PennSilverTaco's non-Toyota Japanese (and Korean) vehicle Rant/Rave MegaThread!

A lot of weird combos back in the day.

-VW powered Dodge Omni
-Isuzu powered Chevy S10
-Chevy powered Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport
-Honda powered Saturn Vue

Just to name a few

 

And the early Rodeos had what is my opinion one of the most mediocre engines GM ever made! Beginning in 1993, the Isuzu Rodeo got its own 3.2L V6 producing a competitive 190 horsepower. 1991-1992 models had the GM 3.1L V6, which only made about 120 horsepower.

This same engine was common in many FWD sedans made by GM. It was also the standard engine in the Chevy Lumina APV, Oldsmobile Silhouette, and Pontiac Trans Sport minivans (think dustbuster on wheels) from their introduction in 1990 until 1993. In 1990 and 1991, the anemic 3.1L V6 was the only engine; For some reason, GM continued to offer the 3.1L as the standard engine even after the superior 3.8L V6 became available in 1992. The 3.1L was gone by 1994 and only the 3.8L was available. In either 1995 or 1996, the 3.8L was replaced by the respectively powerful but less reliable (in my opinion) 3.4L V6. Production ceased when GM brought out an all-new line of minivans for the 1997 model year.

Yes, I am an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to specifications of GM vehicles...

 

@Plain Jane Taco

The same 3.1L TBI engine, making just about 120hp, was standard equipment in the Mexican-market S-10 Blazers as late as 1993. By comparison, the 2.8L V6 had been dropped in U.S. and Canadian-market S-10 Blazers in 1990. By 1993, S-10 Blazer buyers had two choices; A 165hp 4.3L TBI V6, which was only available with a 5-speed manual transmission, was standard. The optional Enhanced Powertrain Package gave buyers a 4.3L CPI V6 (the "W Code" engine) which produced 200 horses. This package included a 4-speed automatic transmission, and the CPI was not available with a manual transmission.

In America and Canada, a new 1993 S-10 Blazer had just 10 less horsepower than the 5.7L/350cid V8 being offered in full-size GM trucks and SUVs at the time...

In Mexico, the same vehicle had roughly the equivalent of 6 hamsters running around in exercise wheels underneath the hood...

If you used the standard air-conditioning on a hot day, 6 hamsters probably felt more like 4 hamsters...

If you had 4 or 5 passengers and their cargo in your Blazer, with the A/C running full throttle on a hot day, that probably went down to 3 hamsters...



To be fair, A/C was an option in S-10 Blazers North of the border. It cost about a thousand bucks if you ordered it by itself as a single option, or it was included in two of the four Preferred Equipment Groups available in 1993. Also in 1993, base model S-10 Blazers came standard with an AM radio, if you can believe that. In Mexican-market S-10 Blazers, A/C and an AM/FM stereo both seem to have been standard...

 

The 3.8...or 3800 as it was known was a very successful engine for GM. Started out life as a Buick engine with it'a roots way back in the 60's. GM kept refining it for years. Those supercharged 3800 of the early to mid 90's were great engines.....smooth, refined, powerful and pretty darn reliable.

Here's another odd one. The original KIA Sportage was powered by a Mazda 2.2 engine. Essentially the same engine found in the B2200

 

August 6th, 2016:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

August 6th, 2016:

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

 

Now that one I like.

 

I found some pictures of my old '86. I bought it in early '12 as something to tinker with. Cleaned it up and got it running great. I had it for about 2 years. Sold it in 15 minutes on CL.

She was very tired and not running well the day I brought her home.



A few weeks of cleaning, fixing wiring, repairing bed rust, timing belt, carb cleaning and adjustment, fuel pump, fluid changes, new brakes, new tires, new grill etc. Still not much to look at but was a great runner.

 

Is that the one with no A/C?

 

Also, I can't believe even 2WD Mazdas were 6-lugs. Toyota should have taken the hint!

 

Yep. It had nothing!

No pix of my '89 2200

 

People underestimate how truly great these trucks were. My dad had a black 1990 B2600i LE-5 (pics in original post). It had air-conditioning that absolutely kicked ass, and it also had aftermarket cruise control. My dad also finally added a cheap aftermarket CD player in early 2000 after I bugged him for over a year to replace the factory tape deck. It had almost 100K miles on it when my dad bought it in 1998, but the original owner had kept such meticulous service records that my dad bought it anyway. The truck had a slight oil leak and some rust, but it ran and drove great.

 

Great trucks.

 

When we were living in California from 1996-1998, this kid named Tony lived on my street and his parents had a 1993-1994 Mazda MPV and a 1994 GEO Metro (Remember those? 50 MPG! Eat your heart out, Prius!). Tony's mom's Mazda was black or gray, and I don't remember if it was FWD or 4WD, but it was only 3 or 4 years old and a very nice vehicle at the time.

Obviously, there were never going to be as many Mazda MPVs on the road as there were Dodge Caravans, Plymouth Voyagers, or even Ford Aerostars. Unlike the Chevy Lumina APV/Oldsmobile Silhouette/Pontiac Trans Sport Dustbuster vans, which have seemingly vanished, I still see old MPVs around from time to time. The 1999-2006 2nd gen MPVs are relatively common in my area, though people seem to not take care of them, because most of the ones I've seen on the road around are beat-up piles of shit...

Anyway, I think the Mazda MPV was a very innovative vehicle for it's time, and was more like an SUV than a minivan (especially since 1988-1998 models had traditional rear doors instead of sliding ones). My uncle found a whole bunch of old Consumer Reports magazines (from about 1984 to 1997) while cleaning out his basement and gave them to me (My aunt and uncle give me a $25 check for Christmas every year, and I honestly thought the old issues of CR were a more fun gift than money)! Anyway, CR's review of the 1988-1990ush MPVs noted that they had the reliability and overall quality one would expect from a Mazda product, but one thing the CR people noticed almost immediately was that these vans had a heating system that was merely adequate, and an air-conditioning system that was downright weak (especially on models that didn't have the optional rear A/C).

I have never actually driven a Mazda MPV or even ridden in one, but I've always thought they were pretty cool vehicles...




Tony's mom's MPV looked a lot like this one (same wheel covers and everything), except it was black, blue, or dark gray (not burgundy/maroon)...





This MPV is the same maroon color as the MPV in the second picture, but it is actually a newer model (note the rear door on the driver's side and the slightly different front end)...




The 1997-1998 4WD MPVs are probably my favorite...




Also, does anyone else think the 1996-1998 MPVs look a bit like the Italian-designed Laforza luxury SUV?

 

I spent countless nights in one in my college years. I delivered magazines to business between 8pm-4am and the guy I was paired up with, this is what he had. It was a van. Even the AWD version. It had nothing good or bad about it.

 

Just a practical A-to-B vehicle, then?

 

Gross, they were so ugly! My dad almost bought one back in the 90's and I talked him out of it. Told him he couldn't drop me off at school in that thing haha. Perhaps they were innovative with the whole SUV/van crossover thing, but dang they were ugly...

 

Thats it. Despite putting on hundreds of miles a week it ran good and had minimal issues. This was the about 10 or 15 years ago and it had aged fairly gracefully. Drunk driver ended up ending its life.

If I told my dad something like that he would of bought it even faster.

 

Better than a drunk driver ending your life! Sounds like the MPV did it's job!

My Tacoma, on the other hand, did exactly the opposite...

My truck ended the life of a drunk driver's Mercedes! Almost $3,000 in damage to my truck and no injuries for me, plus $500 in court-ordered restitution from the drunk driver; A totaled Mercedes, a DUI conviction, jail time, and one-year driver's license suspension for the drunk guy!

 

@Greensystemsgo

This happened back in October 2015...

What it looks like when '02 Mercedes E320 meets '10 Tacoma RC...