The Eunos 30X – aka Mazda MX-3 – is a four-seat coupé, compact class car manufactured by Mazda from 1991 to 1998 in Hofu, Japan. Takeshi Arakawa did its design, with its underpinning based on the Mazda EC platform. In 1996, Mazda changed its name to Mazda-Eunos 30X.
Its safety features included front disc brakes, rear drum brakes, dual front impact airbags, anti-roll bar, power door locks as standard, optional ABS, and 4-wheel disc brakes.
Other standard features were sport suspension, power steering, power door mirrors, passenger vanity mirror, full floor console, driver vanity mirror, tilt steering wheel, cloth seat trim, floor mats, radio with cassette and AM/FM radio, tachometer and odometer.
Buyers could add as options alloy wheels, air conditioning, power mirrors, cruise control, and a power sunroof.
With a wheelbase of 2455mm, length of 4208mm, a width of 1695mm, and a kerb weight of roughly 1100kg, Eunos 30x offered a compact, lower-range performance-oriented option. For the rear suspension, it used Mazda's original Twin-Trapezoidal Link technology, to gain the benefits associated with an active four-wheel steering system while being lighter and mechanically less complicated.
The first engine options included a SOHC 1.6L inline-four or a 1.8L DOHC V6, transmitting power through a 5-speed manual gearbox or 4-speed auto transmission. The reasoning behind such a small V6 was the restrictions imposed by Japanese regulations that limited engine displacement and the exterior size of a car.
Mazda kept the 30X within these limits, leaving the customers a choice of FC generation RX-7 and JC generation Mazda Cosmo for the upper range performance cars. The V6 belonged to the K-series of Mazda engines and used Variable Length Intake Manifold (Variable Resonance Induction System) to provide optimal torque using intake resonance.
A DOHC B6-D engine of the same displacement but with higher power output replaced the inline-four B6-ME. The V6 version's loss of popularity prompted this modification as the cheaper inline-four offered competitive performance at a reduced price. The discontinuation of the V6 happened only in the US, as sales continued in Canada, Japan, and other markets. Australia officially received only the inline-four variants, but due to shared right-side layout with Japan, some V6 versions found their way into Australia.
These were the available engines:
- 1.6L B6-ME, SOHC 16-valve inline-four petrol engine producing 66kW (88hp) at 5000rpm and 133Nm of torque at 4000rpm, used for the model years 1992-1993
- 1.6L B6-D, DOHC 16-valve inline-four petrol engine producing 79kW (106hp), used for the model years 1994-1998
- 1.8L K8-DE, DOHC 24-valve V6 petrol engine producing 97kW (130hp) at 6500rpm and 156Nm of torque at 4500rpm, redline at 7000rpm and fuel cutoff at 78000rpm, 0-60mph acceleration in 8.5 seconds, and a top speed of 120mph, used for the model years 1992-1998
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Author: Luka Kusic