Bad Boys, Good Intentions: For those who want a larger, kinder & (barely) gentler sport sedan than EVO or STI
Okay, so you're not a kid anymore. Intense "Over here, officer" graphics and subwoofers the size of tree houses are now mere flyspecs in the rearview mirror of your automotive existence.
Replacing those bagatelles is a new appreciation of more meaningful driving values, like exhilarating quickness, invigorating agility, and the all-important ability to head off irritable family syndrome by finding those qualities in a vehicle that treats others on board as well as it treats you.
To help in that noble quest, we offer the new Mazdaspeed6 and Subaru Legacy GT spec.B, two highly polished road warriors that travel their own paths to that same ultimate destination. Each of these limited-production all-wheel-drive sedans wraps high-performance powertrain and suspension elements in sheetmetal that favors tasteful understatement rather than gratuitous overprofiling. Those similarities aside, there's a world of difference lurking within.
At first glance, the spec.B could be a poster child for Q-ships. Low-key ground-effects, side sills, unique 18-inch wheels, and 215/45YR18 Bridgestone RE050 performance tires in place of all-season rubber are the only tipoff that it's not a garden-variety Legacy GT.
Hardly overdone, the Mazdaspeed6 looks almost diabolical by comparison. A visual highlight of the most powerful Mazda ever sold in the U.S. is a bolder front fascia with oversize grille openings. But instead of an external hood scoop, Mazda's high-performance crew recontoured the panel to accommodate an internal channel that rams air through the upper inlet directly onto the intercooler. Beyond that, the Mazdaspeed6 adds wider front fender flares, unique lamp treatments, mirrors keyed to one of six exterior colors, side sills, and a rear spoiler lip set off by bespoke 18-inch alloys, also wrapped in 215/45YR18 Bridgestone RE050s.