My impression of the MS6

vantage8 said:
I'm a noob here .... looking to pickup a 'moist silver' (sounds wilder than liquid platignum) speed6 in the next couple of weeks but need to get snows on the car ..... Ottawa is a snow zone! thinking of using high-grip allseasons ... and hoping the AWD does the rest! comments?

No type of all season tire will do squat for you in the snow. You need dedicated winter tires for winter. Especially anywhere in Canada with the exception of Vancouver.
 
Turbo lag? when did it feel like it picked up? Whats the expected HP on these?

I heard rumors of the AWD not being so hot but looks like you say otherwise. Im interested to see mass production thoughts.
 
I'm going to Atlanta for the same thing on Dec 6th and 7th! woohoo! Glad to hear it kicks ass... That's the way the Miata.... excuse me... MX-5 did against the Solstice and z4 2.5
 
SenorCorwin said:
Turbo lag? when did it feel like it picked up? Whats the expected HP on these?

I heard rumors of the AWD not being so hot but looks like you say otherwise. Im interested to see mass production thoughts.

If you took off with no throttle input off the line it took to about 2400-2800 to get boost. If you took off with any kind of throttle input there was zero lag, it just went.

The AWD system is awsome. If you don't need it it's not there. Which helps alot on gas mileage and low speed cornering. The only thing I don't like about the AWD system is they put a 3 piece driveshaft in it... They haven't had one fail to my knowledge but it seems like they are just asking for it.
 
What I can't believe is the DSC system in the thing. Its utterly incredible...but the amount of additional problem areas is increased expodentially. K.I.S.S. definitely isn't a part of the DSC system!
 
Luckily they have dtc's for every component seperately and also pid values. If anything goes wrong, it will make it alot easier to find.
 
dsc was around for a hot minute IIRC but wasn't stateside till now. I have faith in that over the other newly added feature(s). I never had an instant on rain or snow where I needed dsc. Ok I take that back I did spin out a few times but thats another post in the making...
 
Last edited:
vantage8 said:
I'm a noob here .... looking to pickup a 'moist silver' (sounds wilder than liquid platignum) speed6 in the next couple of weeks but need to get snows on the car ..... Ottawa is a snow zone! thinking of using high-grip allseasons ... and hoping the AWD does the rest! comments?

Right now only 3 in Ottawa. Mine (black), a moist silver (already spoken for), and a red mica (taken by Shiv Dilawri himself). Shiv says that they are supposed to get 8 in total over the next few months, but Mazda3 states that there are only 4 slated for delivery to Bank St Mazda.

I got 17" Dunlop Graspic-2s on steelies, mounted, balanced, and installed for $1050 CAN taxes in at Deals for Wheels on Stevenage. Prices for winters started at $995 CAN even for 15"/16" with TOYOs at Bank St. I would recommend getting snows. I have TOYOs on the MSP and they faired very well the past two seasons. We had all-seasons on the old Protege (preceded the MS6), but these were not nearly half as good as the snow tires.

R
 
BlkZoomZoom said:
They had us do an autocross course against a new Subaru Legacy GT, a Audi A4, and a BMW 330i. Let me tell you that none of those cars were even remotely close as far as acceleration or handling abilities. If they think the new subaru does 14.3 then I garuntee you can get at least a 14.3-14.2 out of the MS6, maybe better.

I'm glad that you were able to test the car back-to-back with those cars since they are the cross-shop competition against which the MS6 is pitched. People have to remember that this is NOT an Evo or STi competitor. I'm happy to hear that your assessment shows that they were bang on target.

As an MSP and MS6 owner, my personal impression is that this car is bad-ass. It is nice to hear someone knowledgeable praise it so highly after having the opportunity to beat on it like this.

R
 
Took mine in for its first oil change yesterday. I had 1056 km on it. I wanted to take it in after 500 km, but I was too busy to be able to do so. The Mazdaspeed tech who usually works on all the MS vehicles at Bank St. was not there when I went in so he didn't get an opportunity to drive it. He was pissed, cause he hasn't driven it yet. I told him that I'd take him out for a spin when I change the oil at 3000 km.

I had supplied them with a 4L bottle of Mobil I synthetic oil to replace the oil with, however, the service manager told me that they had received a TSB stating that they were only to use semi-synthetic oil in this car so they didn't use it. BlkZmZm, Crossbow, Mazda3, have you heard anything about this?

R
 
There are no tsb's as of yet for this car. They reccomend 6qts of 5w/30. Thats all the info. I could find right now.
 
Rainman said:
I'm glad that you were able to test the car back-to-back with those cars since they are the cross-shop competition against which the MS6 is pitched. People have to remember that this is NOT an Evo or STi competitor. I'm happy to hear that your assessment shows that they were bang on target.

As an MSP and MS6 owner, my personal impression is that this car is bad-ass. It is nice to hear someone knowledgeable praise it so highly after having the opportunity to beat on it like this.

R
Driven both the A4 and Legacy GT....and the MS6 feels stiffer, hence more responsive in chassis, and the 2000rpm torque start is noticeable (or unoticeable!!) just look at the TRQ/PWR curves....it feel like a high-perf luxo made to scratch!! with the EVO's and STI's....
 
Rainman said:
Took mine in for its first oil change yesterday. I had 1056 km on it. I wanted to take it in after 500 km, but I was too busy to be able to do so. The Mazdaspeed tech who usually works on all the MS vehicles at Bank St. was not there when I went in so he didn't get an opportunity to drive it. He was pissed, cause he hasn't driven it yet. I told him that I'd take him out for a spin when I change the oil at 3000 km.

I had supplied them with a 4L bottle of Mobil I synthetic oil to replace the oil with, however, the service manager told me that they had received a TSB stating that they were only to use semi-synthetic oil in this car so they didn't use it. BlkZmZm, Crossbow, Mazda3, have you heard anything about this?

R

I haven't seen any TSB's, memo's, or anything in the specs that would indicate you can't use synthetic oil.
 
I contacted Mazda Tech line. There is no information released at this time other than the 5w/30.
 
So how strong is the motor and stuff? Can it take a lot of upgrades and boost like the EVO's and STI's can? Any stats on engine/tranny components?
 
Bigg Tim said:
So how strong is the motor and stuff? Can it take a lot of upgrades and boost like the EVO's and STI's can? Any stats on engine/tranny components?

It seems like it could but you never know.

Ms6 Engine:
Re-designed 2.3 Block using stronger casting and increased oiling and cooling.
Re-designed 2.3 Head with stronger casting. and other stuff.
Steel crank,
Steel rods,
Full floating pistons,
Bigger diameter piston wrist pins,
Aluminum Intake manifold,
Oil cooler,
Don't have the book with me, I think I'm forgetting a couple of things.
Transmission:
Triple synchro 1-4th,
double synchro 5,6th.
Looks very beefy,
The power take off has its own oil pump and is water cooled.

My concern with altering the factory performance is two main things. One is the Pcm controls the boost pressure and actually monitiors it. It's going to take quite the effort to come up with something that will either trick the pcm or change the parameters.
The other is the fuel system. It is unlike anything made before, especially for Mazda. 1550+ psi of fuel pressure, Fuel injectors that need 120volts to fire, A/f ratios are leaner than anything you would normally see in a N/a car, let alone a F/i.

There is always a weak link, who knows what it is. I would be using caution and thinking things through before even attempting to modify it at this point.
 
I wouldn't consider using anything but full syn in that car. 5w-30/0w-30 in the winter, probably 10w-30 in the summer/spring months (if you are putting that much mileage on it).

I'd also swap out all the diffy/tranny fluids with full synthetics as well. No reason not to.

As to oil recommendations...I suggestion taking a sample at the 2nd or 3rd oil change analysis, and getting it analyzed by terry dyson at blackstone-labs. He'll be able to make a viscosity and formulation recommendation for the vehicle based on your driving style/habit.
 
The diff and tranny are already running synthetics
 
BlkZoomZoom said:
The other is the fuel system. It is unlike anything made before, especially for Mazda. 1550+ psi of fuel pressure, Fuel injectors that need 120volts to fire, A/f ratios are leaner than anything you would normally see in a N/a car, let alone a F/i.

?? whoa... that seems like trouble.
 
Back