I'm the first owner of an astina (popup lights), its been with me for 15 years as my primary car.
I feel like saying something as I truly love this car.
Note that my comments are specific to my car only, I don't mean to say that they apply to all astinas out there but my internet research has proved that most owners have similar thoughts as I do, on the astina.
Let me give u a good idea of my car.
This car just shouts quality and durability. It may not be the fastest or the best handling, but its very durable.
In the past 5 years my car has not been too well maintained. I change my engine oil like once or twice a year. I've unknowingly driven weeks with a dry engine and usually top up when i realize the engine is running coarser than usual (bone dry).
The car has run really well this 15 years without much maintenance, seriously speaking. I'm actually really happy that everything still holds well after 15 years of lacking maintenance.. while my moms toyota unser of 2 years starts having door and aircon vent problems and my brothers waja side mirror paint start peeling, windows stop working, etc. I've never had any of those problems. In 15 years, i've replaced the window motor only once (left front door), never overhauled the engine (maybe i did, once? can't remmeber) fixed a leak in the aircon piping, and serviced the car one every year. The original interior parts are of very high quality. Its hard to find a high quality dash board or steering wheel which doesn't warp, bubble under the sun. My steering has fine cracks if you look close though from the heat of the sun over the years, but not the dashboard is intact. Seats of course have frayed at the butt area, but the shiny gloss on the black dashboard and arm handles somehow don't go away.
Fluids maintenance is just like any othe rstandard car, you really don't need mobil F1 engine oil on this car. Standard priced engine oil (rm70 4L), (there are recommended specs tho), standard brake pads, standard tires, ...
Stock rims are 13 inch. Comfy ride, standard tires would only cost you between RM80 to RM120 per piece. Now thats cheap.
Fuel tank is 40 litres. KL/PJ driving brings me between 395 to 420km before the petrol light shows up. And I usually drive on the fast lane, having a habit of wanting to accelerate faster than other cars. Once the petrol light shows up I have safely driven for anohter 60 km before having to go refill petrol. Slightly more conservative driving in this period of coz. You calculate the price of a full tank yourself, I'd just say between RM7x to RM80 depending on how late you pump.
Probably the best thing I like about this car other than the fact that it stands strongly against maintenance abuse, is that, you really feel the road with it. The steering is relatively light and responsive. You can turn it with, well, 2 fingers with ease. It ain't bulky or marshmallowy like some cars are for their steering and brakes. Stock clutch and pedal feel is light and easy. You feel the road, you feel the corners, it doesn't hide too much from you. You feel like you really have total control over the car.
Yes boot is spacious. No further comment.
Sadly after a lousy paintjob, my roof caught the some minor rust (i still blame the car painters, i'm really not sure what they didn't do right). I fixed the roof myself by knocking out the rust and filling the small holes with epoxy. However, do note that I see about only 1 / 10 astinas on the road with obvious rust, which probably means at least 4 to 6 out of 10 of them have had histories of rust, in which the owners probably fixed. This applies to all old cars. Rust is cancer. People say that rust can't be cured permanently coz it'll always come back. But i think my job was pretty much a permanent fix. Looks great, flushes with the roof. No signs of rust for more than 2 years now.
One thing though, maybe its just my car, but i tend to not carry more than 4 (65kg each) people in the astina as brakes don't brake too well with heavy loads. Maybe a brake upgrade would do. But if you're constatly driving with just yourslef or with 2 other people, u serious have nothing to worry about.
I had another friend with an astina though but he didn't seem to have problems with brakes when ferrying 5 tall guys (3 taller than 6 feet, 2 are shorter)about in the car every day, to and fro from ss2 to bkt jalil. Okay, maybe it was my brakes.
You get other usual problems (not often) like broken timing belts, and probably a few times I had to do fix my starter or had a problem or 2 with the alternator. More often I have ball joint problems because the mechanic simply doesn't sell me long lasting parts. But which car doesn't have those problems anyway?
My drive shaft has always been fine and unlike what most other owners said, I've never had problems with the headlight mechanism. They're simple pieces of arm-like metals which you can dismantle and hammer yourself anyway.
And about space in the backseat, if you're the driver shorter than 6 feet (my height), most people wouldn't have problems sitting behind. Unless u're 6 feet yourself and the person sitting behidn you is lets ay, 5' 10"?
I'm not sure why someone here said that top end acceleration from 80mph or 100kph to 160kph is damn fast. Its obviously not unless you're going downhill. Obviously its faster low end, especially since its a 1.6 SOHC carb engine andnot a DOHC. I love it because Of its responsiveness and zippiness. Pedals, accelerators are responsive. Example some crappy cars like the waja, you press the accelerator, you have a split second of delay before the car accelerates, and even more of a delay before you see anythin gon the rev meter. Accelerate on the highway, release your accelerator and you still see your rev meter going out for another half a second. Its really dumb. Must be the delays in the electronics. Well you dno't have that in the astina. What you see , what you do, is what you'll get in response in terms of feel.
Whats this about the suspension being firm? Okay its definitely not bouncy, its nice and comfy. But its not firm in the sense of sports suspension firmness, don't get the wrong idea. When going over bumps then u'll get a feel of it being actually a little bouncy as compared to new commercialized cars (ok the astina is an old car please excuse it). Again, don't trust me too much on this because my suspension has always worked fine and never did have to replace it. YOu're better off test driving one urself.
Its soft whereby if you fit 4 to 5 guys in the car inclusive of the driver, you start hitting bumps quite alot. Okay, the car is low. The suspension is also, i don't even know if it uses progressive springs. An example. There's a bump on the road in front of KDU. I slowed down to 30kmh and it touched the bottom of the car (slight krak sound)). I was drivin on the same road with the waja another day and accidently flew over the bump, at 80kmh. I almost didn't feel a bloody thing, nor did I hear any sounds. Now thats why you get from the astina. YOu need to test drive it before you believe my comments.
As you might already know, I drive mostly the astina, a alittle of a Waja. The astina is not the best handling, it isn't the safest, it doesn't have air bags, it was supppsed to be sporty during 'its time', but it is in no way close to a true sports car, it doesn't have the best soundproofing, ..
The good thing about it is the feel, you feel the road, its VERY responsive, its VERY reliable, you dont get problems with the mechanics or electronics of the car, and its bloody worth your money if you ask me for a car for daily use.
Oh btw my cars mileage just went over 200k a few months back. Its still running like a baby.
Note that for the mazda astina pop up headlight model, AS FAR AS I KNOW, there are 2 models, only obvious in the interiors of the car. One has velvet like material used for cushion and lining the door inners. The other has black material alternating with ribbed cloth (like your ribbed condoms), which in my opinion is the newer,nicer and less boring one.
In terms of performance. I'd just say that, the astina would lose out, or struggle against most other cars with 1.6 engines, mostly due to advances in technology, and also the sohc factor. It is not a sports car. It just looks a lil bit like one.
Overall, many thumbs up. Really. I see so many people buying new cars, even new hondas, (jap car talk only here), and they have problems that the astina never had when it was new. It just came out of the factory flawless.
YOu know how you see headlamps sometimes that crack and as a result makes the lamp cover a lil blurry? I dont have that on either the front or rear lights.
Alright thats enough for now thanks.
Mazda Astina 1.6 sohc 1991
