I bought a ricer

Son is closing on 17. Time to pass on the '92 Volvo which I've been. Good driver for a teenager. Safe, and easy to drive. And I uprated the sound system years ago with a big Fosgate subwoofer, so he can rattle the windows if he wants.

Been shopping for a econbox. Narrowed down to Mazda3 or Civic. Both have their attributes. Looked at the most basic, wife liked the upgrade interiors, and of course I had to test drive the limited edition ricer versions, Civic Si and Speed3.

Civic's Si VTec motor is so smooth. Keep the revs over 6000K and the car pulls pretty well too. But no dickering on the price, more like order one and wait a month for it to arrive. And in a moment of madness I wife had me drive a the Mazda Speed6. Much nicer interior, corners like nothing I've ever driven, and you can dicker there.

So now I've got a Speed6. I think it's a poor man's Audi Quatro. All wheel, seriously amped motor. Hard believing basic street machines survive over 15 lbs of boost. My does it fly down the road and it and out of turns. ANd without the silly ricer looks of a some of the amp'd Japanese cars.

Bs won't be kicked to the curb. But there is nothing you can do to a B do make it overall handle/accel like this.

How I avoid getting tickets in this arrest me red car, I don't know. Never had a car that accelerates like this before. You also probably need to sell it before it brakes. I can't imagine the $$ that drive train must cost to fix.

Make it HER car and try to keep your foot out of it when she lets you drive it. I know the feeling. it is really hard to NOT use the performance of a modern rocket on rails.

Jack

That's a great car.

Very subtle and understated.

I'd be surprised if you ever have any problems with it.

Go ahead and wail on it.

Down the road, put some Pirelli P Zero Neros on it and it will really come alive.

Almost went for one myself but opted for the Volvo V50 T5 AWD instead.

Might go the AWD Mazda route next time around.

Mazda makes a nice piece. Think I'd have paid a little more attention to the Subaru, but...<G>

(I bought a new car 40 years ago. Been buying used usually >100K miles, ever since. Payments suck dead donkey whatevers!)

Good choice on the Speed6. Hondas are smooth but you only get power high up in the rpms. Those awd turbo four cylinders are so much fun. I drove my friends subaru wrx and had a great time. Just don't get pulled over. :)

The Mazda is so much nicer than the Subaru. The fit and finish is better. The car is quieter, no lag, just a nicer vehicle overall.

The Mazda is a sleeper that offers a ton of fun when you want it.

As a current owner of and Rx-8, and past owner of a turbo (240 rear wheel HP) Miata, various RX-7' s, I can easily say, that you made the right choice.

Very classy car, that will outrun my 8, at least off the line... especially in the winter, or in the rain,
I envy all wheel drive...

I have never had a Mazda, turbo or otherwise that didn't reach at least 180k miles...

and the Miata and RX7's went well over 200K. Oh, and I drove the heck out of those cars,

Just good routine maintenance...

Congrats and enjoy!

Stephen

Nice car! I have been a passenger in a Mazda6 before. It was the V6. That car was SCARY fast!!!! And the handling was, well........like a race car.......... I keep telling myself "you don't want some new car, with all of those computers and gizmos". I like driving something that I understand mechanically. Maybe someday, When I have the money.

peace, Kyle

Nice choice in cars, they're fun to drive.
That makes me miss my Audi A4 Quattro though, but it's o.k. College tuition called, and if I hadn't sold it I would have never got a B!
congrats!

MGB's and new cars = apples and oranges.

My son just bought a new Mazda Speed, but I think it's the '3' model?

Nice car, and goes like scoot.

Mazdas are reliable, and easy to maintain. My miata had over 200,000 km/120,000 miles on it, and still ran well.

I always though that Ford should have bought MG and rebadged Mazda as MG - I know, I am a heritic but it would have been better than the Chinese. Plus if you look at Mazda's range it almost duplicates what the last version of MG-Rover had. Hertz once gave me a full dress Mazda 6 as my rental for the week and I was totally impressed.

Personally I have always been more for the handling and quickness type of driver rather than balls out horse power. To me being able to enter a corner posted for 40MPH, going in at 60, and coming out the other side still on the road and in complete control is what driving is all about. Going 110 to nowhere with your hair on fire is not my idea of fun. Save that for the track, not the street. Most new car makers today really miss the point, watch their commercials. Rarely do they show any more than a fleeting glimpse of the car and NEVER spaek of their features other than GPS (learn how to read a map for God's sake) and they ALWAYS, ALWAYS show the vehicles in some sort of a four wheeled drift in clouds of dust. Puhleeeze!

Sorry for the rant, I just get so annoyed at those commercials, that I wind up loathing the cars without even giving them a chance. Anyway, Alonzo, I'm sure that your son will enjoy whatever car he winds up with and learns to respect the vehicle and drives responsibly. (now I sound like a liquor ad)

Time to go relax with The Bearcar.

I won't let my son drive this thing. Heck, the '92 940/GL with a turbo has a bit more motor than I'd like for him, but serious turbo lag.

If cornering is your thing, and it is mine, it really shines there.

I suspect it would be extremely difficult to drift in Speed6 b/c of the all-wheel drive and I guess you'd have to turn off the active supension as well.

Years ago I have a first generation 626, and then a B2200 pickup. Very well executed basic cars. As was the first generation Miata. Which was really the GLC in a roadster config.

Effective today in Ontario if you are caught speeding 30 km/h or 30 mph over the speed limit they can impound your car and suspend your licence for 7 days. In the first 8 hours they caught 24 drivers including one guy who only had his new car for 2 days, and a young kid who burst into tears when he found out his mom's car would be impounded.

The B will keep me out of that trouble...

Ken

Stepehn. The Speed6 will beat the RX 8. WOW!!! that is really fast, 'cause I really like the RX8

pgawan2be Wrote:

Sounds to me like you made the right choice as well. I got to drive the new Civic SI 6 speed around VIR for a few laps, it was a blast to drive hard, but I noticed to it got the most fun when the rpms got way up there, that would only render me a ticket on the street driving around at 6000K, it was fun on the track, but the not alot of torque down low. It was the first late modle FWD car in may years that I got to really put thru it's paces on the track, it was very predictable, and rotated quite nicely, I was impressed at how much FWD handling has improved over the years. The wifey has a CRV, which is the most predicatble handling SUV I ever driven, it's been a real good good car, I'd love to have ricer pocket rocket myself.