[shaunmac9128]

Hello guys. New member here. I've read through some posts and the stickies before making my first post, but I have a couple more direct questions. Most of you guys seem to say your 4 cylinder gives you no problems and is very reliable, but are they slow? I was looking at the V6 but saw it had a lot of common problems so I'm looking at the 4 cylinder but I was wondering how it is speed wise. I don't need anything too fast but something that can get out of its own way on the highway would be nice.

Also, from the performance section I had a couple quick questions. Can you run a header with the stock exhaust since it says a catback won't net you much performance at all I don't want to waste money on it. I know it says you should have an upgraded exhaust with a header but are there any problems with not doing it? And what type of gains can I expect from a header, cai, and reworked throttle body?

If you have any other comments about the 4 cylinder mazda6 in general that would be great as I don't know them well yet. Thanks for any help guys, I really appreciate it.

 

[MrTea]

kinda quick, but not fast my any means for me. it's a 3200lb sedan being pulled by 130whp....it can only do so much. start turning however, and you forget most of that. but if you are set on impressing the girls at the stop light racing, start liking ugly chicks.

the issue with the header on the stock exhaust, is the stock setup isn't meant to flow that much and it turns the flow into a pretty ugly rasp. you'll have to look through the dyno section for #'s, but somewhere in the 140ish whp range for I/H/E w/ TB.

 

[shaunmac9128]

Not looking to impress anyone, just making sure its not too slow you know. Maybe just a tb and intake to help open it up a little. I figured it might be a little bit of bottleneck. I do like the cars but I've never driven one, is it a smooth ride even on the highway? Thanks for the response. Thats a lot of money for 10whp though when it said in the sticky (not over estimated manufacturer number) to expect 5-6whp gains from a intake alone I figured from the intake and tb I would be around 6-8whp but it did say a lot of the gain from the tb was smoother acceleration not necessarily more power. With those mods would it even be worth it to retune it, if thats possible on these engines?

 

[MrTea]

"they" say that even tuning a stock car can net 5-10hp on the car, plus raise the speed limiter and rev limiter if desired. so it's worth looking into hypertech or whatever it's called.

just the intake makes a good difference, though i never thought my car was fast (but i had an atx then too)

 

[eizzle]

As already stated, its not going to blow the doors off any evo's or wrx's, but its not to bad for what it is. An intake will make the car feel a lot better, and there are other little things you can do to make it a little smoother. Ride isnt bad, to me it feels firm enough to handle good, but its not all out bone jarring, Its a real nice comprimise between the two, but it handles great at the same time!

 

[shaunmac9128]

Well with the tuner, tb and cai maybe it would be 10-15whp over stock? That would be nice. I don't know if the tuner is worth it at $450 for 7whp, or thats what they claim. I'm going to test drive one tuesday, 07 40k miles 5 speed 2.3.

 

[MrTea]

it's not about the hp really, it's about the drivability. claiming a gain of say 7whp is only the peak, there could be lots of gains down at the bottom where people actually drive mostly.

i was amazed when i dyno'd a prototype header than really gained no power at peak, but felt really good when driving....but there was a 17tq gain at like 3800 which was huge in the car. so keep that in mind when just doing ricer math about what mods "work" and which ones "don't"

 

[shaunmac9128]

Not trying to do ricer math, no worries. Was this header when you were still n/a? Thats an impressive gain for just a header, was it on a stock exhaust?

 

[MrTea]

yea, it was back in '05 i think, i ran it about 3 months before i put on the turbo. not sure on the exhaust, it was stock or Greddy.

 

[MonoxideChild]

a 5 speed 2.3 can beat a atx v6. so were def not slow. unless you get a atx 2.3. lol. then you will be crawling.

 

[shaunmac9128]

It will be a 5 speed. Right now I drive an 01 3.8 V6 mustang auto, best I've run is a 16.1 with intake and exhaust, so I don't think it will feel slow. Manuals are more fun and to me feel faster generally. I think with an intake, tb, tune it could beat my mustang in the 1/4.

 

[eizzle]

I have an atx, its not slow... In fact, I would say its probably a lot better performer than a lot of toyotas and hondas given the small amount of torque and horsepower and the weight of the car...

 

[MrTea]

well, unfortunately it IS slow, you just drive it faster than others drive their cars. With every mod available at the time (same as now except for tuning) i couldn't get into the 15's if my life depended on it. given, i hate the dragstrip, so i'm not great at it....but my best was 16.2 with sticky tires.

not saying the car isn't quick, but those that want to drag race the car will be pretty disappointed with the atx i'd imagine.

...the BSD did allow for a lot better launch though with good tires

 

[eizzle]

I guess my thinking is for 130 hp in a 3300 pound car, its not bad... its not as fast as my SRT-4 was, but its a totally different animal. I do understand what your saying though, I doubt you would get out of the 16's without some serious internal engine work though, or, in your case, turbo... but for a daily driver "family" sedan, its not like its crawling up to 60 in 10 seconds... just saying...

 

[Amel 92]

get the V6 ;]

 

[shaunmac9128]

I've read of too many common problems with the V6. An engine seizing isn't something I want to deal with.

 

[MonoxideChild]

^ have to agree with you there. not worth the extra headache or worry.

 

[shaunmac9128]

I'm also looking that the 06ish (newer) model civic si. My buddy has one and I've driven it a couple times, its fun to drive.

 

[Spazdog]

a 5 speed 2.3 can beat a atx v6. so we're def not slow...

I don't know about all that.

I haven't had an "acceleration comparison" with a 6i, but I did have an "impromptu urination contest" with an Altima 2.5S that was a manual.

Mazda 6S 1 : Altima 0

That was from about a 30 punch. I really don't think that from a standing start he would have done much better.

So, if you are quicker in a 6i than a 6S, you are a lot quicker than an Altima with 200 extra cc's of displacement and about 15 extra hp.

 

[eizzle]

I think if I were going to go that way, I would look into a Dodge SRT-4... I am a bit biased since I used to own one, but man, what a rock solid car... and fun to! I think I would do that over the civic... but to each their own...