Why a festiva? Why not a Geo Metro or Honda Civic or Pontiac firefly all from 90s...

[scitzz]

Someone nearby drop by and give this boy a whooping!

Running around outside the asylum again with my tappy talky appy

[zoom zoom]

I considered switching to a metro or a crx before I bought my festiva. After 4 aspires I was getting pretty familiar with the mazda engineering and how the b series engines are designed, and the chassis festivas and aspires share(perdy close anyway.) A stockpile of random parts also alot to do with sticking with this chassis. But I really did look into metro's, my aunt has one and swears by them. She's on her third engine rebuild, second tranny and about 400k on the chassis. The problem now is the chassis is about rotted out. I looked at several in junk yards and noticed how they all rot away where the tie rod passes through the passenger side frame rail. Got on a metro site and found out they ALL do that and it is chevy's fault because of a poor design, they hold water there. I remember working on a couple s10's and full size chevy trucks and can't remember a job going as easy as almost any job I've ever done on a festy or aspire. The way the chevy engineers designed their drivetrains is ridiculous, for example, I did a slave cylinder on a 4wd s10, and you (dont have to but its harder if you don't) have to use 3' of 3/8" extentions to get to the bell housing bolts. The kicker being you can't pull the engine and tranny as a combo and do it out of the vehicle! Have to separate them after you remove the engine mounts!!! It seemed like EVERYTHING was in the way. I haven't done much to a metro but I assume it's headaches along the same lines. The barettas were a pita just trying to change the serpentine belt and cavaliers and (gm same deal) grand am/prixs aren't much fun to work on either. I'm not saying Ford is much better but I would much rather do a slave cylinder on a ranger.

The engine swaps for a honda and all their variations are well documented several times over and that is a very popular choice for alot of enthusiasts. The reason I didn't go that route is because I like the crx, if I had to own a honda I would want to build a crx. It's super lightweight and the b18 swap was what I was wanting to do since I helped a friend do it in high school, but when I looked up the specs the crx actually weighs a little more than a festiva, and the b18's have less power than a b6t. When you start adding go fast parts hondas break, a full engine and transmission build is more money than I wanted to spend (at this point in my life) for a car I'm gonna beat on.

Plus I'm already somewhat familiar with the suspension, the simplicity of all the B series motors and transmissions and the way they are designed to sit in the car. I know it's a pita to change the timing belt in the car but it's alot easier than doing a water pump on a s10. I guess it's Mazdas engineering that really made me choose to stay with these cars. That and the fact that it's the fastest car I could build for the cheapest price. After that whole aspire BP swap failed and I sank 4,500 into it I wasn't looking to spend any decent amount of money on a car that didn't run..

[sketchman]

I grew up with them too. They just stuck, I guess.

[muleskinner]

I purchased a Smurf Blue brand new Festiva back in 92' and loved it till the ex wrecked it. I always wanted to get another one, but never had the time. I looked at Suburu Justy's too, but realized parts are hard to find in the old models. I found a festiva and it was game on from there. Even my G/F G-dine has fallen in love with them. We now have 2 each between the 2 of us.
Mine are Shadow & Silver Streak. Hers are Squig & Blue.

[bhearts]

I honestly believe the festiva had the best body lines of all the little cars from that era

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

[TorqueEffect]

I honestly believe the festiva had the best body lines of all the little cars from that era

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

From the ones sold in the U.S I would agree. But Japan, and Europe had so many beautiful hatchbacks we never got.

[old yellow]

Well my dad bought one brand new form the dealership in 1991, a red "L".... he loved it from the time he looked at it and I loved that thing, and I soon did also. That red Festiva did not have any options, well except for the AM/FM with Tape.... He drove that thing 200,000 miles before it died about another 25,000 - 27,000 miles later. Since then we happen to come across the yellow 91 L 5 speed Festiva we have now, with 42,xxx miles on it when we bought it. Since nothing else had the pererformance, looks and MPG, plus we love the looks and everything about the Festiva, we just had to pick up another one, After years of him not driving one. Now that I'm driving I want to drive nothing but my Festiva (the GL) as my daily driver... It's my car and my Seahawks Mobil!

[Spike]

Honestly, I was looking for a first car. I learned to drive in a 1990 Nissan Maxima (200HP and like 2200lb). I didn't like POWER STEERING of all things. I'd barely touch it and nearly go into a ditch. I looked into something with good MPGs, and found the Festiva.

Went to look at one for sale, got in, realized I could sit straight up at 6'3" (something I couldn't do in the Max), and the steering was fantastic (though it had 181k miles on it and was pretty much shot..). It just fit. Now we did get the Sprint a while later (a first-gen Geo Metro - which we also had one of those, a 1990 1.0 auto that blew the engine at 104k), but it's tiny. I have to crane my neck to see stop lights 10 feet in front of me, or put my head out the window.. which actually becomes easier after a while haha.

I get out of the Sprint after a week of driving it, get in a Festiva, and I feel like I'm in a Cadillac. I can stretch out, my clutch leg isn't cramping, and I can sit straight up at a stop light! The steering is fantastic, the turning radius is great, you can fit a full-size dryer in the hatch, and it can tow if you set it up right! What's not to love?

I rambled on a bit there, but if I had the choice to be born 10 years earlier, my first (and only, I ain't gonna buy today's junk) new-car purchase would have been a Festiva.

-Joe

[F3BZ]

utility. i used to do weekend furnace and AC installs on the side. i think the festy has one of the biggest hatch openings, maybe the biggest for a subcompact due to the sensibly designed tallness. taking out the passenger and rear seats in 15 min. allowed me to fit a furnace, ductwork, and all the tools needed for the job. once stuffed a 5 ton (60,000 btus) AC condenser in it and upright for a job. probably still got 30+ mpg. the greatest beater and work car ever. and nobody ever calls it cute.

[eurotiva]

I got a Festiva so I can make fun of Honda and geo owners

[blueoval]

euro bet you surprise a lot of Honda's I have always been a ford guy then I got a job were I drive a lot over 4500 miles a month so I went to crx-si's for years and love the crx but keep going through engines and got feed up with the last one sold it and was driving my ranger back and forth it was eating me alive at the pump was searching for the best mpg's on line and then maybe 2 minutes down the road so a little hatch in a guys back yard and was pretty sure it was a festiva anyways stopped in and took a few trys to find someone at home but got it and it is as fun to drive as a b-series swapped crx (b16-b18-b20) and gets better mpg's and has way more room and handles as good if not better and that is with the stock b3 so can't wait to fire up my b8-me swap

[tooldude]

There's just something about her - fantastic front end, fantastic back end, she's thrifty, what's not to love?

[Sagermeister]

I found a Chevy Sprint over here in Pensacola for $150, should I scoop it up? Lol

[mikeyjd]

I found a Chevy Sprint over here in Pensacola for $150, should I scoop it up? Lol

As long as you have a scrap yard within range, you should at least break even

[Spike]

I found a Chevy Sprint over here in Pensacola for $150, should I scoop it up? Lol

Get it now!#!@#

I'm the only Sprint owner for a good 100 miles here. Nobody even knows what a Sprint is.. Buy it, get it running, drive it forever depending on if it's a rust-free or rust-ful Florida car. Non-interference HEMI (seriously, it's a 1.0L 3cyl hemi..) engine. Even the autos get over 40MPG driven right.

And yeah, they scrap for about $120 haha.

-Joe

EDIT: Just checked, there really is one for $150! Link:

http://pensacola.craigslist.org/cto/4501284270.html