The
FE has a square bore and stroke. It was available as an 8-valve SOHC and 12-valve SOHC. Outputs are at 5000 rpm and at 2500 rpm for the 8-valve carburetor version, or at 5300 rpm and at 3700 rpm with fuel injection, 12-valve
SOHC and a higher compression ratio (10.0:1 vs 8.6:1). Applications: • 1983–1991
Mazda Capella/
626 • 1982–1987
Ford Telstar • 1985–1987
Mazda B-Series • 1985–1999
Mazda E-series • 1981–1990
Mazda 929 • 1987–1995
Kia Concord FET The fuel-injected,
turbocharged FET version of the FE produced at 5250 rpm and at 2800 rpm. It was a variant of the 8-valve SOHC
FE Featuring a small turbocharger and no intercooler producing of boost. As such it features the same bore and stroke of the FE. The Japanese variant of this engine was dubbed the
Magnum Turbo and produces . Given that the peak power for the
naturally aspirated, fuel-injected FE is , the rated power for the FET is said to be conservative. Applications: • 1986–1987
Mazda Capella/
626 • 1986–1987
Ford Telstar Turbo • 1986–1987
Mazda 929 coupe FE-DOHC The
FE-DOHC is the 16 valve
DOHC variant of the FE. The official Mazda engine codes of newer iterations are FE-DE and FE-ZE, depending on output level. Commonly called the
FE3 which is also stamped into its head castings. The FE-DOHC shares the same dimensions as the original FE-SOHC, including the square bore x stroke and it has a 1.74 rod/stroke ratio. The FE-DOHC is usually identified by a gold-coloured cam cover, however not always. There were at least five different FE-DOHC engines available with various compression ratio, camshaft and ECU tuning combinations, however none were fitted with a turbocharger from the factory. In European 10.0:1 compression, non-catalytic trim, the FE-DOHC produces at 6000 rpm and at 4000 rpm. The 9.2:1 compression, catalytic converter version produces 140 ps. The Japanese domestic market variants produce anywhere between 145 ps and 165 ps. The only vehicle with 165ps was the 96–97 Capellas Wagons, FX (MT or AT) or FX Cruising (Only exists in AT). These received different tail lights to the earlier wagons. The FE-DOHC was a European and Japanese market engine only (excluding use by Kia), and as such was only ever delivered in vehicles by Mazda to countries in those markets, with the exception of New Zealand who also received European market models. The engine was first fitted to the
GD model
1988–1992 626 GT,
1987–1991 Capella, and the
626 Coupé GT 2.0i/Capella C2 GT-X and GT-R. In South Africa,
Samcor – who built Mazdas under licence – also fitted the FE-DOHC engine to the Mazda 323 from 1991 to 1994. Alongside the sedan, hatch and coupé models the FE-DOHC was also being used in the
GV wagon, which ran until 1997. The rest of the world mainly received the FE-DOHC in the 1995–2003
Kia Sportage, built by Kia under license. Kia first introduced the engine in March 1992, when they installed it in the
Kia Concord, a license built version of the 1982
Mazda Capella. The Sportage variant was reconfigured for rear-wheel drive configuration with long single-runner intake manifold, low-duration cams and exclusively in the low compression ratio of 9.2:1. Applications: • 1988–1997
Mazda Capella/
626 • 1991–1993
323 200i (South Africa) • 1992–1993
Ford Laser 2.0iRS and Meteor 2.0 16v (South Africa) • 1995–2003
Kia Sportage • 1992–1995
Kia Concord ;Capella Cargo variants
Design The Mazda FE-DOHC uses a wide-angle, DOHC, belt-driven valvetrain configuration with flat-tappet 33 mm HLA bucket lifters. It is a non interference design. There are two valve springs per valve and four valves per cylinder. While a dual valve spring configuration is used, the stock springs are fairly low-sprung. Low spring rates were chosen for fuel efficiency and increased valvetrain longevity, and low friction with the dual valve springs for the reduction of harmonics and increased valve stability. The head gasket used on the Kia version can be sourced in North America, but the builder must note that the coolant passage holes are configured for a RWD cooling system. Attempting to use the RWD head gasket in FWD cooling configuration will result in improper flow and can result in overheating of cylinder #4. Like many DOHC engines, this engine has an interference valvetrain design, making periodic timing belt changes vital to the engine's life. Should the timing belt break the engine should be replaced as piston and valvetrain damage will occur. The Mazda FE-DOHC came with several different camshaft profiles from the factory. As such there were several camshaft combinations available. The F8K1 was the intake camshaft for the F8-DOHC, only listed due to family ties. The combinations available: ;VICS The FE-DOHC featured Mazda's
VICS system, short for Variable Inertia Control System, a variable intake setup to optimize runner length and resonance at different engine speeds. Much like Toyota's
Acoustic Control Induction System, it had two sets of intake runners, a long set for low-medium RPMs, and a short set for high RPMs. It was operated by a vacuum solenoid based on the engine's current speed, actuating a pair of butterflies inside the manifold to open or close the short runners past 5400 rpm. This system has been used on many Mazda engines since including the BP. The K-series V6 engines used a different principle to the same effect dubbed
VRIS. Two versions of the VICS intake system exist, one has steeper straighter runners than the other, which is kinked for vehicle packaging reasons. VICS was not present on the F8-DOHC or some of Kia version of the FE-DOHC, both of which use a conventional intake manifold design. ==F2==