Hi Guys I've been looking for a low mileage 6 MPS for a while now and I will keep waiting until the perfect one comes along. What I want to know is what are these really like to drive? I don't want to be disappointed because I've waited so long hah. I know fuel economy ain't great but how bad? What they like in the snow? I live in the country and we get pretty bad snow and the roads are crap! Comfortable? I can't really find many reviews on you tube or anything!

Look forward to learning about these cars more while on here

The MPS 6 lowdown:
A low milage one shouldn't give you much trouble. as long as it's been serviced regularly and kept topped up with oil.
Theres one in Birmingham on auto trader for £4.5K with good service history.

The good:
Cornering is fantastic with the AWD Electronic Control Coupling and the Limited Slip Diff combined with the Dynamic Stability Control and Traction Control System will detect any understeer and push you into the corner, having only driven front wheel drive before I found myself oversteering in to the corners. Not sure about the snow but I booted it on newly laid road once with chippings and got it very sideways unintentionally. most of the time this things stick to the road like glue.
The chassis is stiff enough with strengthening like the rear seats don't come down (unless you take the panel off and flick the secret switch) and are obstructed with bracing so don't think your going to carry much apart from a couple of golf bags. The ride with the leather bucket seats with electronic adjustment keeps you comfortable on long journeys along with cruise control and air con to keep you cool. The suspension is nice and stiff.
Acceleration is great with turbo kicking in at the lights is enough to burn most off the line and keeps up with new cars.
fuel economy is OK as long as you don't have a heavy right foot. the tank will cost you about £60 to fill and last about 300miles.
the fuel information is in 100 miles per litre on the motorway you can get under 20L but buzzing it around town up to 25L
There is plenty of stuff you can mod: engine mounts, fuel pump, cams, suspension, diff mounts, air intake, sports exhaust, brake disc/pads, remap etc if that thing floats your boat.
The standard brakes are ok as long as you are not flying round a track as they will overheat and fade as i found out at 120mph at bedford autodrome. 130 is the fastest I've dared going in mine.
Bose audio system is nice with plenty of bass but...

The Bad:
the head unit is dated and only has CD and tuner normally you can retrofit a £60 bluetooth connection for audio streaming and phone calls to the CD port and is fairly easy to fit and you can use the steering wheel to answer calls and change tracks.
Tyres are fairly expensive I go for the Bridgestone Potenza with are about £560 for a full set and last me about a year.
The alloys are prone to peel on the paint.
Other negatives are rear arches rust and the power steering coolers rust.
When its getting over 100,000miles and depending on how hard it's been driven then you may suffer from a stretched chain and VVT actuator problems and it isn't easy or cheap ~£1100 to get done.
Also as it's a turbo these are prone to the seals leaking and you could lose oil.
The summary:
So if you want a family saloon or exec car with a bit of hidden power/good road handling and maybe a cheeky track day this sleeper car is for you.
Get your wallet out and join the club.

The newest 6MPS is now 9 years old so it is very unlikely you will find a perfect car. I have had a fair amount of experience in the snow and ice and can confirm that they are really good as I live on a hill which catches out a hell of a lot of cars. If you go for 225/40/18 tyres and choose F1`s of Rainsports then you can get a set for less than £400 fitted. The before 23/3/06 cars are in the £300 peryear band, the others are in the £500 per year band.

Important to know that the 6MPS is a superb high speed cruiser with excellent traction. It is not roadgoing rally car like an Evo of Scooby. It`s too big and heavy for a start.
Word of warning. If you buy one find out if it has been tuned. It is OK if it has been done properly ( read up on this forum about this). If it hasn`t then I wouldn`t touch it.

In response to Gazcorb:

I agree with most of the good, however, The chassis still gets noticeable body roll when chucking it around
Seats are comfortable but the dont "hold" you, not like bucket seats.
Suspension is adequate but slap a set of B8's and some H&R Springs and the difference is noticeable.

Fuel Economy... a tank is currently sitting around 60ish, I tend to get 230-250 miles to a tank.
Been well under 20L/100m on longer jaunts but I only really do short trips, aroudn 20-22mpg last time I checked.

Head unit..not really sure what you want of a head unit tbh.
Mine plays CD's, tunes to the radio and an aux cable will cost you about £7 to fit thats all I need it for haha
There are more expensive options such as Gromm and the XCarlink if you must have BT/Wireless/SD/USB even ipod integration to the steering wheel
I do believe that there's also a full blown android head unit available for both the 3 and 6.

Tyres... Wow thats expensive.
I normally go with Uniroyal RS3's and typically I get a full set fitted and balanced for under £300, one set of those alsted me thru 2 6's :P
The other such as GY and Vredstein seem to be around the same prices.
Theres a few different tyre options that can be used on the car and not interfere with the speedo that much, just make sure your looking at the cheaper profile ones haha

Rear arches I've had 3 6's now and there's only been very small patches on one of them, yes its a common issue but it's not apparent on all vehicles.
VVT wether 3 or a 6 its a common point of failure, don't let the price from mazda put you off, the kits can be had for about 3-350 and a number of places will install them.
Theres no reason whatsoever to pay 1100. Also this can be at any time not just over 100k my current one was done at 50k iirc

The 6, big comfortable saloon with power when needed... you know it makes sense ;)

And oh.... Red is best :p

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Mazda 6 MPS
Mazda 6 MPS
Mazda 6 MPS

Helpful threads http://tinyurl.com/kjykgbd

Edge 2016 Groupbuy #2 - viewtopic.php?f=84&t=24079

Cheers guys, can't wait to get one, just wish the right one would pop up for sale

Let us know what yer after and I'll keep me eyes open for ya

_________________
Mazda 6 MPS
Mazda 6 MPS
Mazda 6 MPS

Helpful threads http://tinyurl.com/kjykgbd

Edge 2016 Groupbuy #2 - viewtopic.php?f=84&t=24079

Get your hands on this, really well cared for example and a members on here viewtopic.php?f=64&t=24225

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Now Sold...Mk1 3 MPS Aero Facelift;-Corksport Stage 2 SRI+TIP//Forge BPV V2//Custom 2nd Cat & Resonator Delete//Cp-e REM 60a//SF Ssp//Kinugawa Banjo Bolt//Rear Tints//6k H-Lights//L.E.D.S//Shell Helix Ultra 5W 40//K&N Oil Filter//Goodyear Eagle f1 asymmetric 3's//

*Gone but not forgotten; moist silver mazda 6 mps*

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