FR-S is SOLD (and I am happy)

[Mister]

tldr: Sold FR-S to lessen financial obligations. Replaced with MS6.

I sold my FR-S yesterday and have purchased a 2006 Mazdaspeed6 to take its place as my DD. I absolutely loved the FR-S, it is a fantastic little car with go-cart like handling. I had been following the car since the rumors of the first concept so many years ago. Once it was out I could not resist and traded in my Mazdaspeed3 for the opportunity to own it, and it seemed completely worth it, at the time I looked at just my change in monthly payment (which was only ~$20) and jumped on it.

Over a year later I have come to the realization that as much as I love the FR-S, the idea of having less financial obligations is very appealing. We are not even close to strapped for cash, but regardless of your situation money tied up in a car means less that you can spend elsewhere. By 'downsizing' the car we can easily go on an extra big trip every year, or pay down student loans a bit faster. Not to mention there is something very appealing about actually having the title for your car instead of the bank! I may yet get another FRS/BRZ in the future, but perhaps when I can buy it in cash. I know people sell this car for all sorts of reasons, and I am not a super active member hear, but I felt the need to share my experience!

Now about the new ride: 2006 MS6 with 90k on the clock. Gorgeous titanium grey metallic color. Not a single dent on the body. Interior is near flawless. No timing chain rattle or anything scary like that. As far as I can tell it is completely stock, the intake, exhaust and motor mounts are all stock, which are all among the first things to be done on this car.
I plan to spend the weekend cleaning valves, running Seafoam, and spark plugs, but it does not seem to be down on power so it is more precautionary than anything else. It looks like the oil pan is seeping so I will probably reseal that in the next few weeks as well. It is no FRS but it does have a lot of brute force speed, and with a good steering ratio and suspension it is still pretty nimble, but definitely no go-cart.

[NWFRS]

Pretty color!

Nice headlamp and window tint.

Sorry to lose you. :-/

[sluflyer06]

Originally Posted by Mister

tldr: Sold FR-S to lessen financial obligations. Replaced with MS6.

I sold my FR-S yesterday and have purchased a 2006 Mazdaspeed6 to take its place as my DD. I absolutely loved the FR-S, it is a fantastic little car with go-cart like handling. I had been following the car since the rumors of the first concept so many years ago. Once it was out I could not resist and traded in my Mazdaspeed3 for the opportunity to own it, and it seemed completely worth it, at the time I looked at just my change in monthly payment (which was only ~$20) and jumped on it.

Over a year later I have come to the realization that as much as I love the FR-S, the idea of having less financial obligations is very appealing. We are not even close to strapped for cash, but regardless of your situation money tied up in a car means less that you can spend elsewhere. By 'downsizing' the car we can easily go on an extra big trip every year, or pay down student loans a bit faster. Not to mention there is something very appealing about actually having the title for your car instead of the bank! I may yet get another FRS/BRZ in the future, but perhaps when I can buy it in cash. I know people sell this car for all sorts of reasons, and I am not a super active member hear, but I felt the need to share my experience!

Now about the new ride: 2006 MS6 with 90k on the clock. Gorgeous titanium grey metallic color. Not a single dent on the body. Interior is near flawless. No timing chain rattle or anything scary like that. As far as I can tell it is completely stock, the intake, exhaust and motor mounts are all stock, which are all among the first things to be done on this car.
I plan to spend the weekend cleaning valves, running Seafoam, and spark plugs, but it does not seem to be down on power so it is more precautionary than anything else. It looks like the oil pan is seeping so I will probably reseal that in the next few weeks as well. It is no FRS but it does have a lot of brute force speed, and with a good steering ratio and suspension it is still pretty nimble, but definitely no go-cart.

Not a bad car at all, your previous MS3 would walk away from the MS6 though..used to have an 08.5 MS3 a couple cars ago and had some MS6's that wanted to play on the highway (mine was stock). I did end up doing the AEM/Mazda CAI which gives you a nice power boost and some turbo sound.

[sluflyer06]

Originally Posted by Marchy

stay away from the mazda CAI, they're known to cause issues with the MAF because of the turbulent air it generates.

to the OP, i'd also see how the turbo is doing, they're known to go out right around 70-90k. otherwise nice replacement, i always enjoyed the oldman speed

Even with the air straightener? My engine ran better than stock in sub freezing weather with the intake then it ever did without. That engine hates super cold weather. (sometimes it would just fall on its face right in the meat of the powerband in winter)

[sluflyer06]

Originally Posted by Marchy

yeah the mazda one was garbage causing CEL all over the place which is why mazda no longer offers it. You are far better off running a SRI/TIP from Cobb, Corksport or JBR.

Also for the winter, the DISI engine LOVES the cold, the issue is that the stock HPFP struggles to keep up with the increased fueling demands of colder denser air. What you likely felt in the winter was your car retarding timing like crazy so it wouldn't blow up. You want your HPFP to maintain a minimum of 1640 PSI at WOT, during weather below 36 degrees my stock fuel pump would often dip below 1600 because it just couldn't maintain. I simply avoided WOT runs when it was cold to avoid ZZB. If you upgrade your HPFP and get a protune you won't have a problem.

Interesting about the HPFP, I'd pretty much avoided modding my MS3 after dumping close to 20k on my WRX. However it ran much smoother with the AEM/Mazda CAI then it did stock and I never once got a CEL.

All in the past now I guess, that was 2 cars ago.

[Mister]

Originally Posted by sluflyer06

Not a bad car at all, your previous MS3 would walk away from the MS6 though..used to have an 08.5 MS3 a couple cars ago and had some MS6's that wanted to play on the highway (mine was stock). I did end up doing the AEM/Mazda CAI which gives you a nice power boost and some turbo sound.

I went with the JBR intake on my MS3 and loved it, sound was nice and no CEL. I tried the Cobb first but that threw a CEL.

Originally Posted by Marchy

stay away from the mazda CAI, they're known to cause issues with the MAF because of the turbulent air it generates.

to the OP, i'd also see how the turbo is doing, they're known to go out right around 70-90k. otherwise nice replacement, i always enjoyed the oldman speed

I will probably go with a JBR CAI, SSP, RMM and then go with an AP after that. I let it idle for a while when I checked it out to make sure it did not have a smoking turbo problem, but time will tell for certain. It is definitely the old man speed, my wife said it looks a little boring and wants me to spiff up the exterior haha. But interior is extremely comfortable, should be nice for long rides.

[f0rge]

Cool car, I've always thought these were neat. Seems like they should have been more popular than they are.

[Lytheum]

Mzr disi ftw! When your not worried about venting the block. I miss the power of my 08.5 ms3. Had intake, inlet, downpipe, fmic, hpfp and self tuned with Cobb ap. Oh and rear motor mount and trans mount...

[continuecrushing]

test drove an MS6 a few years back, only thing that bugged me was the body roll.

And my buddy used to have an 08 MS3, we had a lot of fun in that car haha(not gay)