine compartment (FS stands for "F Short"). The "long" F-series engines won't fit in a car designed for the shorter FS... such as a Protege. The only way to make one fit would be to perform serious surgery to the car's frame so that the crank pulley will clear the frame.

The 626 Turbo wasn't available with AWD; it was available with all-wheel STEERING (AWS). I think this is either a misprint or misunderstanding by the person who wrote that. If I remember right, Mazda made AWS optional on the MX-6 Turbo and 626 Turbo in 1990, and it was only available on the 626 hatchback. Mazda made a decent number of MX-6's with it, but most 626 buyers didn't care about it and it was dropped after only a year or two.

Installshield

Ok, yeah it didn't have AWS that I know of, but did have a active chassis (primitive, but still there) system that allowed you to control the damping levels or somthing with three buttons on the dash. I was very new to driving back then, and never drove the car hard enough to notice a difference between comfort and sport, but the car made funny sounds if you pressed them back and forth really quickly...