My third (and still not the last) 626 I’ve owned. No, I don’t have a problem…well, maybe a little. Anyways, this is the first four-cylinder 626 I’ve owned, and I was pleasantly surprised by how peppy it was with only 118 hp. It also felt extremely tight despite nearly 230K on the odometer. Sadly, I don’t have much to say about this car, since I got into an accident with it shortly after purchasing it. But what an accident it was.
I was driving down a narrow, winding two-lane road at night when I saw a Ford F-250 barreling towards me IN MY LANE. My choice at this point was either to be turned into ground meat by hitting the truck, or swerving into the opposite lane and hoping no traffic was coming. I believe the photo speaks for itself: Yes, there was traffic coming. I actually drove it home like this, and my respect for Mazda grew that much greater that night. The car gave its life to save mine.
I had an 88 626 gt that I had hit a deer with that had similar damage. despite the rad support being mashed and the rad mounting points being sheared off I drove it home the fifty or so km with no issues.
I thought that style 626 felt powerful enough too, especially with a manual trans.
The 4 banger is lighter and will handle better though for sudden full lock turns at speed Im sticking with my Citroen it does those and hits nothing because it will turn and stop not maybe