Oliver Boulay is a fraud and loser

[Luciferous]

Well i know that for convertibles they have to put in A LOT of extra strength put into the body, the RX7 Convertible model is just as heavy (i think a bit more actually) with all the extra steel put in the body to make it stronger.

Thats no matter where you go, the only exceptions are where the cars are made as a convertible first, I think the much-rumoured Boxster Coupe may actually weigh more that the Boxster. Is it worth the extra weight though? Personally I can see why you'd spend extra for the convertible version, they don't go as fast but you don't really notice.

[Blue Supra]

fast is fast is fast...

[Luciferous]

Well I would try to go the extra dosh to get an M3 convertible if I had the money, anything to hear the engine better....

Plus its got a better pull factor, which is always good..

[fpv_gtho]

i think the 911 Turbo Convertible and the C4S convertible are about 100-150kg heavier than the coupe as a convertible just as a figure....

theres nothing that bad about FWD based AWD systems, the really bad ones are the ones that wait for wheelspin before activting the AWD system

[Luciferous]

Well there isn't anything necessarily 'bad' about them, its just that rear biased AWD arguably has the best handling of all, so why not go with that setup?

[fpv_gtho]

yeah things like the 40:60 and 38:62 splits give the driver more fun, but theres no perfect setup. as they proved around Eastern Creek with the new STi's with the DCCD, the 3 settings 50:50, 40:60 and auto split, the auto split gave the fastest time

[Luciferous]

Well thats because it changes to suit conditions doesn't it? But there would be a lot of the time where most of the power is going to the rear wheels, where the MPS can only get a maximum of half the power getting put down at the rears

[fpv_gtho]

yeah but i suppose if your realyy wanted to be a smartarse you could try goin around switching between the 2 fixed splits...

i guess its sdtill better than fwd though

[Luciferous]

Well thats true but I just don't have the faith in it to knock the Liberty GT off its perch...

[fpv_gtho]

well the FWD 6 is a pretty competant car against the AWD Liberty, the driveline doesnt account for all of the cars handling and on road manners afterall. i guess it depends a bit if Mazda see it as a Liberty GT competitor or not

[Luciferous]

Well the 5's less weight and better engine keeps the Liberty honest, but when the Liberty's best form is in its top models, so the MPS is up against some stiff competition. Plus the 3.0R spec B won't make things easy as well

[fpv_gtho]

well i suppose that there could be some inspiration to making the MPS, give the 6's top end of the range some more flavour. it'll be interesting to see if they follow up with a 3 MPS

[Luciferous]

I hope so, the SP23 was probably the weak link in the range, it'd be quite nice to see a turbo AWD Mazda3 hatch...

[fpv_gtho]

its hardly the weak link. 110-115kw, low $30's price tag with a well balanced chassis, its no wonder ive seen so many on the roads. the only real weakness is its still outpriced by the Corrola Sportivo

[Luciferous]

Its a polished range of vehicles that are well built, fun to drive and keenly priced. Calling the SP23 the weak link doesn't mean its bad, but from what I can gather it doesn't do justice to the other models in the line up with a grunty but uninspiring engine and expensive next to its main competitor, which is why it was hurt so badly in BFYB