Having a discussion with a friend, help me compare the WRX, EVO, and MazdaSpeed 6

OK... Here's my idea of a daily driver.

I commute 11-14 miles one way each day depending on the route I take. One is pretty much all highway and a few stop lights. One has some fun corners. I almost always take the longer route with the fun corners. I live in a very small town in the middle of Texas. I also drive into Austin about once a month to visit family.

I want a car that is FUN to drive. Manual transmission. Handles well and accelerates hard enough your stomach presses against your spine. It also has to have room in the back for 1-2 baby seats for when I have to get the kiddos. The MS6 seems to tick all the boxes in all the right spots.

Volvo S60R I had looked into. My problem is where I live, getting parts is pretty near impossible on a timely basis. Matter of fact, that's going to be the case for all of these cars. LOL The Volvo is definitely a sleeper and an awesome car, but I don't know. Am I really THAT 35 yr old guy? I think I'd rather be the 35 yr old guy who drives a nice car that surprizes the hell out of the local high school kids in their Mustang/Camaro in his 4-door "family hauler".

Another requirement is aftermarket support. Every car I've owned has had limited to no aftermarket support of GOOD go-fast goodies. My Conquest, my Neon, my Thunderbird, my P71. Sure there are SOME bolt ons, but let's face it... In 2 of those I've had to do entire engine swaps to get power. LOL The MS6 seems to have a decent aftermarket for go-fast stuff. The EVO and STi have a HUGE aftermarket following. So there's that. I also do not want a ticking time bomb. Damn thing needs to be stout and handle my driving. I drive pretty aggressively and I don't want a car that doesn't like that. The roads around here aren't great either, so it can't be a fragile car.

That help?

That all says 1st gen CTSV to me...

szeis4cookie wrote: That all says 1st gen CTSV to me...

Yes it does, but I hear the rear ends are fragile on those. A friend of mine had one and he said, "There is no way this thing would survive you". LOL

So... fun to drive, four seats or more, fast, robust, and four drive wheels...

Can the answer be two Miata's welded together? Connect the throttle linkages and some other components and you're off! And you've effectively got a pretty decent 8 cylinder car then.

Keith, does FM sell a kit for this?

I'm pretty sure the ms6 ticks all those boxes.

I've driven an MS6 before and thought it handled like a pig (ymmv). What about a Forester XT? There is a total sleeper right there..

92dxman wrote: I've driven an MS6 before and thought it handled like a pig (ymmv). What about a Forester XT? There is a total sleeper right there..

Xt especially with a manual..... Total unicorn. I want one bad.

mndsm wrote: Xt especially with a manual..... Total unicorn. I want one bad.

Last year I came very close to flying to Texas for one such unicorn.

Stop, I am trying to get over the fact that I sold my unicorn the end of last summer. If you get an XT, watch out for wheel bearings and crank pulley wobble. They are getting to the age that those might be problems.

Swank Force One wrote:

carbon wrote: I vote get the worlds nicest celica all trac, put 5 grand of the 15 that you saved into it to make it a weapon with lsds front and rear, recaros seats, a nardi wheel and a flocked dash and door panels in it. Have something truly special and unique. Happily ever after.

Are front and rear aftermarket diffs even available for these? Couldn't get both, last time i looked.

aftermarket, I dont know but from the factory on the rc right?

Open front diff only. Torsen rear LSD from rc and st205 can be used.

Cool, thanks for clarifying. My research shows that trd offered a front for a while but it is discontinued. might be able to find one if you really wanted to though.

Not a big fan of the MS6. A good friend of mine has one.

It's heavy...3800 LBS and handles like a car with all of the weight. His eats tires like no one's business. Also like to eat rear motor mounts. He is on his thirds.

The transfer case will leak slowly and eventually run dry. There is not a huge amount of fluid in there and it's not usually something checked. He blew out his first one.

I never liked the shifter on that car either and my MSM would routinely run and hide from it.

When's the first major maintenance interval for these?

Wow, 3 pages and only one negative review of the MS6. I may have to drive all 3 and just see for myself. Need to find someone local-ish who has one (MS6) and will let me hoon it a bit.

In reply to Conquest351:

Food for thought, some of the "unique" driveline parts might be shared with the awd fusion of the same vintage(minus the 6sp itself of course)....back in '07 when my sister nearly destroyed the new fusion my parents had, several of its driveline/rear suspension arms came from a mazda dealer(MS6 fitment)....it saved roughly 2mo of wait time for the ford supply chain to catch up with production rates.

carbon wrote: Cool, thanks for clarifying. My research shows that trd offered a front for a while but it is discontinued. might be able to find one if you really wanted to though.

You don't even want to know how expensive those are.

92dxman wrote: I've driven an MS6 before and thought it handled like a pig (ymmv). What about a Forester XT? There is a total sleeper right there..

Says MS6 handles like a pig. Suggests Subaru Forester.

404 sense not found.

In reply to DaveEstey:

In comparison to Mazdas other sporting offerings of recent memory (Rx8, ms3, msm, hell, miatas in general, MSP) it does handle like a pig. Granted it's not the knife edge that I'm used to with some of my own cars, but I find it a lot better than it needs to be in its own segment. It's not on the level as say an Evo for handling, but they're two totally different categories.

DaveEstey wrote:

92dxman wrote: I've driven an MS6 before and thought it handled like a pig (ymmv). What about a Forester XT? There is a total sleeper right there..

Says MS6 handles like a pig. Suggests any stock Subaru. 404 sense not found.

FTFY....even sti's I've driven felt like understeer machines.

mndsm wrote: In reply to DaveEstey: In comparison to Mazdas other sporting offerings of recent memory (Rx8, ms3, msm, hell, miatas in general, MSP) it does handle like a pig. Granted it's not the knife edge that I'm used to with some of my own cars, but I find it a lot better than it needs to be in its own segment. It's not on the level as say an Evo for handling, but they're two totally different categories.

Oh I totally get it in comparison to other Mazdas, but suggesting a Subaru after calling it a pig seems like a disconnect to me.

DaveEstey wrote:

mndsm wrote: In reply to DaveEstey: In comparison to Mazdas other sporting offerings of recent memory (Rx8, ms3, msm, hell, miatas in general, MSP) it does handle like a pig. Granted it's not the knife edge that I'm used to with some of my own cars, but I find it a lot better than it needs to be in its own segment. It's not on the level as say an Evo for handling, but they're two totally different categories.

Oh I totally get it in comparison to other Mazdas, but suggesting a Subaru after calling it a pig seems like a disconnect to me.

For sure. I love me some Fozzies, but I know full well they're wallowing pigs.