I quickly test drove a MSP6 yesterday and only cow talk about neck snapping acceleration!!!
I can't believe how different this car feels when compared to our Mazda6 GT V6. Not only the MSP6, as expected, completely smoke the GT but the steering feel is so improved. On the down side, the clutch is very peculiar and hard to modulate, and starting in first gear is a tricky exercise. I thought the sales rep didn't know how to drive standard when he nearly stalled 3 times when just trying to move the car from its parking spot. Well I fully realized why when I took it out for a spin. Driving this car in the morning traffic must be a real pain in the b...
A real positive characteristic of this car: no torque steer. Such a welcome fact as the GT V6 can be annoying at times even if it doesn't have that much torque. The funky AWD really works on that aspect.
While doing a walk around while the car was idling, I noticed a very annoying ticking sound from the engine (that thankfully you can't hear from inside the car) and a subtle rumble from the exhaust. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't recall any turbo whistle though I may have been too distracted by the adrenaline rush... Modulating the turbo boost can be challenging in the lower gears as it builds up quickly.
I couldn't verify handling that much since I had pity for the white knuckles sales rep that was holding on what ever he could grab.
In conclusion, I was really impressed by this car. But it is really not for every one, certainly not for someone looking for occasional fun driving or just wanting better performance than the base powertrain.
