Mazda Speed 6

The least meme'd AWD Turbo car. It's for a reason, but it's still a damn good alternative to the WRX if you can live without a hatch/wagon variant.

About to hit 178k miles in mine and still going strong. I've replaced A LOT of parts though. If you plan to mod, do some reading on Mazdaspeed forums. These motors are temperamental and are prone to blowing up if you don't mod them properly. Never WOT under 3k.

This. There's no notorious flaws the engines have. Just have to maintain them and trust that they've been maintained by the previous owner. They're no Honda/Toyota. You need to check shit periodically especially if you're beating on it. Again, a lower mileage one is typically a better investment

i was a mechanic for years and worked on a few of them. fun cars but the clutch and rear shocks are a fucking cunt to do. anyone that has done either of them on a speed 6 knows what im talking about

rear shock bolts are one shot having to bend around and fuck with a swivel socket on rusty bolts that youre fucked if you strip, clutch have fun dealing with the cooler lines to the front diff. ive been told its easier to take the engine and trans as a whole for a clutch, i just dropped the trans on them

Anything to look for in the car besides mileage? Any notable problems that I should check for prior to purchase?

The timing chains prematurely go to shit, which can blow up the motor. Also, the blow-by is unreal, the tmic eats up coil packs, and the turbo seals like to leak. I've owned my ms6 for 6 years, and reliable is not the word for this engine. Maintenance is frequent and expensive.

Ive owned an ms6 for 3 years and never had these issues.
153k miles here

Between 150-170k I replaced the starter, tstat, water pump, a corroded ac line, both front upper arms, all rear diff mounts, and the AC compressor. Buckle up, buckaroo.

Just how expensive are these parts? Whats about an average annual $$?

First of all
Listen the this man and also add that the ball joints are one of those combination ball joint/control arm things meaning if one goes bad you have to replace both and the unit is expensive to buy from a dealership. At least a couple aftermarket companies make clones of them for a fraction of the price.

Otherwise quick rundown on the shit that went wrong in the short lived life of one my foolish teenage self bought at 187,000kms. Made it to 196 before the engine finally went cause of all the problems the faulty coil pack caused

>1st-2nd gear synchro was worn (owner abuse)
>clutch needed to be replaced around 194,000km (fucker lied to me and said he replaced it around 100,000km.)

Also don't be Jewish like me and not buy a new flywheel to go with it lest you get horrible clutch chatter if you aren't a Dagumi-tier shifter. However the easy comfy OEM dual mass flywheel is about twice as expensive as a lightweight aftermarket but that will make it harder to drive if you opt for it

>rear window motors were having trouble starting around the same time, still trying to wrap my head around it

That's about it honestly. Again, purely owner abuse and not maintaining it aside from the window thing which happens to cars all the time. Low mileage and mod free is your best friend but that doesn't guarantee you a problem free car. If this is really what you want don't make my mistake and save up and wait for a good specimen. One will show up.

> inb4 I own one of these cars and it's done 700,000 miles and I haven't changed anything and nothing is broken and I stick my penis in the tailpipe cause it's so amazing of a car

Say about how many miles? Can only seem to find something like 80k as lowest

Me again

Honestly OP if this is your first manual car/proper car/etc please do yourself a favour and buy a Civic Si or something

>inb4 FWD

The headaches you'll save yourself will make you forget. They're way easier to learn everything on

That's the problem with them. Everyone who bought them drove the shit out of them. Finding one lower than that is gonna take time and as I said before it won't mean it's problem free

Bump for interest

>if you can live without a hatch/wagon variant.
>he doesn't know about the mighty sport wagon

oh fuck

you didn't know?

My girlfriend has one and it needs an engine because there are chunks of metal in the oil pan.

>Never WOT under 3k.
why? asking for a friend

How the MS3 compare.

I actually didn't. I'd always though the speed6 was cool but never looked in to them a whole lot.

What do you guys think about the Mazda3 GT? Considering getting one, but the 186 HP seems a bit on the weak side.

Don't feel bad. There's no Speed6 wagon. The SportWagon was a V6 FWD unit.

80k for this
holy shit, there is loads of way more interesting cars for that much and less

disregard that, i suck cocks

i still wouldn't buy a mazda

Mazda makes excellent vehicles though

Just ignore him, his parents obviously wouldn't buy him a Miata.

It's a great car with a cool period Mazda interior that is quick, gets reasonable gas mileage, is great in inclement weather, looks very low-key, and will get you 200k miles with routine maintenance and a mature driving style.

The keys are stupid expensive, the exterior trim bits are garbage (door handles, trunk handle bezel, appliques etc.) and they have notoriously bad rear differential mounts. The engine is a direct injection unit which means that it will suffer from coking on the backs of the valves if you do not run some seafoam through the intake every other oil change or so.

I'd say get one. It's a car that's super fun and doesn't attract attention from anyone who isn't a diehard.