Here's what AUTOWEEK said about the MazdaSpeed6

[DeanSweet]

Just got this in the mail today.
Sorry it's so blurry. EMail or PM me if you want bigger/better versions.
Enjoy.

-Dean

[bazooka joe]

(cool) sounds like it could be a winner!

[Super Matty P]

looks good. I think I'll just stick to turboing my 2.3L 3S.

[DeanSweet]

sounds like you could do it with genuine OEM Mazda parts next year?! :)

[mp5jeff]

wtf that thing weighs over 3600 lbs, that's rediculous...

[Mikey444]

wtf that thing weighs over 3600 lbs, that's rediculous...
Which is the reason I decide to stop looking at the car and stop drooling all over it.

[crossbow]

I liked the part of the article which pointed out how much of a damn yaht the thing is...


It tends to understeer on entry at every turn when pushed hard, requiring a serious amount of steering input to get the nose pointed toward the desired direction of travel
And how transparent the AWD system is...

After the initial turn-in you can feel the awd kick in
Sigh. I wanted this car to be utterly badass. Now its just a pile of slow mediocre.

[MikeBlueP5]

damn pushing 15+ psi stock, not too shabby too bad the fsde cant handle that.

[Iggy]

now if Mazda could produce that car with about 300lbs less curb weight, it would have a huge winner on its hand. But with all the weight of the turbo setup, and the all wheel drive parts, not to mention all the luxury features, we are left with basically a nice GT car.

[seanmcsean]

glad I saved my money.. I was considering trading in the hatch for it.

[mp5jeff]

that curb weight would be a deciding factor if i was ever to look at that car, even if you do weight reduction you are still over weight compared to most other cars in the same class, bullshit!

[boostisgood]

Shit, that thing weighs as much as a BMw 7 series. Bah, Mazda fuckin up again.

[bazooka joe]

now if Mazda could produce that car with about 300lbs less curb weight, it would have a huge winner on its hand. But with all the weight of the turbo setup, and the all wheel drive parts, not to mention all the luxury features, we are left with basically a nice GT car.
do what the evo folks did, remove the sound deadening, radio, ac etc....

[crossbow]

Don't forget...the MPS 6 can't put down the rear seats...which means no room for a set of track wheels/tires.

USELESS!!!

[NegatiZE]

I think it's a damn nice car. It's not meant to compete with an EVO or the likes. It's a midsized family car for christs sake...and a damn nice one at that!

The main competitor to this would be the Subaru Legacy GT. Can't think of anything else at the moment that has similar power/AWD.

[Iggy]

Even the Subaru Legacy Gt will spank it. That car does the quarter in mid 14's if i remember, and weighs a few hundred lbs less as well.

lets put it this way, that car weighs as much as mine and sean's friends 96 Impala (the boat on wheels)

[Necessity]

Don't forget...the MPS 6 can't put down the rear seats...which means no room for a set of track wheels/tires.

USELESS!!!
You could still fit them in Greg. However, it would make an awful mess on the rear seats:(

I'd say our rear seats + spare and jack are good for maybe a hundred lbs. I'm not sure what else you could easily rip out that wouldn't be too hard to put back in. Even at 3500 lbs + driver of what 150-200lbs..

I will say that I'm not a big fan of autoweek in any way. I'd very much like to see a few more reviews.

[Da 6]

do what I did...Pull the engine! Thats gotta be the heaviest thing in the car ;) but seriously how can you even comapre the awd to the legacy? the awd it is using was designed for a lower powered 2.0 not a kicking screaming 276 hp 2.3!

[crossbow]

The rear differential itself is probably around 150 lbs. Then you've got the transfer case, the reinforcement in the transmission (its got an extra spline for the transfer case)...then you reach the engine.

Plus its got all sorts of "oooh" "ahhh" features...like press button engine start (because turning the key is very hard). The C6 type keycard that unlocks doors and what not, all the standard features a 6i usually doesn't come with (even more weight).

Heck just the addition of side airbags is 50-75 lbs.

[Da 6]

I say with all those features...Make it a real RWD luxury car trim like the TL but RWD. It's obvious you can't be fast and pimp at the same time...look at evo sti srt-4 and msp interior hell dodge even made 01-02 acr neon w/o a/c and a radio! Les is more if you want sheer WHP and out run it's compedators on the track. Making a speed car that isn't speed is like a flat chested chick on cover of penthouse!

*edit*add mustang cobra interior to that list as well