My neighbor across the street is a saleswoman over at the local Mazda dealership and she left a message with my wife telling me that they've got (6) MS6's in and for me to come on up there and take one out for a test drive. I was up there this afternoon and heres the lowdown on the car....
The one I drove was the base model, cloth seats and no moonroof. Its Velocity Red, which has a pearl in it and although I don't care for red really, on this car, its badass! We weren't very far from the freeway, so thats where we went first. I'm cruzin' at 80 mph and its no biggie, no biggie at all, didn't even feel like it, so I goose it down a "bit" and poof!, I'm going about 105 mph
I get off of the freeway and we hit the surface street. I'm in 3rd gear and "goose it" again, bam!, 100 mph w/ no problem and very quickly! The ride is firm, but not harsh. We get down to the roundabout and she tells me to go around it all the way, mind you I wasn't sure how wet the road was because it has snowed the past 2 days, but I "took it easy" and the car is VERY confident. I thought the 3.94 gearing would make it not too responsive, but afterwards, I changed my mind, its VERY impressive! This car inparticular was $28K, a bargain for sure and w/ leather and moonroof, should be about $31K. This car may have the hardware of the EVO/STi, but because of its gearing, lack of WRC wing and refinded interior pieces, makes it more of a competitor for the BMW 330Xi IMO, although I'm sure the EVO/STi driver would find it a nice ride
One thing I noticed was how quiet the intake was, so I'd be getting a CAI right away and I'm sure thats going to help freeing up some extra hp. In addition to that, I'd have to have a blow-off valve, purely for the sound alone and to give the car some "street cred" too
One last thing I noticed was how flattened out the exhaust was infront of the rear diff, so I'm sure a good exhaust/muffler combo would REALLY help it out. I wish I could get out of my Crossfires lease, but I know one thing for sure, my next car is going to be something like this, whether its the EVO/STi or MS6....PERIOD
