Steiner

Fair enough, but you did you see some of the aftermarket goodies Mazdaspeed is planning to sell, right? The tunability alone of the MS6 will make it an attractive ride for performance enthusiasts.

BTW...is anybody else with a modicum of impartiality remaining getting a sense of desperation from this thread...almost like folks are rooting for the MS6 to go down in flames...zoom zoom zoom. Where's the Mazda love ladies. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Sigma

I've seen absolutely nothing offered for the MazdaSpeed6 by MazdaSpeed that isn't already offered for the standard Mazda6i/6s now, and none of that is anymore than what MazdaSpeed already provides for the RX-8. In fact, the RX-8 has considerably more stuff from MazdaSpeed than any of them and already has an aftermarket (outside of Mazda) considerably larger than that of the Mazda6. This I know for a fact, as I am a Mazda6 owner and a supplier of aftermarket parts and accessories for it as well. And the aftermarket for the Mazda6 will remain rather bleak for the foreseeable future at the very least; at least compared to that of the RX-8.

Ike

AWD comes to mind :p

DARKMAZ8

It definately won't handle better and I wouldn't say it's quicker just yet. Have you driven one yet? I'm happy that Mazda stepped it up with the 6 but saying that it's mazda's flagship is far from the truth.

It just proves that the ms8 will be worth waiting for.

Sigma

Well, yes, but that's not a "aftermarket goodie Mazdaspeed is planning to sell" though.

The MazdaSpeed6 has a LOT of great additions and features over the standard Mazda6. It's a hell of a deal. But don't expect much from the aftermarket. The Mazda6 doesn't have much of one anyhow, even the 6i buyers have to rely on the Mazda3 for big engine mods, and that's not changing much. And the MazdaSpeed6 isn't targetted towards 'tuners' anyhow, it's targetted towards the likes of Legacy GT buyers. People serious about modding would take their $32K and buy an Evo or STi.

DARKMAZ8

I rather they stuck with the fwd. Saves weight and I don't believe that Mazda can develop a competitive AWD system. They might prove me wrong tho. :o

Ike

Don't be so sure, the tuner market for the Legacy GT in its first year of production is probably already bigger than that of the RX-8 and certainly bigger than the Mazda 6. There are plenty of guys out there modding their Legacy GTs and Forester XTs. If there is money to be made the same will be true for the Mazdaspeed 6, but I agree with you that it will remain rather sparse for the Mazda 6 in general.

RX8-79

I see this in every one of the MS6 threads on here, and even on the 6 board (but usually just from one 'know-it-all' little boy). I suppose it's human nature to hate what appears to be superior and a threat, but it's rather sad if you ask me.

VikingDJ

Unless Mazda is lying about the specs, the MS6 will certainly be faster then the RX8 regardless of the extra weight. If it ends up pushing out a real 274hp and 280 feet of torque, it's gonna be very powerful, and the RX8 will certainly fall short in straightline performance off the line, and from a roll. I'm just as confused as to why people are bothered by this, as I am people actually thinking the MS6 will be slow.

momo

Honestly guys, who many of y’all would have purchased the MS6 over of the 8, if you knew that the MS6 would be ‘faster’? IMO, for y’all that would pick the MS6 over the 8 either 1) don’t appreciate the ‘total package’ that is the 8 or
2) would probably be happy with any car, as long as it is ‘faster’ than the 8.

Y’all need to be patient, Mazda will unleash a vehicle that will out perform the 8, just wait.

RotaryIT

Good article about this....

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews..._mazdaspeed_6/

crossbow

Quick point. The MPS 6 has yet to be reviewed. All press event test drives were performed on "hand built" cars.

No production MPS 6 has yet been tested. This is both good and bad.

khtm

Exactly. Mazda says it'll be slower 0 to 60 than the 8, but let's see what it actually does.

RX8-79

And yet you babble on and on and trash it every chance you get.

joseight

some of you guys are diluted

first off, the rx-8 is NOT mazdas flagsjip model. that would be either the 3 or the 6 since they sell the most and appeal to many more buyers.

secondly, why compare the two? its apples and oranges people. a sedan and a sports car. the MS6 has more power, but is much heavier. btw, the 6 will in no way outhandle the rx-8, period.

and finally, who gives a ****? if you wanted the fastest car, you definitely should not have bought an rx-8. i enjoy my car for what its worth and i wouldnt have it any other way. i just think its stupoid when people get their panties in a bunch becasue somehting else comes out that might be 'better.'

Steiner

I don't think the Mazdaspeed Protege had the kind of following that put the name "Mazdaspeed" into the vocabulary of the relatively free spending 18-30 tuner crowd. Hopefully the Mazdaspeed 6 will do the trick, even if the projected demographic increases from 18-30 to maybe 25-40. Bottom line is that these kind of tuner shops within the actual OEM (Nismo, TRD, SVT, Mopar, etc) can generate tremendous revenue for a corporation even after the initial hard sale. That's not an entirely new concept, but in recent years it's become a much more lucrative approach. Just look at what the SRT family of cars has done for Mopar Performance and, consequently, the Dodge family of cars. Sponsors and prospective buyers come easier with name recognition. If the name "Mazdaspeed" becomes more mainstream in the next 3-5 years it could potentially put some serious R&D money into the pipeline for future Mazdas...like the Mazdaspeed RX-8, the next RX-7, and the new Mazdaspeed 3.

If I'm an RX-8 owner I'm hoping the MS6 blows the doors off everything else Mazda makes, attracts buyers to the dealerships, and thrives in the aftermarket. Like the MS6, the RX-8 is a niche vehicle. The better either of those cars sell the more likely Mazda will continue to produce affordable and tunable performance into the future.

Sigma

"Flagship" models have nothing to do with quantity sold. In fact they're almost always the least selling vehicle in the lineup. They're simply the chosen vehicle that best represents a manufacturer's vision and is the most instantly recognizable model in the brand. It would difficult to argue that the RX-series of vehicles is not Mazdas flagship line.

RX8-79

The RX8 IS Mazda's flagsHip model, period. It's well-known in the car world that the most expensive, most advanced model in a maker's lineup is the flagship.

The 3 and maybe even the 6 are considered 'bread-and-butter' models, since they sell more and appeal to many more buyers.

momo

Thank you, I could not have said it better myself. Why is this so hard for some of yall to understand? Please put the hatarade down.

DARKMAZ8

Yep, the rotary car is Mazda's flagship. Without the rotary Mazda wouldn't be where it is today.

khtm

I find it interesting that when Steiner can't prove a point, he has to go whine about it to his SRT-4 buddies:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139295

What a winner!

RX8-79

^He sounds pretty two-faced. Over here he seems to at least try to be respectful, over there he bashes 8 owners.

But what more could one expect from someone who owns that hideous $30k econobox.

crossbow

How's pointing out a production model hasn't yet been tested bashing it? Mazda specifically stated they were going to delay production to resolve some of the early testing issues (from reviewers) in the final production model. So outlooks look good for a fantastic GT car that will compete well against other cars in its class, like the new eclipse, or the legacy GT.

And being how the car's supposedly pushing almost 300 ft/lb of torque to the wheels (off the record), I don't see how its not going to slam the rx8 into the ground in straight line acceleration. Of course its heft isn't going to help too much once it hits the twisty's (vs the 8), but at least its center diff is water cooled (unlike the V70R/S60R) so it won't have the problem of instant understeer when it overheats.

(If you don't know, the S60R/V70R use a similar AWD system, and when the center differential overheats, the car moves to safe mode, instantly swapping from AWD To FWD)

Considering mazda is now planning on turning the 6 into a maxima type car (bigger and bloatier) the MPS 6 is the last hurrah before the sporty sedan meets its end at the hands of bean counters.

DARKMAZ8

Nice find!!!!

I guess deep inside he really wishes he bought an 8. It's funny how much time he has invested talking trash about them. True class act.

BTW I remember when he said "to run boost on a rotary, you'll need forged internals".... ..... :D he has no fvcken clue at all where rotaries are concerned.

STIENER---please refrain from posting your supreme knowledge on here. Trolling around pretending that you know **** has become real old.

Steiner

What point was I trying to prove? The MS6 hasn't even hit showroom floors so don't tell me you were expecting me to spend 3 pages arguing it's a better car. Like all of you, I have an opinion on that, as of yet, unanswered question. But that wasn't the reason I posted this thread in another forum though. I cross-posted this thread because the general insecurity and whining is simply to entertaining to be confined to one forum. Some of you RX-8 guys have delusions of grandeur that you seek to reinforce on an almost daily basis by coming to this fish-bowl of a forum and circle jerking each other. And, just like every other car forum, there's maybe 3-5 regular posters that can actually objectively disconnect their egos from their cars and read between the lines. Because of those people I keep coming back to this forum. But this thread is the epitomy of the worst of the worst of the RX-8 community. Some of you ladies are like children. It's like Mother Mazda gave you the RX-8 one scoop of ice cream and gave the MS6 two scoops...and you simply have no objective mechanism for dealing with it except to hope and pray for the worst, personally attack those who disagree and argue with performance specs that are entirely speculative. Well, deal with it you'll have to. The sooner the better. There's always something bigger and badder in the pipeline.

You guys aren't the first forum to get ***** envy. This has been going on in the Evo forums ever since the projected specs for the Evo 9 came out. The same type of whiny he-bitch attitude exists...it's ugly, MIVEC will kill the aftermarket, not worth the money, the rims are unattractive, Mitsubishi still won't give America AYC, waaaa waaaa waaaaa. This thread is the same **** with different posters.

BTW...who is "TURBOREX8" on the SRT forums?