All MS6 owners, former and current, seem to sing nothing but praises for that car. It's a shame Mazda killed it after only two years. I was in the market for the MS6 six months ago but couldn't find a decent, running one that wasn't beat to hell within 50 miles of me for months. I got impatient and ended up going with Ford's other mistress during those years, Volvo. Regretting it since October/2017.

 

I heard the engine in the MS6 was crazy problematic.

I think the TL SH-AWD was in that category. Very quick, very Japanese, AWD + 6MT if you could get past the looks.

 

^^ it was they where known for bent rods and the turbo oil seals. The car from the factory idled to low and seal would eventually leak and burn oil. I had a 2008 Cosmic Blue Mica, MS3 and had the idle changed VIA tune and it still leaked and burned oil only 18K miles. I traded it for a G37X Coupe back in 2011,

When I move on from my Q50, its either a Redsport or S7

 

Prior gen TL got Brembo brakes, LSD. Seems worthy enough to join the ranks of the MS6.

Large point being, manufactures use to offer spiced up versions of virtually every car with an available 6MT and tens of people bought them, so it's no surprise that practice ceased.

 

It comes down to a matter of people who want an experience vs people who just want performance. I think the latter group represents 99% of enthusiasts.

To put things in perspective, the new X3 M40i is about as fast as an E9x M3 in a straight line, and OK handling (0.84g vs 0.94g in the M3). And that is really just a matter of tires... the X5M beats the old M3 (0.98g!!!!!!). Plus keep in mind the X3 gets like 50% better gas mileage.

Some enthusiasts will say "IDGAF, I want a proper sedan and 3 pedals, I don't care how fast the SUV is". But hell man. I like sedans too, but at the minimum I'd give the X3 a look. I think a lot of purists either don't know or flat out ignore how (objectively) good "un-thusiast" cars have become, especially as daily drivers. For weekend driving and track days and stuff, hell yea, proper sedans and sports cars all day. But for the daily grind? With a family and all that? Not so cut and dry......

 

bought an MS6 new...
only had the oil seal issue but never a bent rod...
autocrosssed.. dragged... tracked and daily'd her till i sold her for the g37s..
regret selling her but not because of the g... for what it was... it was a great sedan..

 

Haha, it was in fact very Japanese. That said, it was WAY more money and had zero tuning potential, unlike the LGT and MS6. If you were looking for a bigger and more refined version of the LGT/MS6 and didn't have an interest in tuning, it was certainly a good option. The 3.7L does sound awesome with a short-ram intake.

 

If Subaru ever releases a hatch STI again I will find a way to afford it. Selling my '09 stage 2 is my biggest car regret. Had a D-shape Alcantara wrapped wheel with an 11.5:1 steering rack and it was the most on rails car I've ever driven. Double lane change with a flick of the wrist.

I look at the current car with it's D shaped wheel and tighter rack and I can't help thinking Subaru was reading my threads for inspiration. If only they read my complaints about them never making the production car look like the concept.

 

It's fun looking at all the new cars and seeing what I might be able to afford 10 years from now. If life keeps on track I'd like to get a nice car every decade. I'd have 5 years to pay it off and 5 years to grow tired of it and save for the next one.

​​​​The next one has to be significantly quicker than the last. The last sports car I owned was an RSX Type S and I thought the G was a reasonable jump in performance from that. It'd be nice to make a similar jump for the next car - possibly a used CTS-V, Audi RS3, or very used Porsche Panamera Turbo. I could see myself going paddle shifters and keeping the G in storage for my manual fix. I got nine years to think about it!

 

I wen't and put a deposit down for a Model 3 last month. My turn won't come for another 12+ months, so hopefully the dual motor performance version will be out by then.

 

If you only have 39k miles, just keep it and drive it!

 

On the topic of how much power is enough power that was being discussed a few pages back, I agree with Rochester.
After a certain point, the power becomes a bit useless on the street with our traffic laws.

I haven't owned any seriously powerful cars (lightly modded WRX, V6 accord, current G37xS) but I have owned several superbikes. The power is overkill and you're constantly on the lookout for cops. Takes the fun out of it. These days I prefer my lower displacement bikes i.e. 600cc.

As they say, it's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow and it couldn't be more true!

 

I don't know about a slow car fast, but I think a quick car fast is about ideal. Once you get faster than like a 13 flat, it gets a bit pointless for the street. Unless you have a 1/4 mile strip or a fast track like Road America or CoTA big power is a bit pointless.

 

Well this car is really just holding me over until I can start my mk3 supra project back up. I've been working at an Infiniti dealership for 3 years now, so if I had to pick a successor I'd say a Iridium Blue Silver S Q50 (2018). Red sports are great but you can save a ton of money and just tune the normal 300's to destroy the red sports.

 

until the rs decides they want to play also...