Has anybody gotten a chance to enter this competition? i just went this weekend as it hit philly, tried to race, but entered too late today. needless to say got to test drive the:
Mazda 6i = 4 cylinder, ok handler but not the best, but fast to accelerate
Mazda 6s= 6 cylinder, shitty handling under low speeds, not very fast to accelerate as the 4 cylinder feels, but definately more powerful
Mazda Miata MX-5= nimble, rear-wheel pleaure to drive however, clunky around turns with the abs
Mazda Protege 5= nimble as hell, overall, the best handler of them all

thats my opinion of the test drives that i took. definately makes me want to enter a local solo class racing organization . and i picked up this gay souvenier



needless to say, did anybody attend this event in their area? just from the 2 test drives i took, it's no wonder the mazda 6 doesn't have a great market... it's not something new and exciting to drive... which is what most people in my age range want for the most part. my first gen protege handled better than that thing.. although not nearly as fast, the mazda 6 was a shitty drive on the low speed course.
peace

 

ok, maybe it's that i can't truely drive a car with abs, but even without the abs, the mazda 6i wasn't that pleasureable to drive.
peace

 

Going from FWD to RWD == if you're not used to it.

 

I test drove a mazda6s (not at rev it up), and I didn't think it was anywhere near *slow*, and it handeled better than my first gen at least... Were all cars there auto? The 5spd 6 was vary nice

 

I test drove both manual and auto Miata at Boston's event, and of all cars there, them were the best handlers. The test drive course was not really fast enough for me to get all the fun out of Mazdaspeed Pro but the car is amazing. And of course, I had to test drive the 6s, because it was the car I raced later on, so it helped me getting familiar with the car.

 

Is it just me or shouldn't you brake in a straight line anyway? ... well, at least that's how my FWD likes it at 100mph

 

lol, i'm no race car driver, so no, but for my tastes, the mp5 was the best. i don't drive many rear wheel drive vehicles, i'm not that used to them..and the ones i am used to, i've never been given the chance to corner them like i was able to corner the miata. also, these were all automatics, so no, i didn't test the mazdaspeed. but i will say this, if given the opportunity to drive any car as a daily driver, i would take the mazda 6s for the power it has, but not for low speed handling. i would really love to give this car an opportunity at 35+ mph on a windy road sometime, who knows.
peace
and jesse, the miata is a fun car to drive, i just don't think it'd do ME or THE CAR any justice to drive a miata on a regular basis. i deliver pizza, i don't race, so leave it at that

 

And if you carry your pizza bags with you the cops will usually cut you some slack if they pull you over.

I think the Mazdaspeed was definitely the best car out there, except for the RX-8's which the bastards wouldn't let us drive. The 6s, frankly, does not deserve all the accolades it has been getting for handling. I hated driving that thing on a course and waiting for the weight to shift. The V6 adds too much weight to the front end for good handling. It pisses me off because they keep saying how great it is and then you get in and drive one, instant dissapointment. The automatic just made it worse, it took forever to get up to speed. Our Accord is much faster than a 6s with auto. The 5-speed is better accelerating but the handling issues remain. Maybe Mazdaspeed can fix that when it gets around to the 6. The Miata was fun to drive too, but I can't get past having the top edge of the windshield blocking my vision. So it lost points there.

 

Where's he going to put the sign, I wonder? On top of the roll bar?
BTW, do any Miatas have a tilt steering wheel? The one I drove at Rev It Up didn't, and I couldn't see the top of the gauges. It was really annoying. I'm 6ft, but I've driven MG Midgets comfortably before. It seemed like if I sat low enough to see the gauges, I hit my knees on the dash, and if I moved up to clear my knoees, I was staring at the top bar of the windshield & couldn't see the gauges.

And yeah, those 6s felt pretty tired...

 

The Mazdaspeed seemed to handle the slow speeds pretty well, but you summed up my feelings on an automatic in a nutshell.

I got to drive them when they were fairly new in Houston (fourth event), and they still felt like the one I had test driven before on the highway. I bet they were beat up pretty bad by the time they got to FL (if that is where you went). Either way, not something I was interested in owning and too uncomfortable for my wife to be interested in owning it either.

 

Jesse, you wouldn't understand dude.. or actually, i think you do. heh, very well. i race the engine when i'm pissed off for some reason (**** tip, **** manager, **** back of the house ********, or other drivers)... delivery driving is not healthy for those who seriously need anger management!! my driving experience doesn't cover many cars, never really drive stick... driven a plymouth laser with a 5 spd, but never really got the car faster than 50, never really learned to decelerate that well, let alone keep the car from stahling out. it's a hand eye coordination barrior that i haven't been able to get past just yet. i'll learn eventually . oddly enough, all the Mazda6's they had on the circuit were automatics . best time in philly was like 30 something, i forget, i'll check the website in a few days. anywho, had fun, the cars were actually fun, and even i the mazda6... i had an adrhenaline rush... was REAL nice, to bad i flattened the course in like a minute , got 1 black X on my wrist band for taking out 12 cones in the mazda6s taking a corner WAY too fast . anywho, go to your mazda dealer and go test drive one, can't wait to hear what you think of it.
peace