Mazdaspeed 6 4th place? Feb Car & Driver
It was the best performer but they thought it was too harsh.

 

I read that too....ridiculous!! I've usually respected C&D, but sometimes they make me scratch my head. Those of you who've read C&D for years: remember when BMW would always win comparos like these?? yes, they had pretty austere content compared to the competitors, but the performance and driving substance always won out!! *now* they're doing another *sports sedan* comparo, and all the performance gets relegated to an afterthought??? whaaaattt??

It's not like the MS6 is a K-Mart special or anything. perfectly functional and clean interior, perhaps a tiny notch down from the Jetta. I took a long test drive in the MS6 while my '8 was getting prepped @ the dealer; great power delivery and road manners. I *almost* changed my mind about getting the '8!

 

some talk about it in the "miffed at ms6" thread https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...&page=11&pp=15

 

The Mazdaspeed 6 is a nice car that can't quite decide what it is and what cars it wants to compete with. Throw it in a comparo like this C&D one and it'll get knocked for being "too firm, unpolished, with a low-rent interior". Toss it in a comparo with an STI and an Evo and it'll get knocked for being sluggish, not having enough roadfeel, and in general not being up to the task performance wise. It just can't win either way.

 

Now you know how g35 and 350z owners feel when magazine rate the rx8 higher

 

Road & Track put it up against 6 other AWD sport sedans, and they didn't seem to like it, either. 5th place out of 7, behind the Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Spec B, Audi A4 2.0T Quattro, BMW 325xi, and Lexus IS 250 AWD. It did beat out the Infiniti G35x and Volvo S40 T5 AWD. It was the second slowest on the auto-x course, ahead of only the IS 250 (and we know what the result would have been had it been the IS 350).

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=929826

 

That's what they get for not putting a turbo on the 3.0 liter Mazda 6S.

 

So, that would solve the low-rent interior, harsh ride comments?

Turbo 4 is much better marketing wise than a turbo 6.

 

It probably is too firm at it's weight... Whatever they did to make it weigh 3600 lbs. I don't know, but that is the center of most of it's troubles. To compensate for all that bulk, they probably had to over-stiffen the suspension just to keep it from feeling like an Explorer in the corners. Lose the heft, and they'll have a more competitive vehicle.

And what's with the interior? Is it not the same as all the other current Mazda products? Mazda has some of the nicest interiors around...

 

The interior is better than the other 6 models, IMO The weight came from the addition of AWD and chassis re-enforcements, body bracing, etc.

I do agree...the car should be lighter.

 

Did you folks notice on GLARING fact about the Road and Track test? The MS6's trap speed was only EIGHTY-SIX MPH. Something was SERIOUSLY wrong there... C&D had the car trap TEN mph faster. 86mph? That's what a Mazda3S traps at. I wonder if they had 87 octane fuel in the car for their test?

 

Also, the Mazdaspeed 6s that was tested in C&D was the non GT package - no sunroof, leather, and other amenities hence the unpolished low-rent interior. At least be consistent with the cars tested!

 

They make note of it in the R&T article. They were in California, so they used 91 octane. They also note that the intercooler ducting is poorly designed. Notice that it took 24 seconds 0-100?

If this car runs like crap on 91 octane, then Mazda will have a serious problem selling these, since many states only have 91 as their highest octane.

 

Out of all of them it was easily the best look and had the most grunt. I prefered the interior on the Pontiac though. The others just looked a bit bland.

 

I'm convinced I'll never buy a new Mazda again. I'm SO tired of Mazda's bullshit HP numbers. 274 on 93 octane +. Who can get 93 Octane where I live? Those who drive to the track and get 100 octane, or drive to Canada.

 

you could get 94 up here DMP.

 

there is no magical octane detector in the engine or PCM. They are running over 15lbs of boost. That makes alot of heat and can cause knock with lower quality fuel. the pcm cuts boost when it detects knock. then its just a normal 4 cylinder lugging around alot of extra weight. but it does make the power. the cooling/intercooler is just not up to the task. they should have done a better job with that.

for the CX-7 they turned the boost down so it only makes 244 but doesnt have the heat/knock issues.

 

lol.. tru.

each car has its own character that defines it...

magazines are only a matter of personal opinion... professional ( iguess. )

 

So what's with Mazdas and their turbos lacking proper cooling?

 

Mazda seems to struggle whenever they turbo a car. If they ever get their act together they could make some scary good cars. The MSP, MSMiata, and MS6 have all been good cars but nothing spectacular and not very tuner friendly. The FD is damn good but is a reliabilty nightmare.

 

It's as if Mazda is affraid to shine. They make a product which is 4/5ths of Perfect, then cut the HP down. They seem to think having less power automatically makes the car handle better.

(shrug).

 

Well, there seems to be some truth to that. It seems when they start upping the power in their cars they struggle a bit with handling dynamics, the MSMiata and MS6 are perfect examples of that.

I want people that just call cars like the Evo and STI econoboxes with a bunch of mods thrown on to take a close look at how some higher tuned existing models turn out from other companies. It's damn tough to make cars as good as the STI and Evo, throwing a bunch of performance parts on an existing platform doesn't mean it's going to be a better car.

 

What's so wrong w/ the MSMiata? The NC has +/- the same power and drives like a dream (so I've read). Power isn't the problem - it's mazda's willingness to engineer the car for more power. Make any sense?

You want people for what?

I'd say people who say 'econobox with mods' are autosport-immature. 'Course the interior of the Evo is pretty nasty/cheap - that said, I'd seriously consider the car if/when I lost my rx8.

 

Edited...

Many people are and were disappointed with how soft the suspension is on the MS Miata, some complained that they didn't tweak the suspension enough to make up for the added power.

 

thats the big money question right there. maybe they got rid of the people who made the past mistake so no one there learns from their mistakes?