No more trucks.

[Cluck]

Though I have been fascinated by the car world, I've still yet to own a car I can actually play with. It's finally time to trade in my truck and buy a car.
After looking around, I fell in love with the mazda 6, and i'm sure you all know why. As i've stated, i'm new to the car world. Meaning, I have lots of questions for you guys.

First question: What are the differences between the Mazda6 and the Mazdaspeed6? I'm trying to keep a lower base price if I can help it. I don't mind having an 03 or 04, if I can can get one for about 10k cheaper than a MS6 and possibly mod it up to MS6 standards easily.

next: as soon as I get a car, i'm going to start with the mods. I'm going to have fun with this car. first of, the drop. is something like this all I need? also, will lowering impede me from fitting 18" wheels on it?

one more: grilles. I've seen this on a lot of your cars around the forum, what is this grille?

okay, last one: engine mods. Where should I start?

I really appreciate this, guys. You'll probably be seeing a lot of me around here.

 

[Raynman]

Well, for starters the Mazdaspeed6 is has a turbo 2.3L DISI four cylinder and all wheel drive. The Mazda 6 is front wheel drive and has comes in either a 2.3L four cyclinder or a 3.0 L V6 based on the Duratec - both of which are naturally aspirated.

As far as wheel/tire/suspension combinations go, the biggest factor is the offset of the wheels. Run too low of an offset or too wide a wheel, then you risk having the tire rub on the inside of the fender lip in the wheel well. Rolling that lip inwards may buy you some precious space to prevent this from happening, but it depends on the wheel width and/or offset.

Dunno if you've read these Readmes:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123666491
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123666992

As far as the other stuff, I defer to the MS6 crowd.