Gen1GT
07-11-2010, 11:15 AM
I'm sure most of the members of this club are aware of how bad the L3-VE is. If you don't know, I'll gladly fill you in.
Back in the late 80's, early 90's, Mazda had their B-Series engines. The top engine in North America was the BP-ZE which made 125 solid horsepower from 1.8 litres. With lower compression, it made almost as much power per litre as the L3, but in 1990.
It had a cast iron block with aluminum heads, aluminum valve cover and aluminum intake manifold with variable intake geometry.
The L3 has aluminum block and head, but has plastic valve cover and plastic intake manifold. Plastic isn't a bad thing, especially in preventing heat-soak, but they're harder to modify. But most of all it just looks cheap (which is why they were chosen, like the entire design of the engine; to be cheap).
The BP has forged crank, forged rods, chamfered oil passages and an inside gear pump (efficient) driven directly off the crank.
The L3 has cast crank, (I don't know if the rods are cast or forged, but I'd guess at cast), non-chamfered oil passages and an outside gear pump (inefficient) driven by a chain.
The L3 has a balance shaft which robs power and lowers fuel economy, and worst of all, robs oil flow (and therefore pressure) from key points on the engine (like the number 4 journals).
OK, so it has variable valve timing...big whup. Sure, it's more efficient than the BP, but that's really all you can say about it.
I recently repaired a spun bearing on the number for cylinder, and I can attest to how terrible this engine is. It's just stupid...borderline ignorant.
I can blame Ford, who's joint venture with Mazda on this engine, forced so many cost saving measures on Mazda, they had to choice but to build a piece of crap.
Electronic throttle = stupid
Plastic everything = stupid
Non-indexed bearing = unbelievably stupid!
The last one is especially stupid, considering the non-chamfered oil passages (I chamfered the number 4 journal myself) and oil robbing balance shaft (I also installed a balance shaft delete kit, and fuel economy went from 28 mpg to 30 mpg). Add to that, 5W20 oil, and you have a recipe for disaster.
If Mazda developed the BP further and gave it the same technology as the L3, with variable valve timing, higher compression and coil-on-plug ignition, it could have made 150 hp from 1.8 litres.
I'm a die-hard Mazda fan, and own three of them, but the L3 is garbage. One step forward in technology, and two steps back in construction.
Back in the late 80's, early 90's, Mazda had their B-Series engines. The top engine in North America was the BP-ZE which made 125 solid horsepower from 1.8 litres. With lower compression, it made almost as much power per litre as the L3, but in 1990.
It had a cast iron block with aluminum heads, aluminum valve cover and aluminum intake manifold with variable intake geometry.
The L3 has aluminum block and head, but has plastic valve cover and plastic intake manifold. Plastic isn't a bad thing, especially in preventing heat-soak, but they're harder to modify. But most of all it just looks cheap (which is why they were chosen, like the entire design of the engine; to be cheap).
The BP has forged crank, forged rods, chamfered oil passages and an inside gear pump (efficient) driven directly off the crank.
The L3 has cast crank, (I don't know if the rods are cast or forged, but I'd guess at cast), non-chamfered oil passages and an outside gear pump (inefficient) driven by a chain.
The L3 has a balance shaft which robs power and lowers fuel economy, and worst of all, robs oil flow (and therefore pressure) from key points on the engine (like the number 4 journals).
OK, so it has variable valve timing...big whup. Sure, it's more efficient than the BP, but that's really all you can say about it.
I recently repaired a spun bearing on the number for cylinder, and I can attest to how terrible this engine is. It's just stupid...borderline ignorant.
I can blame Ford, who's joint venture with Mazda on this engine, forced so many cost saving measures on Mazda, they had to choice but to build a piece of crap.
Electronic throttle = stupid
Plastic everything = stupid
Non-indexed bearing = unbelievably stupid!
The last one is especially stupid, considering the non-chamfered oil passages (I chamfered the number 4 journal myself) and oil robbing balance shaft (I also installed a balance shaft delete kit, and fuel economy went from 28 mpg to 30 mpg). Add to that, 5W20 oil, and you have a recipe for disaster.
If Mazda developed the BP further and gave it the same technology as the L3, with variable valve timing, higher compression and coil-on-plug ignition, it could have made 150 hp from 1.8 litres.
I'm a die-hard Mazda fan, and own three of them, but the L3 is garbage. One step forward in technology, and two steps back in construction.