Anyone Ever Write to an Auto Journalist....I did...Got reply
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 26,704
Likes: 0
From: Poco, B.C. Canada
Rep Power: 563 
Anyone Ever Write to an Auto Journalist....I did...Got reply So I wrote this guy who's write up's appear in a few newspapers that I read from time to time. I asked him about companies rebadging cars and so on and wanted his insight into the whole thing. Here was his reply....
Hi Mike,
Most of the manufacturers are sharing components to save money through economies of scale now, so it's difficult for the average consumer to figure out where a company is sourcing its hardware. Fortunately for Mazda, Ford's European engines are pretty good compared to its U.S. mills, but I could see a Mazda purist getting upset at finding out his new 6 was nothing more than a Ford. And with that in mind, the 6 will be the basis for the next generation Ford Taurus (originally dubbed Futura but who knows what it will be called now that Ford has lost the rights to the name) and Lincoln Zephyr shown last week in NYC. So, essentially, either Fords will be getting much better overall or Mazda is going downhill. But to be fair, the 6 is a giant leap forward for Mazda, Millenia excluded. Its engine is fairly refined, not as reliable as Toyota or Nissan but still much better than anything GM puts out. I may do a story uncovering what components are in which cars, and for that matter what cars are just rebadged from one company to another - such as Chevrolet's new GMDAT Daewoo trio, the Aveo, Optra and Epica (Suzuki Swift+, Forenza (US only) and Verona). It's a confusing mess for most consumers I'm sure. Automakers are not required to declare where any of a particular car's components come from, only where it was assembled. What that means is in the near future GM, for instance, could be assembly cars in Canada with engines (and other major components) made in China (there's a very good chance of this happening before 2010). When this finally occurs I'll be sure to alert the masses. Nonetheless, thanks for reading and taking the time to write in. The best way to not get burned is to stay educated on these issues, so keep reading and keep writing in.
Cheers,
Trevor Hofmann
Editor Canadian Auto Press Inc.
Hi Mike,
Most of the manufacturers are sharing components to save money through economies of scale now, so it's difficult for the average consumer to figure out where a company is sourcing its hardware. Fortunately for Mazda, Ford's European engines are pretty good compared to its U.S. mills, but I could see a Mazda purist getting upset at finding out his new 6 was nothing more than a Ford. And with that in mind, the 6 will be the basis for the next generation Ford Taurus (originally dubbed Futura but who knows what it will be called now that Ford has lost the rights to the name) and Lincoln Zephyr shown last week in NYC. So, essentially, either Fords will be getting much better overall or Mazda is going downhill. But to be fair, the 6 is a giant leap forward for Mazda, Millenia excluded. Its engine is fairly refined, not as reliable as Toyota or Nissan but still much better than anything GM puts out. I may do a story uncovering what components are in which cars, and for that matter what cars are just rebadged from one company to another - such as Chevrolet's new GMDAT Daewoo trio, the Aveo, Optra and Epica (Suzuki Swift+, Forenza (US only) and Verona). It's a confusing mess for most consumers I'm sure. Automakers are not required to declare where any of a particular car's components come from, only where it was assembled. What that means is in the near future GM, for instance, could be assembly cars in Canada with engines (and other major components) made in China (there's a very good chance of this happening before 2010). When this finally occurs I'll be sure to alert the masses. Nonetheless, thanks for reading and taking the time to write in. The best way to not get burned is to stay educated on these issues, so keep reading and keep writing in.
Cheers,
Trevor Hofmann
Editor Canadian Auto Press Inc.
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 26,704
Likes: 0
From: Poco, B.C. Canada
Rep Power: 563 Originally posted by Giuseppe
^^^ I thought it was a well known fact.
^^^ I thought it was a well known fact.
Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 139
Likes: 0
From: Kitchener, Ontario, CA
Rep Power: 0 The one Mazda that is outside of this, is the RX-8. When Ford bought into Mazda, their popularity plummeted in Japan. Except for the RX7. Ford did not want Mazda to continue with this Rotary platform, and Mazda engineers would work outside of paid hours to keep the whole idea of the RX-8 alive. In Japan, the rotary engined sports cars from Mazda are a big source of pride for Mazda employees. That is one car I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Mazda (if I could afford it). I think in 2 or 3 years we will see just how much Ford is in the Mazda 3.
Bone Stock!
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,879
Likes: 0
From: Rowland Heights, CA
Rep Power: 0 Cool. I am surprise they wrote that much in their reply. I wrote to Motortrend once asking why the 1.3L RX-8 received a european best engine award in the 2.5-3.0 liter category. Here is the reply.
Lawrence,
Excellent question!
Although a 1.3-liter at rest, the RENESIS is the equivalent of a
2.6-liter
when in motion and is indeed officially classified as part of this
category
by some European states. Being an England-based award, this influenced
the
decision to include the rotary in the 2.5-3.0-liter category.
Jeff Bartlett
Online Editorial Director
Motor Trend
Lawrence,
Excellent question!
Although a 1.3-liter at rest, the RENESIS is the equivalent of a
2.6-liter
when in motion and is indeed officially classified as part of this
category
by some European states. Being an England-based award, this influenced
the
decision to include the rotary in the 2.5-3.0-liter category.
Jeff Bartlett
Online Editorial Director
Motor Trend
RESIDENT ROTOR HEAD
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,207
Likes: 0
From: , Other, ZEBRA
Rep Power: 328 Originally posted by 2k1sohc
The one Mazda that is outside of this, is the RX-8.
The one Mazda that is outside of this, is the RX-8.
Originally posted by AznThug08
I really hate ford. They ruined a lot of car companies that they bought. Mazda and Jaguar are the first things that pop into my head but there are more.
I really hate ford. They ruined a lot of car companies that they bought. Mazda and Jaguar are the first things that pop into my head but there are more.
By the way Ford makes some pretty bad *** cars in Europe, and I'm willing to bet half the ricers on this board don't know anything about Ford's rally Escort or the rally Focus.
Last edited by nookiemonster; Apr 18, 2004 at 02:08 AM.
hahahah 
Registered!!
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 300
Likes: 0
From: portland, Indiana, US
Rep Power: 0 i didnt know that the new 6's and 3's were made by ford, hahahahahah!!!
Mazda 3 is built in Hiroshima Japan - I doubt Ford has set up their production plant over there.
Once wrote Auto World Weekly about their compact car test after the 7th Gen Civic first came out since their LX Civic was quicker than Car&Driver's EX and received this reply:
Rob -
Good eye; the interior shown was from an EX Civic. The 1/4-mile
speed, however, is for the LX we tested. Bear in mind that our
acceleration runs involve a snap-release of the clutch pedal at high
rpm, especially on vehicles like this Honda. I recall the launch rpm
being about 4,000 rpm. The gearchange is also done without lifting
off the accelerator - again stuff I hope you don't do to your car.
Regards,
Ted Grozier tgrozier@autoworldweekly.com
I also had a letter which appeared in Motor Trend magazine praising the Honda CRX when it first came out.
Mazda 3 is built in Hiroshima Japan - I doubt Ford has set up their production plant over there.
Once wrote Auto World Weekly about their compact car test after the 7th Gen Civic first came out since their LX Civic was quicker than Car&Driver's EX and received this reply:
Rob -
Good eye; the interior shown was from an EX Civic. The 1/4-mile
speed, however, is for the LX we tested. Bear in mind that our
acceleration runs involve a snap-release of the clutch pedal at high
rpm, especially on vehicles like this Honda. I recall the launch rpm
being about 4,000 rpm. The gearchange is also done without lifting
off the accelerator - again stuff I hope you don't do to your car.
Regards,
Ted Grozier tgrozier@autoworldweekly.com
I also had a letter which appeared in Motor Trend magazine praising the Honda CRX when it first came out.
Registered!!
iTrader: (8)
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 3,024
Likes: 1
From: Zulu Alpha Tango Foxtrot
Rep Power: 312 I'd have to agree about some of Ford's cars OUTSIDE the country - such as the escort cosworth - what an awesome rally car!
For some reason the US market for automobiles seems to be the only shitty player in the game, look outside the US market and some of the larger auto manufacturers actually have some pretty decent cars out....
For some reason the US market for automobiles seems to be the only shitty player in the game, look outside the US market and some of the larger auto manufacturers actually have some pretty decent cars out....
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 26,704
Likes: 0
From: Poco, B.C. Canada
Rep Power: 563 Originally posted by nookiemonster
By the way Ford makes some pretty bad *** cars in Europe, and I'm willing to bet half the ricers on this board don't know anything about Ford's rally Escort or the rally Focus.
By the way Ford makes some pretty bad *** cars in Europe, and I'm willing to bet half the ricers on this board don't know anything about Ford's rally Escort or the rally Focus.
RESIDENT ROTOR HEAD
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,207
Likes: 0
From: , Other, ZEBRA
Rep Power: 328 Absolutely not. I'm not too sure about the 626, or 929 in general, but the 323 and 626 turbo were complete Mazda stand alone projects. The 323 GTX and GT in particular are two of Mazdas most haled cars. Turbo charged hatchbacks and the GTX model was an AWD version. Very little known cars, but they came out in the early 90's and late 80's and are still sought after to be built into rally cars. The GTX in particular came from the factory seriously detuned and was a boost controller away from some serious numbers.
Don't believe me do a search. Or just check this out.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm
http://home.hetnet.nl/~pzj70/my_323_...le_section.htm
http://sturtevant.com/reed/323pics.htm
These cars have nothing to do with Ford. Neither do the 626 turbos like I said, but I can't say for the newer 626 or 929's. I really haven't researched those cars.
These cars are known as the Familia in Japan by the way. The Protege is simply the 323, just as the 3 is simply the next generation protege. Proteges also are entirely Mazda, and so is the Ford Probe who shares the engine with the Protege. It is commonly known that Mazda operates entirely independently of Ford, but from time to time, Ford will take a Mazda car, rebadge it and sell it as a Ford. Hence the Probe and the Ford Escape. This leads me to highly doubt your statement about the 626 and 929 as well. Provide some facts to back it up otherwise shut your mouth. I know what I'm talking about here, I've studied it and researched it extensively.
Don't believe me do a search. Or just check this out.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm
http://home.hetnet.nl/~pzj70/my_323_...le_section.htm
http://sturtevant.com/reed/323pics.htm
These cars have nothing to do with Ford. Neither do the 626 turbos like I said, but I can't say for the newer 626 or 929's. I really haven't researched those cars.
These cars are known as the Familia in Japan by the way. The Protege is simply the 323, just as the 3 is simply the next generation protege. Proteges also are entirely Mazda, and so is the Ford Probe who shares the engine with the Protege. It is commonly known that Mazda operates entirely independently of Ford, but from time to time, Ford will take a Mazda car, rebadge it and sell it as a Ford. Hence the Probe and the Ford Escape. This leads me to highly doubt your statement about the 626 and 929 as well. Provide some facts to back it up otherwise shut your mouth. I know what I'm talking about here, I've studied it and researched it extensively.
Last edited by nookiemonster; Apr 19, 2004 at 02:48 PM.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,604
Likes: 0
From: Grapevine, Texas, US
Rep Power: 0 
Originally posted by nookiemonster
Absolutely not. I'm not too sure about the 626, or 929 in general, but the 323 and 626 turbo were complete Mazda stand alone projects. The 323 GTX and GT in particular are two of Mazdas most haled cars. Turbo charged hatchbacks and the GTX model was an AWD version. Very little known cars, but they came out in the early 90's and late 80's and are still sought after to be built into rally cars. The GTX in particular came from the factory seriously detuned and was a boost controller away from some serious numbers.
Don't believe me do a search. Or just check this out.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm
http://home.hetnet.nl/~pzj70/my_323_...le_section.htm
http://sturtevant.com/reed/323pics.htm
These cars have nothing to do with Ford. Neither do the 626 turbos like I said, but I can't say for the newer 626 or 929's. I really haven't researched those cars.
These cars are known as the Familia in Japan by the way. The Protege is simply the 323, just as the 3 is simply the next generation protege. Proteges also are entirely Mazda, and so is the Ford Probe who shares the engine with the Protege. It is commonly known that Mazda operates entirely independently of Ford, but from time to time, Ford will take a Mazda car, rebadge it and sell it as a Ford. Hence the Probe and the Ford Escape. This leads me to highly doubt your statement about the 626 and 929 as well. Provide some facts to back it up otherwise shut your mouth. I know what I'm talking about here, I've studied it and researched it extensively.
Absolutely not. I'm not too sure about the 626, or 929 in general, but the 323 and 626 turbo were complete Mazda stand alone projects. The 323 GTX and GT in particular are two of Mazdas most haled cars. Turbo charged hatchbacks and the GTX model was an AWD version. Very little known cars, but they came out in the early 90's and late 80's and are still sought after to be built into rally cars. The GTX in particular came from the factory seriously detuned and was a boost controller away from some serious numbers.
Don't believe me do a search. Or just check this out.
http://www.roadraceengineering.com/323BuyersGuide.htm
http://home.hetnet.nl/~pzj70/my_323_...le_section.htm
http://sturtevant.com/reed/323pics.htm
These cars have nothing to do with Ford. Neither do the 626 turbos like I said, but I can't say for the newer 626 or 929's. I really haven't researched those cars.
These cars are known as the Familia in Japan by the way. The Protege is simply the 323, just as the 3 is simply the next generation protege. Proteges also are entirely Mazda, and so is the Ford Probe who shares the engine with the Protege. It is commonly known that Mazda operates entirely independently of Ford, but from time to time, Ford will take a Mazda car, rebadge it and sell it as a Ford. Hence the Probe and the Ford Escape. This leads me to highly doubt your statement about the 626 and 929 as well. Provide some facts to back it up otherwise shut your mouth. I know what I'm talking about here, I've studied it and researched it extensively.
the GM Daewoo relationship
For those of you who are wondering about the GM and Daewoo thing.
I was in Korea a few weeks ago and took some pics.
All the Daewoo dealerships in Korea know say GM Daewoo.
Off topic: The only Korean car I would ever trust is a Samsung. Samsung has a partnership with Renault and thus the car company is known in Korea as Renault Samsung. They only sell two models. One looks like a Neon. And the other is basically the exact same car as the Nissan Maxima of 2 generations ago. They still sell these at dealerships.
I was in Korea a few weeks ago and took some pics.
All the Daewoo dealerships in Korea know say GM Daewoo.
Off topic: The only Korean car I would ever trust is a Samsung. Samsung has a partnership with Renault and thus the car company is known in Korea as Renault Samsung. They only sell two models. One looks like a Neon. And the other is basically the exact same car as the Nissan Maxima of 2 generations ago. They still sell these at dealerships.
RESIDENT ROTOR HEAD
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 3,207
Likes: 0
From: , Other, ZEBRA
Rep Power: 328 Dude WTF are you talking about? The Probe was 100% R&D by Mazda. In fact it has a variant of the FS20DE engine which is now found in the 3rd gen 99-03 Proteges. When Ford bought it's 33% share in Mazda, they took several Mazdas rebadged them and sold them as Fords. That's where you get the Probe, some versions of the Escort, and the new Escape.
Don't open your mouth about **** you don't know about.
By the way Mazda discontinued production of the RX-7 for the same reason the Supra and 300ZX left our shores. Soaring production and MSRP costs deterred the average sports car enthusiasts. Remember these were originally cars meant to be fast, fun, and CHEAP. Not only that, but during the time that these cars were discontinued, it was also because SUV's were the NEW demand.
The RX-7 and the Probe aren't even in the same class so I don't know where you get off saying some crazy BS like that. If anything, the Mazda MX-6 and the Mazda/Ford Probe are in the same class and canabalized eachother in sales. Did Ford make Mazda discontinue the MX-6? No...in fact the Probe and the MX-6 were discontinued at about the same time...
By the way the RX-7 left US shores in 1993, and continued production for several years after in Japan. I believe up until 1998 with minor exterior refreshments, but I'm really not sure...
No parent american company forced Nissan or Toyota to stop production, but if Mazda does something to the enthusiast dislikes, all in a sudden "oooohhh Ford controls Mazda."
Grow up, and pay attention. Capitalism is at work here not some type of conspiracy.
OWN3D.
Don't open your mouth about **** you don't know about.
By the way Mazda discontinued production of the RX-7 for the same reason the Supra and 300ZX left our shores. Soaring production and MSRP costs deterred the average sports car enthusiasts. Remember these were originally cars meant to be fast, fun, and CHEAP. Not only that, but during the time that these cars were discontinued, it was also because SUV's were the NEW demand.
The RX-7 and the Probe aren't even in the same class so I don't know where you get off saying some crazy BS like that. If anything, the Mazda MX-6 and the Mazda/Ford Probe are in the same class and canabalized eachother in sales. Did Ford make Mazda discontinue the MX-6? No...in fact the Probe and the MX-6 were discontinued at about the same time...
By the way the RX-7 left US shores in 1993, and continued production for several years after in Japan. I believe up until 1998 with minor exterior refreshments, but I'm really not sure...
No parent american company forced Nissan or Toyota to stop production, but if Mazda does something to the enthusiast dislikes, all in a sudden "oooohhh Ford controls Mazda."
Grow up, and pay attention. Capitalism is at work here not some type of conspiracy.
OWN3D.
Last edited by nookiemonster; Apr 21, 2004 at 12:06 AM.
Nookiemonster,
Can you explain to me the Vulcan V6 that's in the first gen LX Probes?
According to my research the Vulcan is a Ford engine and could be found in other Ford models such as the Ranger and some Taurus'.
I ask because I owned a 91 LX Probe for a short while.
The sticker on the side door did say Mazda Motors on it, but I found out the engine was sourced from Ford.
I wanted to do the JDM V6 swap but found it to be not as easily done as the 2nd gen Probes (which I believe didn't have the same Vulcan V6).
Can you explain to me the Vulcan V6 that's in the first gen LX Probes?
According to my research the Vulcan is a Ford engine and could be found in other Ford models such as the Ranger and some Taurus'.
I ask because I owned a 91 LX Probe for a short while.
The sticker on the side door did say Mazda Motors on it, but I found out the engine was sourced from Ford.
I wanted to do the JDM V6 swap but found it to be not as easily done as the 2nd gen Probes (which I believe didn't have the same Vulcan V6).
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,651
Likes: 0
From: San Antonio, Texas
Rep Power: 377 Alright people, especially you nookiemonster, y'all need to calm down and discuss these things rationally. Just post to inform, not to start calling names...don't want this thing to turn into some sissy flame war...
