This post consists of a poll , please give your opinion on what you think , but please also post a reason why you feal this way .. thank you for your input as I really do appreciate it ...
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I have been contemplating if I should leave the 323 as an auto or convert it to stick . The reason being is because I know that in the near future the 323 will be getting a 1.8L dohc BP shoved down it's nostril and I am considering wheather to convert her to a 5speed or leave the car as an 3 speed auto....

Mind you , I already have the 5 speed tranny being as I have 2 trannies and will soon maybe have 3 ... I have been considering to convert the car to a 5 speed because I know it would be a bit more sportier.. ofcourse mind you this is not a right now thing it is just in the future .

I like the auto because it is comfy , almost lazy like , lol. You don't have to shift into any gears , you just leave it in park and man you just go. But with the 5 speed I know the car would be much more spirited.. but the thing is I already will have a spirited car. The Protege with the Turbo installed and the works in the suspension department.

I guess as an alternative, I have been looking at installing a NOS system in the Protege in an effort to bring the power up a bit for the ususpecting civic's and even other mazda's who may be fealing themselves a little to much.

I guess I mainly feel like I don't really feel like being bothered with rowing through a shifter all the time , and would just like to sit back and chill...
But then on the other hand, everyone will say a small car like this and you have an auto, Why? .. that would be the Q, that I know I would hear constantly...
Well I would love to hear what you guys think ..
what would you do ?.. especially if you had an already fast car, and this was your daily commuter/sleeper with some bite..
thanks for posting and viewing my topic
Bruce

 

CONVERT IT !!!

It should be against the LAW to have a ATX car !!

ooops.. that 's gonna tick some people with ATX...

Nope.. it should not be against the law... sorry...

No flames !!!!

It is just that I had one ATX and I cannot take it !! I hate them...

 

I'd say leave it and do the tranny when you do the engine swap. You'd end up swapping out the tranny anyway, because you want the G series in there Just concentrate your efforts on your 2nd gen and getting that turboed... Then worry about the 323... Just a suggesstion though

 

Hate to say it, but an automatic in a little car like that is a factory mistake...Maybe for Granny to go to church in, it's okay, but as long as you're doing an engine swap anyway, I say correct the mistake.

My last car was a '93 Escort with an automatic. I wanted something easy to drive in traffic, and I regretted the decision for 2 years... The correct number of pedals on a car's floor is 3.

 

well it depends on what you want to do with the 323

if you want to turn it into a showy pimpin ride with all the pretty stuff and a bitchin sound system stay auto

BUT

since you wanna do an engine swap i think its worth your while to get the stick in there cuz after all spending all that money i would think you would want to controll that baby thro the gears

its boils down to you want a ....

pimpin car - stay auto
sleeper - stick for sure (especially if your gettin eng swap and nos man)

 

That's actually a pretty hard decision (voted undecided). Whenever I take out an automatic for the day it sure as hell is relaxing. Especially when there is traffic and you're on the way to school or work, you are not into spirited driving and would rather lay back and relax. If, however, you are going to go through all the trouble to swap the engine and possibly add Nitrous Oxide.........then you might as well convert it to a 5spd. In another post you mentioned that you might eventually slap the VJ-20 from you Pro on the 323. Hard to say, but if you think that you'll be investing $$$ into the 323, you might as well convert it while you are doing the swap.

 

I voted undecided as I can actually see the merits of the automatic in heavy commuter traffic.

However, if the following is true:
then I would stongly recommend gettting the swap in as soon as possible, or at least fixing the shifter so that it reads "drive" when you want to go

 

anyway ,,,

it's funny though guys because sometimes I feal like having it sporty , but then I know there are going to be times that I want the car to be like a chill out car...

Do you guys ever notice how you can chill and profile when you have an auto , When you don't have to sit there and shift every two seconds ,
or better yet
what about when you got a chickdee in the passenger seat and trying to do the chill out thing . got your hand around her and what not ... lol ....

I may convert the car though manily because of the reason that I will be putting the BP in the car sooner or later, and I know that the only real way to make the BP sing is with the 5 speed. But then I don't know if it is right of me to say that , because this little 323 moves in the automatic ...
Bruce