So these Mazda's you speak of...

[SX APPEAL]

Specifically the Mazdaspeed 6.

I've been looking at a couple of them online as a possible next car, and figured since everyone on here seems to be Mazda lovers now anyway figured you guys might have some experience with them. Just the usual stuff, how are they to drive, what's the maintenance like, is the pedal box conducive to frequent heel-toe downshifting... etc? Also do they really feel as fast as a 5.8 0-60 time suggests, or is the 2.3 turbo just another peaky turbo engine with nothing under the curve that you have to drive the nuts off of to get anything out of it?

[numbnuts240]

i can't speak for the speed6, but i've driven my buddy's speed3 quite a bit, often pretty hard, and it's a blast to drive. out of boost, putting around town it's perfectly fine. iirc, the turbo begins spooling up somewhere between 2.5-3k. after that it moves. again, this is speaking of the speed3, same engine just fwd.

[Kompresshun]

I had a buddy that had a lightly modified Speed6 and it was badass to say the least. His was only around 300hp, but i've seen them make as much as 600hp.

I've driven it personally and I was really impressed with it. It was surprisingly quick, is AWD, and handled extremely well. I can't speak for heel/toe but everything else was good IMHO.

Maintenance wise, the 2.3T in them seem pretty reliable but he did have to have the engine replaced in his due to a piston coming apart. He beats on his vehicles harder than anyone I know though, so I would likely think that it was his fault.

[SX APPEAL]

LOL well I'm not sure that's completely reassuring. Do you know what the normal maintenance schedule for one should be?

Yeah I've looked at the speed3 too, but I just don't like the bodystyle or the fwd. Another thing I'm worried about is the reliability of a high(er) mileage turbo engine. The one's I've been looking at are 06's and have close to 100K on the clock.

[Kompresshun]

I wouldn't take that as not reassuring because as I said - He beats on his vehicles very hard and pushes them to their limits on a daily basis.

I have no idea what the maintenance schedule is on them, but they would be exactly the same as the Speed3. Probably 5k mi oil change intervals, but I don't know what else.

I've seen plenty of them go well past 100k, but like with any performance car and something with a turbo strapped to it you are going to likely have more issues with it than your normal run of the mill vehicles. I wouldn't say they're particularly bad vehicles though and you can face issues with any vehicle, so buy what you like.

I've driven both the Speed3 and the Speed6 and honestly I think the 3 is the better of the two. I think the 6 looks too plain and it's a lot heavier than the 3, but both are excellent cars. Honestly if I were sedan shopping though and wanted something that could still be fun, the 6 wouldn't be my first choice. I would lay my money down on a G35 or G35X sedan and call it a day. Better vehicle, more fun, more reliable, and more overall potential.

[SX APPEAL]

I've been looking at quite a few of those too. Its just so hard to find one with a 6 speed, close-by anyway. Also the speed 6's, which seem to be turning up more for some reason, are a bit more affordable.

[Kompresshun]

I think that would concern me too, because i've noticed that the Speed 6's have gotten considerably cheaper now as well. 2-3 years ago when I was looking for my last car I tried to find one and they were high, but also next to impossible to find. Now it's fairly easy to find one at $10k or less. I looked again this year when I was looking to purchase something else and I found quite a few in my area for less than $10k.

On the other hand, I could only find one 6MT G35 sedan and very few automatic ones. Automatic coupes aren't too hard to find, but 6MT ones are impossible here.

[SX APPEAL]

Exact same boat I'm in right now, Speed6's are everywhere for $8-10K, whereas 6MT G35 Sedans are all but impossible to find and are going for $10-15. Idk I really wont be seriously ready to commit to one (unless I stumble upon the deal of the century) for another month or two, but I wanted to at least get some trustworthy opinions on the Speed6 for when the time comes.

[OriginalWheelman]

The problem with all the Mazdaspeed models is they are all the same age. So they all live and die as a group. It's going to be hard to find one now that isn't in need of some manner of serious maintenance. If you really want one, you're playing "Guess the owner history."

[OriginalWheelman]

If you're looking for a turbo AWD sedan...

http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detai ... /overview/

Just throwing that out there.

[SX APPEAL]

I had thought about the Legacy, hadn't really looked into them yet. My bosses would like it if I bought that one too, seeing as how my dealership is part of that same group. I could actually go and look at that tonight...

[OriginalWheelman]

The Legacy GT is a great car. I wouldn't mind one myself. It's got the Impreza engine and such, but you don't look like a kid driving one.

[SX APPEAL]

Actually called on that one, evidently it's not is as good of shape as their ad made it out to be because they just wholesaled it, couldn't pass inspection. Typical dealership s***...

[MinisterofDOOM]

The Duratec 30 in the V6 6 was never really the greatest engine around anyway, so despite my dislike for 4s, the 2.3 is a huge upgrade. I believe it actually significantly out-torques the Duratec, and at lower RPMs. Really, 2.3 liters makes for a BIG 4 where boost is concerned, so it should have plenty of torque all over. And, being a Mazda 4, refinement is better than most. It sounds pretty good for a 4, too. And of course it's eminently tunable.

The killer for me with the MS6 is AWD. I've never understood AWD in general, but AWD on normally-FWD cars is particularly brain-melting. The benefits come nowhere near outweighing the costs, even in the most ideal conditions. If you're dealing with weather where FWD is not sufficiently confidence inspiring, you don't need AWD, you need a 4x4 (or a cab).

[SX APPEAL]

Idk, I like the idea of the off-the-line acceleration advantage AWD brings. and Also the idea that *At least SOME power is going to the rear wheels* lol, I'm really not a FWD fan. I've missed RWD for years since I got rid of my 240's. That's why I'm shooting for a G35 Sedan 6MT, but in light of their price and lack of availabitlity, the Legacy and the Speed6 are viable alternatives.

[OriginalWheelman]

http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detai ... /overview/

[Kompresshun]

I was going to suggest a CTS-V too, or honestly a CTS Sport from that generation is a fairly good vehicle too but you can't get it with a manual.

[nissangirl74]

As an owner of a Speed3, I can tell you that they are a blast to drive. I've had mine since May of 2013 and it has about 32K miles on it. I change my oil (synthetic only) every 4-5K, just depends on how hard I've been on it, ambient air temps, etc. I've not had any issues with mine other than uneven tire wear, which is a well-documented problem with the Speed3s on the Mazda forums. (Gotta have camber plates) Mazda messes with the alignment pretty aggressively to help compensate for the torque steer. Personally, I've never had an issue controlling the car but apparently people who don't know how to drive end up putting them in ditches.
I can not speak as to the reliability / drivability of the older Speed3s, as mine is the only one I have driven.

We used to own a G35 coupe that was a blast to drive. A 6MT G Sedan is on my short list.

[OriginalWheelman]

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresu ... ce=UTILITY

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresu ... REFINEMENT

[SX APPEAL]

The CTS-V is a little out of my price range, trying to stay as close as possible to 10K, and damn you for tempting me with a car like that that's just barely out of reach I might take another look at the Speed3's but honestly they don't really turn me on. I stumbled upon a silver G35 coupe 6MT the other day, might go look at it on Saturday. They're still too high on it at 14K for me right now though, and it has the light colored interior that I don't like as much as the black. But I might at least test drive it.

[Jesda]

Lots of Gen 1 CTS-Vs out there if you do some scouring. I almost got one for $8k but it needed a rear door.