« January 12th, 2006 »
The Mazda B-Series pickup trucks began production in 1961 in Japan, and their production continues today. The B-series trucks remained a Mazda developed product until 1994, at which point the production line was split between Ford and Mazda. Mazda continued developement of the international B-series trucks while the North American B-series trucks became rebadged Ford Rangers.
My truck is a 1999 Mazda B3000 pickup which I bought used during the summer of 2005. My main purpose for buying the vehicle was to have a truck to haul me and my stuff the 1200+ miles between my home in south Texas and school (Bradley University in Illinois). I was looking at small trucks, because I wanted something relatively small/light weight but that could haul a good amount of crap (of which I have lots :-). So, I was basically looking at the GM S-10, Ford Ranger, Mazda B-series, and Toyota Tacoma. I pretty much crossed off the S-10 from my search list because I don't like the way they look and GM is on my Shit List. Likewise, although I like the Tacomas, I had to cross them off my list because they seemed to be a lot more expensive than similar used trucks. That left me looking at the Ford Rangers and Mazda B-series. I ultimately decided on getting a Mazda truck because I liked the sportier look of the B-series trim/interior packages as compared to the Ranger.
My Mazda Truck before any modifications
The other great thing that came out of getting a Mazda/Ford product, was the fact that the Internal Combustion Engines in many Mazdas/Fords are designed to run on gasoline or E80/E85 Ethanol without any modifications. This was very appealing to me because there are a handful of merits for running E85 verses gasoline (i.e. it burns much cleaner, is less expensive at the pump, is a domestic product, is more renewable, etc..). Plus, I new I'd be attending college in Illinois, where Ethanol is much more avaliable than most other parts of the country. So the Ethanol thing helped seal the deal for me, and I now own a Mazda truck, and yes I have and do run it on Ethanol whenever I can.
Here are my truck's specs before any modifications:
- Body/frame: B3000 4-door extended cab, Troy Lee edition
- Suspension: Independent Front Suspension (IFS), Rear leaf springs (live axle)
- Engine: Ford 3.0L V6 gasoline/E80/E85 engine; rated 112kW, 150HP, 185ft-lbs.
- Transmission: 5-speed manual transmission
- Axles:
- Tires: 255/70/R16
- Gas Tank Capacity: 16 US gallons
- Gas Mileage: 18-20 Miles per gallon
- Air Conditioning
- Power Steering
- Power Brakes
- Trailer Hitch
- Weight: 3700 lbs.
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