i took the mazdaspeed6 out for a half hour today. fun stuff.
throttle is very responsive. the car really feels eager from a standing start, makes stop and go traffic an exercise to get used to. the clutch is solid and had good feel on the pedal, grabbed good on hard shifts. you can tell a difference immediately between a Flat Rock assembled 6 and Hiroshima assembled Mazdaspeed6. the fit and finish just seem that much better and the rattles/ticks/clunks aren't there like they are in the US 6s i have driven. thankfully, tacky accents are nowhere to be found and instead you have a clean, more upscale, refined interior with a hit of brushed metal rings and leather throughout to add just the right amount of style. steering is spot on and the car corners flat for a "big car". not even the slightest bit of lean when you're gunning it into a turn. the shifter is a ******* dream compared to a protege. it snaps into every gear and you have no trouble putting it through its changes. getting back into my car, i yearned for a lack of notchiness, lack of relative effort. the ms6's shifting felt natural as hell.
of course, there is the engine. the engine purrs fairly politely by comparison to other cars and even when you rev it up, the tone is smooth and pleasant to the ears. the turbo is muted somewhat. i could stand for a little more audible exhaust note, etc. when you get on it, the car goes. and i mean it really does have some go to it. we're not talking mind blowing acceleration, but it will easily smoke your average mazdaspeed protege. the onset of power is silky smooth - no hiccups or hesitation, no speakable turbo lag and full power is relatively on tap. my only complaint, and its very noticeable, is that despite 6500 rpm redline, the car flatlines above 6000. i had run the car hard a few times to verify, but each time i did it seemed like the car just wasn't making any power past 6000 rpm. shifting at 6000 instead of 6500, the car felt a hair faster which somewhat boggled me.
overall i was impressed. plus there are rebates on them already. not going to run out and buy one, but i was told i could probably pick one up in a month or two for 22000 vs 29000.
