Mazda 6 MPS

Author
Discussion

TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th April 2015
quotequote all
Having sold my 1999 E39 M5 back on 15th February, I have been looking for a car to replace it with.
The car in choice is a 2006 Mazda 6 MPS in Velocity Red. This is the best colour imo, especially in the sun light when the gold mica comes out.

I'd viewed 4 cars before this one. 2 of the cars had been decent but just didnt feel right for me. The other 2 were dogs. I'd been all over for one - Newcastle, North Wales, Leeds and Bromsgrove. Then I got contacted about the one I ultimately bought was in Basingstoke.

So onto the car. Its a September 2006, so its the £490 a year tax one. This doesn't bother me, its basically 2 pints a week, and I don't go out drinking often, so it's all good.

I'm the 3rd owner, its done 61k miles and had the VVT System replaced at 57k miles. Its been well looked after and I couldn't fault it, aside from the alloys, but thats standard. It has no rust and is under sealed.

The standard spec on these is a 2.3 16v Turbo. Leather seats, Climate Control, Cruise Control, Bose stereo (best standard stereo in a car I have owned) and sun roof.

Oddly the 6 never had heated seats as standard but the 3 MPS did. Go figure.

The car has an aftermarket rear PDC system fitted, Silicone TIP, Sure maf sensor housing and Induction kit. Inside it has an Xcarlink Bluetooth kit for phone and stereo.

Plans for the car include but are not limited to;

High Pressure Fuel pump
Remap
SRI pipe (Turbo to MAF)
Diff Mounts as the standard mounts are weak
Suspension
New induction filter as the current one is looking past its best
RX8 Alloys
RX8 front seats

Then I will see how I feel about going further with it.

On to the pics.

















Thanks for reading!

8cylinder

232 posts

142 months

Sunday 5th April 2015
quotequote all
Nice car,pretty keen on these myself.
How u finding it performance wise?

TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Sunday 5th April 2015
quotequote all
8cylinder said:
Nice car,pretty keen on these myself.
How u finding it performance wise?
Cheers. Its slower than the M5, but it still makes speed quite well. Handles well. A new turbo and intercooler would see it at around 380bhp and it should then be quicker than my old M5.

Franky84

120 posts

135 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Ha, oddly enough I went from a 6 MPS to an E39 M5. I'm not one for pissing on chips, but I didn't get on with my MPS at all a long line of faults and reliability issues. It would seem that I had a bit of a friday car as all the other threads you read on them people love them. As soon as I could get shot I did.

I still think they look great and yours is no exception. Have fun with it smile

Google [bot]

6,682 posts

181 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Snap, I bought a Velocity Red 6MPS last month to take over the daily duties.

Defcon5

6,178 posts

191 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Top mount IC but no bonnet vent/scoop?

You are right about that colour - the gold flake in it looks great

Google [bot]

6,682 posts

181 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Defcon5 said:
Top mount IC but no bonnet vent/scoop?

You are right about that colour - the gold flake in it looks great
There's a decent bonnet bulge and gap at the front. It's one of the reasons I chose it over a 3MPS, bit subtle.

The colour looks (really) great in the sun but bland red in dull light, and that's another part of the appeal for me. I'm normally averse to red and bought mine in spite of the colour, but I was converted within days, the gold fleck looks fantastic. Best colour.

I think I really like the smoked rear lights & debadge but not sure enough to do the same yet coffee

Mine has 200k (country) kms on the clock so am a little nervous of tuning, but we shall see.

Good work OP, very cool car wink

maxdb

1,533 posts

157 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Defcon5 said:
Top mount IC but no bonnet vent/scoop?

You are right about that colour - the gold flake in it looks great
The air goes through the front grill up into a vent inside the bonnet that delivers it to the top mount intercooler.

Lovely car BTW smile

roadend1981

190 posts

158 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Nice car. Mrs is looking to replace her car with a mazda 3 mps,the mk1 has no bonnet bulge,the mk2 has. In the mk1 nobody really takes notice, and the car really blends in as just another mazda sport, which really appeals to me,as not many people realize what's under the hood.On the mk2 they gave the game away, looks good but even non car people can see that it's probably got a bit of go,which kind of loses its appeal to me,either way good choice!

TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Franky84 said:
Ha, oddly enough I went from a 6 MPS to an E39 M5. I'm not one for pissing on chips, but I didn't get on with my MPS at all a long line of faults and reliability issues. It would seem that I had a bit of a friday car as all the other threads you read on them people love them. As soon as I could get shot I did.

I still think they look great and yours is no exception. Have fun with it smile
Mine was the opposite! My M5 I was forever chasing problems and it got tiresome hence why it went. The last straw was that it wouldnt start every time despite it having a new fuel pump.

Cheers!

Google [bot] said:
Snap, I bought a Velocity Red 6MPS last month to take over the daily duties.
Nice choice wink

Defcon5 said:
Top mount IC but no bonnet vent/scoop?

You are right about that colour - the gold flake in it looks great
They have an area under the bonnet for the IC to fit in, and two scoops under the bonnet near the grill to direct air to it.

In todays sun the gold flake is looking awesome biggrin

Google [bot] said:
There's a decent bonnet bulge and gap at the front. It's one of the reasons I chose it over a 3MPS, bit subtle.

The colour looks (really) great in the sun but bland red in dull light, and that's another part of the appeal for me. I'm normally averse to red and bought mine in spite of the colour, but I was converted within days, the gold fleck looks fantastic. Best colour.

I think I really like the smoked rear lights & debadge but not sure enough to do the same yet coffee

Mine has 200k (country) kms on the clock so am a little nervous of tuning, but we shall see.

Good work OP, very cool car wink
Yeah it is a little bland in dull conditions, but it is worth it for when it is sunny. Red then Grey for me. Silver is my least favourite.

The rear lights have Fly Eye on them. This is an adhesive covering so can be removed. It was done by the previous owner. I am considering removing it and putting some Laminex covering on them instead.

The K04 might not thank you at those kms with tuning lol. A remap would take it to around 290bhp, perhaps just with a replacement air filter as well. More power requires the 2nd decat pipe (mine has this - forgot to mention it).

Cheers biggrin

maxdb said:
The air goes through the front grill up into a vent inside the bonnet that delivers it to the top mount intercooler.

Lovely car BTW smile
Cheers mate! smile

roadend1981 said:
Nice car. Mrs is looking to replace her car with a mazda 3 mps,the mk1 has no bonnet bulge,the mk2 has. In the mk1 nobody really takes notice, and the car really blends in as just another mazda sport, which really appeals to me,as not many people realize what's under the hood.On the mk2 they gave the game away, looks good but even non car people can see that it's probably got a bit of go,which kind of loses its appeal to me,either way good choice!
Cheers! Yeah the Mk1 3 is quite discreet. I think I prefer the looks of the Mk1, and I think its better for tuning as well (if that's her thing). The Mk2 has heated seats whereas the Mk1 doesnt.

If it wasn't for the fact that he 6 has AWD then I'd have considered a 3. I'll be fitting an up rated rear engine mount as well.

DaveH23

3,234 posts

170 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
The MK 1 never had heated seats as standard. Not sure about the MK 2.

I love the MPS range.

stuno1

1,318 posts

195 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Lovely car. I had a mk1 3 MPS and loved it. Enjoy.

dragonheart

770 posts

182 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Nice car and those front seat look like a nice place to park your ass, why do you want to swap them out for RX8 seats??

clarki

1,313 posts

219 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
Superb car, my brother used to have one - fast and reliable.

Love a re-map too.

Tribal Chestnut

2,997 posts

182 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
dragonheart said:
Nice car and those front seat look like a nice place to park your ass, why do you want to swap them out for RX8 seats??
The seats don't offer very much lateral support, but they are comfy.

TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Monday 6th April 2015
quotequote all
DaveH23 said:
The MK 1 never had heated seats as standard. Not sure about the MK 2.

I love the MPS range.
Yeah the Mk2 has heated seats

stuno1 said:
Lovely car. I had a mk1 3 MPS and loved it. Enjoy.
Cheers! I intend to smile

dragonheart said:
Nice car and those front seat look like a nice place to park your ass, why do you want to swap them out for RX8 seats??
As has been said already the RX8 seats offer lateral support but the MPS ones don't. RX8 seats are also heated

clarki said:
Superb car, my brother used to have one - fast and reliable.

Love a re-map too.
Cheers! A remap is on the cards! smile


TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Wednesday 8th April 2015
quotequote all
Ordered the uprated fuel pump yesterday, that will he here in 2 or 3 weeks as it is coming from the USA. Then I can get it remapped for more giggles!

TREMAiNE

3,915 posts

149 months

Wednesday 8th April 2015
quotequote all
Love it OP!

The 6 MPS is such a great car, its a shame they're so hard to come by!


I've got an RX8 R3 in Velocity Red - such a lovely colour when the sun hits it... When the weather is overcast it looks a bit naff though IMO!

Don't put standard RX8 wheels on it - if you can source some of the R3 wheels instead, they'd suit the 6 better!



Edited by TREMAiNE on Wednesday 8th April 20:11

justanother5tar

1,314 posts

125 months

Wednesday 8th April 2015
quotequote all
Nice car mate.

Absolutely love these.

TheAngryDog

Original Poster:

12,405 posts

209 months

Wednesday 8th April 2015
quotequote all
TREMAiNE said:
Love it OP!

The 6 MPS is such a great car, its a shame they're so hard to come by!


I've got an RX8 R3 in Velocity Red - such a lovely colour when the sun hits it... When the weather is overcast it looks a bit naff though IMO!

Don't put standard RX8 wheels on it - if you can source some of the R3 wheels instead, they'd suit the 6 better!



Edited by TREMAiNE on Wednesday 8th April 20:11
Thanks for the kind words smile. I arent really a fan of the R3 wheels. I arent all that sure about the standard RX8 wheels now either, I may go for something else, or just get the standard MPS ones refurbed.

Yeah decent ones arent easy to come by. Mine is running a little lumpy but I think its a combination of poor standard map and that it is running a 2nd decat and induction kit. I am going to check the hoses to make sure there are no loose clips either.

justanother5tar said:
Nice car mate.

Absolutely love these.
Thanks mate - they're not too bad smile