BL and BK comparisons please

Hi all, Im torn with whether to go for a low kay BK or medium kay BL.
With the taller gearing in the BL are they much more sluggish in stock form? Im ex rotary (been a few years) and love the buzz but also want refinement; so long as the refinement doesnt dumb down the buzz if you all know what Im getting at?

The BK I drove knocked badly in the rear and occasionally in the front (sounded like shocks or bushes or similar), so if thats an issue the BK suffers from regularly, does the BL with more refined suspension suffer any similar issues?

Thanks heaps peeps. Dog.

Hello Dog and welcome.

Stock bk and bl are pretty much par 4 par acceleration wise, the taller gearing in bl is better matched to the engines capabilities in my opinion. Especially if you intend to modify.

I've always said to anyone buying secondhand though... buy the car with the least kms and years as you can for your budget.

Keep in mind that mazda took the opportunity to improve the mps3 when it made the bl in a multitude of ways.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Thanks for the reply and welcome......im stuffed if I know what to do.
Gen1 with 66k on it, or gen 2 with 100k on it - also with a $3500 price premium to boot.
Decisions decisions!

Ask to drive the bl to compare? Are they both stock? What kind of driving have they done? Service records? Check them both for common major problems - smoking turbo, timing chain rattle etc. You could even go all out and get a compression test done but that's probably overkill. Good luck :D

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Thanks Lachlan. I guess it has to come down to feel. Do the BL have the same VVT issues the gen 1 suffer from?

No worries. VVT was revised I think, but can still happen.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

At 100k kms you'd wanna make sure the VVT has been serviced (Recommended at 100k anyway, mine is a 6 but was stretched and noisy). You might be able to hear it on startup as a rattle fyi

VVT was definitely upgraded, mainly the auto-tensioner.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Thankyou guys. So Puddi, is it a routine maintenance item? Ill check the service books tomorrow and see who has serviced it....maybe give them a call....

OMG! Went to view the gen 2 at a dealer in melbourne today. He tells me that it went thru the workshop and was thoroughly inspected prior to going on the yard. B.S.
I checked the oil and it BARELY registered on the dipstick! Seriously just the VERY bottom tip of it showed oil.
The cam chain rattle was there on cold startup, and the service books showed that the car had gone 20000km twice in its 104k history, the current mileage being its second stretch without servicing!
No thanks.
Perhaps the salesman should either stop the BS with prospective purchasers (yeah right), or the workshop guys should be sacked!?

Anyway, now the good part.......I closed the deal on the 66k gen 1 I looked at earlier in the week. Cant wait to get it! Hopefully next weekend.

Congrats! Are you planning to mod?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Id love to Lachlan, but ive got financial limitations with the young fam and mortgage etc.
Minimum id like to do is unlock the first/second gear restriction, steering torque limiting etc; and if Im recieving the correct info from HPF, a stage 1 tune. Theyre quoting appx 210kw without needing the hpfp.
Im interested to grab a cobb ap to load a stage 1 tune myself, but im not sure what Im doing.....unless someone in melb could either help out with their ap (if thats a possibility?) or point me in the right direction?
Still waiting to hear back from someone re whether their ap was 'un married' correctly to allow me to utilise it...