Mazda6 MPS or alternatives

[Janner_Sy]

Well going through our finances i dont think i can stretch to running two cars so were going to sell both cars now and get one single car so im on the look out.  After AWD, good interior and good power.  Now the interior issue negates the EVO and Impreza being elligable, leaving me with the 6MPS and S3.  I drove both today in ashford (both 56 plate and both under 50k mileage).

Anyway, we all know the S3 is good so about the MPS then.  Always a treat when they give you the car on your own and say bring it back when your finished.

Well:  i really liked it actually.  And the missus liked it as well, which is a bonus, as it saves me ear ache if i  buy something she doesnt like.  for instance she was 100% against the impreza.

1-Loved the look of it in black. really stealth in appearance,  the ride height was perfect which is a bonus.  The vRS looked like it was on stilts.  It rode the bumps very very well.  And the interior is very nice indeed, although the front seats could definitely do with bigger side bolsters.  What i like is the fixed options list.  the only available option on these was the sat nav.  everything else, and i mean everything is std,

2-Handling.  I was deliberately burying the throttle early on bends to get it to lose traction, and it just grips really quickly.  really impressed with that as well.  Although it does understeer a little when on the power mid bend and it definitely could do with the rear ARB and a bit more neg camber on the front to keep the nose tucked in(no where near as bad as a std vRS though).  I don't think id change the springs TBH, maybe just the dampers.  They had some cheopo pirelli tyres on which id change for something stickier.  

A few things i wasnt keen on though.

1- 1st-4th gears are really short. i mean seriously 4th gear and only just over 100mph : eek2 : whats that about.  It definitely felt like i was changing gear alot, and im not sure what it would be like on track with gears that short.   That said the gear shift was nice and short.  Much better shift than my vRS which had a forge shifter fitted.

2-  Power felt great up to about 4500rpm, then it definitely dies down at the top end in all the gears.   Not to much of an issue as reducing the air flow restrictions(intake/exhaust) and mapping it would cure this big style.  And dare i say it, there is a slight hint of lag between burying it, and the car responding

here is my thought on this though.  As said before the gears a really short, and that's with 256hp/280Ibft.  Increasing this to 310Hp+/360Ibft+ would make it rev ALOT faster so, im thinking it could get frantic with the gear changes.

3-Clutch!!-  Presumably 4x4 grip will eat a clutch quicker than FWD.  This car had covered 45k, and was not capable of a full bore start.  granted you never know how much abuse its taken,  but launching with 3k and it just couldn't bite. (maybe its me not launching AWD correctly, although i drove an S3 and it had no issue with this)

4-Brakes-  sort of unknown area as i have no idea on the state of the fluids etc. the pads looked ok, but the brakes were definitely the weakest point of this car, and id be certain they wouldn't last on a track day.  Definitely something i'd change when i pick one up.


well as i said earlier i also drove a 56 plate S3 today to help and get a base to compare the car against.  Well the S3 had much better brakes, and handled marginally better, with much more midrange.  however for the same age car it was £6000 more expensive than the 6MPS : eek2 :  : eek2 :   it might be the better car, but it isn't £6k better.  Is also a little to small for me as well.

There were a couple marks on that one that put me of of it, and it was quite highly priced for its age as well, so I'm going to search around instead for a better version.  The guy tried to sweeten it with the 12 month mechanical warranty, but that would be voided immediately when i start modding it, so would be a waste.

Im thinking considering its 256Hp/280Ibft standard it should reach 310Hp/360Ibft with a few bolt ons and some custom mapping.  i think it'd be a great Q car, that would catch alot of quick cars out

Anyone have experience of these cars?

[Poverty]

Know there are difficulties in modding the mps3 not sure about the 6.

Do your research beforehand if you plan to mod

[markc]

Hi mate,

Maybe an odd comment here for you here, but I had a Mazda 3 MPS 265bhp (2wd), revving up along side my ED30 a couple of weeks back.  I said goodbye to it even after lighting my wheels up in 2nd gear, (and not bothering to set off in 1st  ).   Never driven an MPS, 6 or 3, but the thing was quick make no mistake, it would destroy a std ED30

[Janner_Sy]

I will do.  From what i gather remapping is limited to tuners who can use ECUTEC software.  but there are about 3 or 4 places in UK doing this.  Theres not much of a tuning scene in UK yet, its just taking off, but the yanks are running all sorts of BT conversions on them etc.

It seems that the exhaust is a massive restriction on these cars,  and they respond well to a HPFP upgrade as well.

[Janner_Sy]

anybody any input on the 6MPS then?

[Chris]

was going to buy a 6 mps myself until i saw the road tax bracket etc

[Janner_Sy]

yeah i know, not good, but i can get over that lol.  most imprezas/evos fall in this bracket anyway. 

however if you find an MPS registered between 2 Jan 2006 – 23 Mar 2006 then the tax is only £245 per year, if you go after that you get sparked with £425

[Greeners]

Dey is damn fugly that much I do know!

Been looking at these recently to and they just look really dated to me!

[Sunglasses Ron]

Hi mate,

Maybe an odd comment here for you here, but I had a Mazda 3 MPS 265bhp (2wd), revving up along side my ED30 a couple of weeks back.  I said goodbye to it even after lighting my wheels up in 2nd gear, (and not bothering to set off in 1st  ).   Never driven an MPS, 6 or 3, but the thing was quick make no mistake, it would destroy a std ED30

Not sure about that mate. They are torque monsters for a standard car, but do run out of puff a bit top end I found and as for destroying a ED30???   Not sure about that bud. They are around 15 secs 0-100mph which is roughly the same as the ED30 too..  
I suggest you use the right gear next time..  

Regarding the 6MPS, it sounds like a decent car for your needs and do have a stealth look about them and go pretty well too. Only thing I don't like about them is the exhausts. Nice big RS4 style pipes, but if you look closer you will see they are surrounds and have pee shooters inside them..  

[Janner_Sy]

i really liked them.  understated but meaty looks.  i like the fact that its a rare car.  For some reason i prefer big cars to small hatches.   cars like this, BMW 3 series etc etc.

Plus not many people know what they are, so it'd be a treat to catch people out unexpected.

the engines make awesome torque as well.  280Ibft as standard, 330-360Ibft once mapped,  and upto 400Ibft once you get the exhaust/fuel pump/intake/IC fitted.

Im meeting up with a guy this week to have a go in his MPS running all of the above

Hi mate,

Maybe an odd comment here for you here, but I had a Mazda 3 MPS 265bhp (2wd), revving up along side my ED30 a couple of weeks back.  I said goodbye to it even after lighting my wheels up in 2nd gear, (and not bothering to set off in 1st  ).   Never driven an MPS, 6 or 3, but the thing was quick make no mistake, it would destroy a std ED30

Not sure about that mate. They are torque monsters for a standard car, but do run out of puff a bit top end I found and as for destroying a ED30???   Not sure about that bud. They are around 15 secs 0-100mph which is roughly the same as the ED30 too..  
I suggest you use the right gear next time..  

Regarding the 6MPS, it sounds like a decent car for your needs and do have a stealth look about them and go pretty well too. Only thing I don't like about them is the exhausts. Nice big RS4 style pipes, but if you look closer you will see they are surrounds and have pee shooters inside them..  

seriously mate, ive driven ed30's, ive also had a stage 1, 2 and 2+ k03 TFSI, so ive got a good base to compare, it seriously would destroy a std ed30.

you are correct about losing puff at the top end though. This is a quote from an ecutek tuner ref the MPS:

"the  MPS ECU carefully controls Engine Torque Output by accurately using the throttle butterfly to limit airflow into the engine. Even whilst the accel pedal may be fully depressed the throttle butterfly will only open around 60%"

presumably this is to keep down the emissions.  on all the before and after graphs of std/remapped MPS's  the peak gains are only around 30Hp(5500rpm), however at 6500rpm there are gains of 70-80Hp

this is the ecutek 'stage 1' map

[jhtrophy]

dont know much about them mate, dont look very nice though, as for destroying ed 30, 260bhp awd in a big car like that, cant see it been any faster than a 230bhp hot hatch. but diff to usual sti, evo etc

[Janner_Sy]

well my vRS was putting out 240Hp/270Ibft  and this was most definately quicker than that, and i assure you my vRS was quicker than a std ed30

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1561-1391.htm  

Not to far off each other to be fair, the MPS is a much bigger car with an AWD system as well,  but the reason for me looking at these though is the ability to put down remapped power outputs of 300Hp+ down to the ground in all weather.

[Sunglasses Ron]

The 6 MPS wouldn't be as quick as an ED30, let alone DESTROY one.. But I think the guy is on about a 3 MPS which is obviously FWD and 256bhp.
I would happily take on a standard MPS in a standard ED30 and be confident that it wouldn't leave me, let alone destroy me!!! I've seen quite a few running at Pod and they aren't that impressive at all TBH.
Take these ones for example...
http://s589.photobucket.com/albums/ss339/Sinn3h/21%2006%2009%20santapod/?action=view&current=MOV02772.flv
http://s589.photobucket.com/albums/ss339/Sinn3h/21%2006%2009%20santapod/?action=view&current=MOV02773.flv
http://s589.photobucket.com/albums/ss339/Sinn3h/21%2006%2009%20santapod/?action=view&current=MOV02787.flv
http://s589.photobucket.com/albums/ss339/Sinn3h/21%2006%2009%20santapod/?action=view&current=MOV02705.flv

And they are modded... 

[Sunglasses Ron]

well my vRS was putting out 240Hp/270Ibft  and this was most definately quicker than that, and i assure you my vRS was quicker than a std ed30

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1561-1391.htm  

Not to far off each other to be fair, the MPS is a much bigger car with an AWD system as well,  but the reason for me looking at these though is the ability to put down remapped power outputs of 300Hp+ down to the ground in all weather.

Depends which website you look at mate.. 
 
http://www.fastestlaps.com/comparisons/45c81efb18f1d-vs-46767cd391964.html

But TBH I never take these sites as gosbel and always pay more attention to the likes of Autocar and Evo mag when they do independent tests against the clock.

[Janner_Sy]

ill give you that,  maybe destroy is the wrong word but id be confident of it coming out in front(just).  

the biggest deal for me though after having my vRS with good tyres and all the chassis mods was how easy it was to spin away the power off the mark especially in the wet as well as in the bends.  this put down similar performance even in the wet

those would have been std.  1/4 mile in stock form is the low 14's

Depends which website you look at mate..  
 
http://www.fastestlaps.com/comparisons/45c81efb18f1d-vs-46767cd391964.html

But TBH I never take these sites as gosbel and always pay more attention to the likes of Autocar and Evo mag when they do independent tests against the clock.

i believe you should re-read which car wins that mate.  however thats the 3 MPS.  Im not interested in that.  the 6 would be a more even match with the extra weight and more similar power to weight ratios etc

i agree with you there about not believing in half of the reports you get.  to be fair the 6mps would never be a match for the GTI on a track when it comes to throw-ability, im fully aware of that.