06 Mazdaspeed6 Quirks

[titaniumSpeed6]

Hello all,

I wanted to start this thread so others who own MS6's can have quick reference to see if other owners are experiencing the same quirks with there MS6's. Let me start by saying that I love my MS6, but there are some little annoying things that I wonder if it's just my car or is it the model itself.

 

[titaniumSpeed6]

First things first,

It seems that at higher speeds (above 80mph), I have to constantly make small adjustments to the steering to keep the car straight. I orriginally thought that it was just the wind blowing me around (to which I will say this car is very suseptible to crosswinds) but even on seemingly clear days with almost no wind, I still notice it. Does anyone else notice this?

 

[CreatureCore]

Someone posted before that it had something to do with the width of the wheels.

 

[Raynman]

First things first,

It seems that at higher speeds (above 80mph), I have to constantly make small adjustments to the steering to keep the car straight. I orriginally thought that it was just the wind blowing me around (to which I will say this car is very suseptible to crosswinds) but even on seemingly clear days with almost no wind, I still notice it. Does anyone else notice this?

I suspect that you're observing a condition called tramlining.

 

[crossbow]

I agree with rayman. The more aggressive the tread and compound, the greater the tramlining.

If you also move to wider wheels, this effect becomes even more pronounced. The MPS 6 has thin wheels to begin with, so its most likely the 140 treadware griptacular tires. (7 inches wide on a 3600 lb car is thin)

The only way around it is to move to tires which have less grip, or a less aggressive compound, which result in you losing the handling, braking, and possibly some of the acceleration qualities of the car.

The tire is EVERYTHING in a car. It determines the baseline for the rest of the vehicles performance.

 

[titaniumSpeed6]

That was my other thought. This is the first car I've ever owned with large rims and low profile performance tires. I suspected this to be the reason for what I felt, just wanted to make sure I wasn't out to lunch. Thanks for the feedback guys.