///M
08-27-2006, 04:16 AM
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So I went to Zoom Zoom Live today. I finally made it out to one of these events, unfortunately not available in Canada.
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...orientation video - basically a long ad.
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First up: Mazdaspeed6!
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My turn to test it!
The 2.3l DISI turbo gives a ferocious kick low down - very impressive, but this initial burst of power dies down after ~5000rpm or so. The MS6 handles decently, but it isn\'t particularly agile and behaves very much like an FWD car at the limit (hooray for the front-biased AWD). Nonetheless, I enjoyed driving it a lot. Off the track, it should be a very fun car to drive.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/05.jpg
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/06.jpg
They also had an automatic Mazda6 S for people who couldn\'t drive stick (which seemed to be the majority of the people there). Many people who attempted to drive the Mazdaspeed6s stalled the poor cars, and you could smell burnt clutches from literally meters away. The clutch feel in my tester sucked.
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Next up - CX-7!
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Decked out with leather, navi, everything. The 2.3l DISI turbo works well in this application, and the CX-7 felt like it had more than enough power off the line. Handling\'s good for an SUV, and it feels somewhat better than a BMW X3 that I drove earlier this year. Kudos to Mazda.
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Finally - RX8 and MX-5.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/10.jpg
They set up a course on a track for testing. I didn\'t like how they closed off the sides of the track with cones, as it didn\'t allow for proper turn in and apexing (the area between the cones were barely wider the cars). The rain didn\'t help either, and I couldn\'t push the cars as hard as I would\'ve liked.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/11.jpg
The MX-5 farking rocks! Very, very quick. Much quicker than I would\'ve expected from the 2.0l MZR. The short throw shifter and light clutch all felt perfect. Despite the increased weight, I found it every bit as fun, if not more so than the first geneneration Miata. I loved how tail-happy it was under throttle in turns, especially on the wet pavement. It\'s definately up there as one of the more enjoyable cars that I\'ve driven.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/12.jpg
Finally, I hopped into an autotragic RX-8 becauase the lineup for the 6MT was too long - big dissappointment. If anything, this is a car that certainly doesn\'t deserve to be paired with a slushbox. It sucked the living daylights out of it! Coming from a 6MT MX-5, it felt farking slow. The shifts were laggy, and tiptronic was a joke. Wasn\'t very much fun to drive at all. I\'m sure a 6MT RX-8 would change my opinion, though.
So I went to Zoom Zoom Live today. I finally made it out to one of these events, unfortunately not available in Canada.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/02.jpg
...orientation video - basically a long ad.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/03.jpg
First up: Mazdaspeed6!
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/04.jpg
My turn to test it!
The 2.3l DISI turbo gives a ferocious kick low down - very impressive, but this initial burst of power dies down after ~5000rpm or so. The MS6 handles decently, but it isn\'t particularly agile and behaves very much like an FWD car at the limit (hooray for the front-biased AWD). Nonetheless, I enjoyed driving it a lot. Off the track, it should be a very fun car to drive.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/05.jpg
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/06.jpg
They also had an automatic Mazda6 S for people who couldn\'t drive stick (which seemed to be the majority of the people there). Many people who attempted to drive the Mazdaspeed6s stalled the poor cars, and you could smell burnt clutches from literally meters away. The clutch feel in my tester sucked.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/07.jpg
Next up - CX-7!
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/08.jpg
Decked out with leather, navi, everything. The 2.3l DISI turbo works well in this application, and the CX-7 felt like it had more than enough power off the line. Handling\'s good for an SUV, and it feels somewhat better than a BMW X3 that I drove earlier this year. Kudos to Mazda.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/09.jpg
Finally - RX8 and MX-5.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/10.jpg
They set up a course on a track for testing. I didn\'t like how they closed off the sides of the track with cones, as it didn\'t allow for proper turn in and apexing (the area between the cones were barely wider the cars). The rain didn\'t help either, and I couldn\'t push the cars as hard as I would\'ve liked.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/11.jpg
The MX-5 farking rocks! Very, very quick. Much quicker than I would\'ve expected from the 2.0l MZR. The short throw shifter and light clutch all felt perfect. Despite the increased weight, I found it every bit as fun, if not more so than the first geneneration Miata. I loved how tail-happy it was under throttle in turns, especially on the wet pavement. It\'s definately up there as one of the more enjoyable cars that I\'ve driven.
http://digitastic.biz/misc/zoomzoomlive/12.jpg
Finally, I hopped into an autotragic RX-8 becauase the lineup for the 6MT was too long - big dissappointment. If anything, this is a car that certainly doesn\'t deserve to be paired with a slushbox. It sucked the living daylights out of it! Coming from a 6MT MX-5, it felt farking slow. The shifts were laggy, and tiptronic was a joke. Wasn\'t very much fun to drive at all. I\'m sure a 6MT RX-8 would change my opinion, though.