TripleZoom: Road Test- 2006 Mazdaspeed6

[Newf]

I think it was a fair article. I agree that the shifter is a bit notchy and loose. I wasn't really impressed with it, and even prefered my MSP shifter. I didn't find it hard to get into reverse though.

The two tone leather inside is a love it or hate it type of thing. Personally I'd want solid black. Not that I hate the two tone myself, but I just prefer black. I'd also want to see less shiney plastic inside.

I'll agree completely with the wheel statement. But, i am getting a little tired of people "estimating" a 0-60 of low 6's when other magazines have now actually tested at ~5.4 seconds. How can you "estimate" when others have already proven lower numbers? A bit of research before you read maybe? Lets not forget that the Mazdaspeed protege was the first to wear the Mazdaspeed logo, but the MP3 was the vehicle that started all of this and was Mazda's "test the waters car", not the MSP.

 

[Antoine]

Heh, I'll admit I have a pretty deep history with VAG products, but my Mazda roots also run pretty deep - I've owned an RX-2, an RX-3, and even an RX-4 wagon that I loved dearly All the more reason my errors in that MS6 article are pretty lame, right?

In regards to the MS6, I must admit I didn't really like the car the first time I drove it. Not much going on below 3k rpm, steering a bit overboosted and lacking in feedback, a notchy and somewhat vague gearshift (at least on my test car), an obvious two or three-hundred pounds to carry around... But then I realized why the manufacturers let folks like myself keep these cars for a full week rather than just one day

The car is impressively quick and has very high handling limits. What makes it truly endearing is how easily it lets you explore those limits, but without having to pretend you're Colin McRae. Everything works together as a complete package and there really are no glaring deficiencies, outside a disappointing lack of lateral support from the front seats.

Spending time with the MS6 afforded me the chance to really get a feel for what its true purpose is. Mazdaspeed went far out of its way to give this car a more grown up feel than any STi or EVO could ever hope to achieve. That being said, there's still something "special" about this car that comes across more viscerally than the feeling you get from a Legacy GT. One can scoff at AMG or Audi S-car references all they want, but from a big-picture perspective, Mazdaspeed has really done a good job in mimicking the same approach.

Even though I gave you a bit of a hard time with my post...I do appreciate that you "owned up" and explained yourself here on Mazda Forums. I like the triplezoom layout...but it just seems like some weak extension of the vortex "empire"...How is triplezoom run? I think your site would benefit much more if it were associated with Mazda Forums...not a VW site.

PM ME anytime...I'd be interested in discussing this further...