Lantis Appeal

Lantis drifts to Tsukuba

In 1993, Mazda launched the Lantis in a form of a 4-door sedan and 5-door coupe. It was produced since 1993 to 1997 and it was essentially used Mazda's CB Platform which was close to the Eunos 500 (Xedos 6). It was also known as the Mazda 323F in other countries and the Lantis was sold in the Philippines back in the 90's when Mazda is part of Columbian Autocar Corporation along with Daihatsu, Kia, and Subaru.

Nighttime driving with Lantis

The Lantis featured in the Gran Turismo series, especially Gran Turismo 5, is the Lantis Coupe 2.0 Type R mated with a 5-speed transmission. In Gran Turismo 5, chances of finding either the Lantis Coupe or the 323F are in the medium basis and you'll have decent chances to add this to your garage full of GT5 cars. It was listed as a Standard Tier car.

This Lantis Coupe is equipped with Mazda's KF-ZE (V6 2.0L DOHC) engine that has the normal power output of 170PS/7000RPM, 18.3kg-m/5500RPM of torque output, and weighs 1200kg.

Playing at the snowfield

It is possible to make upgrades for the Mazda Lantis Coupe Type R but trust me, the handling made me disappointing and frustrating even with its FF drive-train. The Lantis Coupe (323F) might not be a good car for your collection but a little practice goes a long way. This car is definitely a hard-to-master machine not only because it is old, it is because of its poor response to the driver while tacking various corners, from tarmac, gravel, and snow.

Racing in the rain

In the eyes of a seasoned GT driver, he/she may regard that the Lantis Coupe is somewhat underwhelming, not good, boring, dull, or whatever they think about it, but if whoever made the rules at the online races, you may consider it a huge lack of enthusiasm about the Lantis not only because of its turtle-like styling but also the disappointing performance. When I got the wheel on the Lantis Coupe, it's strictly hard to describe how does the "Lantis Appeal" affect the outcome but it can be a good FF car to polish your skills at, if you're a rookie.