First, surprise: dead battery. It seems nobody is in the market for a 17 mpg performance sedan. Next: it may look Lexusy but it doesn’t drive that way: road noise and impact harshness are surprisingly prominent. And yet: not a hoot to drive. For one thing, like the new Accord, it is so physically BIG that us small-car guys don’t feel comfortable placing it. For another, the steering is overboosted, and the 6-speed autobox is dedicated to the doomed mission of wringing some economy out of the exuberantly profligate powerplant, meaning slow downshifts and eager upshifts. One hopes it’s an intelligent auto that learns your driving style over time, but the salesman didn’t know.

Like all Mazdas, the illusion it gives of driving a much more expensive car will inevitably be shattered at some point by some detail: a hard armrest, an underwhelming stereo, a rattle from the steering column, the bizarro cloth-and-leather seats.

Then they offered to sell it to me at an enormous discount. Like, down to what I paid for my Mazda3 4 years ago. I’m not sure I need a sedan the size of Kansas that drinks like an SUV and STILL doesn’t have a proper dog-compartment like a wagon. But I’m as intoxicated by gross excesses of horsepower as the next dude. And as the ladies say about that Coach bag on sale for half price, “how can I afford NOT to buy it?”

Thanks to a number of reviews I went to check out Mazda’s 6. Knowing that I didnt want a I4 I went strait for the V6. What a joy to drive. It didnt take long for me to talk the needy dealer (needed end of month numbers) down several thousand on a fully loaded touring model.

For the week that I have owned this car it has been amazing. Great fit and finish (way above the others in this group). Has a great sportiness that this group has been missing. While its no G8 GT in the speed department, I get to the stoplight in comfort, style, and in a reliable way. All that and I’m only 1 second slower. I’ll take it.

I like its looks. To me, it is fresh without being overly obnoxious. I actually got a “trying too hard” feel from the previous iteration, this one seems to take many of the same styling elements and adds a little understated maturity (again, my opinion).

However, I do feel that the silver surrounding the foglights was a mistake on darker cars. This car looks better in white.

Also, is the wagon version going to make it to the US? I actually think that version looks almost sexy. Not tall and frumpty like wagons tend to be, more of a shooting-brake resemblance without the overly elongated look that tends to come with that.

Also, on the weight thing, don’t forget that a big complaint about the Honda is that it feels heavy too. If this car feels nimble and darty despite its relative weightiness, what is there to complain about?

170 hp is too soft for a big car like this.

I don’t like the buttons on the steering wheel. They are too small to press. If this is a good car the CRUISE CONTROL should work while on third gear or used the cruise control for paddle shifting like what I do with my 08 Lancer.

“Ok, but where do you draw the line?”

You draw the line at the point where scientific evidence demonstrates diminishing returns.

It is tricky; for example, I had a school bus case that showed that the local school board could have designed routes – requiring more buses, more money – that meant no kid would cross the road after getting off a bus. Is this going too far? Additionally, having an additional employee on every school bus, a monitor, reduced, at the time, child fatalities getting off a bus to zero for the 6 year period (in California) prior to this case. The school board did not have monitors. The Board was either ignorant or felt it important to save local taxpayers the increase in taxes necessary to pay monitors.

Currently, there is a movement to require back up sensors on all cars. The equation here is 6 children, since the average number of deaths of children who are killed, by their parents, in back up accidents is 6 per year.

How do you make that call?

By the way, a leading cause of car accidents involving children in this jurisdiction are parents hitting children around school drop offs.

Yes, people are foolish and drive badly.

Going off to discuss helmets in cars, etc., goes too far, but the real world discussion, if you are a legislator or a government official is very real. In fact, you hold people’s lives in your hands and have to overcome resistance to safety measures.

“And don’t forget the near total absence of social (or insurance industry) pressure to hold drivers responsible for blindingly stupid behavior.”

I happen to agree with you on this. A lot of people in the insurance industry believe that driving impaired – once – should rate a lifetime ban. Unfortunately, all that will do will increase the number of drivers who drive with suspended licenses. Jail time for driving offenses does not meet with societal approval, unfortunately. Juries do not support such efforts, for reasons that are difficult to fathom, until you think about the issue of intent in criminal law.

from http://www.esafetyaware.eu/en/activities/esc_information.htm :

” Mercedes data indicates that the installation of ESC as standard equipment on all of its vehicles has resulted in a 29 percent reduction in single-vehicle crashes and 15 percent fewer crashes overall. Based on these figures, the widespread installation of ESC in the United States could save as many as 5,000 lives and nearly $35 billion in economic losses annually. This study, which implements German government data, is especially significant because all new Mercedes vehicles are equipped with ESC as standard equipment.

A study by Toyota in Japan reports that vehicles with ESC showed a 35 percent reduction of single-vehicle crashes, which could save an estimated 6,000 lives annually in the United States, and a 30 percent reduction of head-on crashes, saving another 2,500 lives. The study also confirms Mercedes’ conclusion that ESC is more effective in higher speed ranges when vehicle dynamics play a greater role and when the crashes that occur are more severe.”

Interestingly enough, the data for ABS by itself has shown almost no reduction in accidents. The problem with ABS appears to be that people don’t use it because they don’t just stomp on the brakes as hard as possible when it would help, and some people feel the vibration from ABS activating and BACK OFF, which is the wrong response. Stability control, on the other hand, doesn’t require any change in driver instincts to work it’s magic.

You need to be a moron to say no, so as we go on the hwy, I’m trying very hard to keep the speed around 60 (V6 model) and the girl keep pushing me, “hit the gas, see how it feels”, I was thrilled, the car felt so good, I never drove a 4 door car that felt so eager and fun, it was a big contrast from the Avis rental Camry I had for a week that summer.

Haha. If only ever test drive went like that… “Go ahead, see how it feels. Go faster!”

:)

I would be suprised if this latest version outsells the prior for two reasons: First, I suspect that many who were Mazda loyalists have left the group due to automatic only V6 trims, and the loss of hatchback and wagon versions. Second, there are simply too many other viable contenders in this segment to poach the mazda buyer. Subaru regulary poaches sales to cross-shopping mazda traffic in my area (including myself at last time).

To the commenters that take issue with the styling: the boy racer versions were the later ones with altezza taillights 18inch wheels and lower valance fog lamps. The earlier ones were cleaner and in 2003, the 6 was drop dead gorgeous compared to its competition. It really boils down to whether you accept the RX8 influence or not. If you don’t like it, you will not be fond of the styling of this car or practically anything Mazda offers.

I’m offended that a compact sedan weighs more than a big, bulky sports car with a seven-liter V8. That the Jetta weighs more than, say, a Miata is one thing, but a Corvette is not a small car.

More to the point, I’m annoyed that the Jetta weighs over 300 pounds more than many of its similarly sized competitors. The five-cylinder Jetta weighs something like 350 pounds more than a well-equipped Mazda3 2.3 sedan, which is not exactly svelte itself.

I agree, though, that comparing stability control on a powerful, RWD car like a Corvette with a FWD family sedan is kind of spurious. A powerful rear-drive car tends to be prone to lift-off oversteer, which is rare on FWD cars. Most FWD family sedans understeer, and lifting off will just tuck the nose in. If it breaks loose, it’s more likely because of surface traction conditions (wet or icy road, broken pavement), and stability control can’t save you from that.

Having said that, the interior is quite nice on first inspection, but look a little closer. I sat in one while my Mazda5 was in the shop, and I noticed that the slotted piece of plastic on the central part on the top of the dash was improperly fastened on all sides… the car I sat in was the GT V6, so I was more than a little disappointed… that trim lever stickers over $33,000 in Canada.

I think that while the Mazda and Nissan might be more fun to drive etc, if I were buying for the long haul, I would be purchasing an Accord, styling be damned!

It’s useful for real-life people and it was really entertaining. :D Wonder where Sonata would’ve placed.

I guess the fanboi filter is set on high. With automatic assumptions like this, even the few truly worthy cars Detroit makes don’t stand a chance.

Jabba the Hut weight is no guarantee of good crash results, either. Good design is worth more than just senseless mass.

Ok, but where do you draw the line? Mandatory air vent and rear view mirror airbags? How about mandatory helmets for drivers? Or at least for children? If I was a helmet manufacturer I’d run ads stating, “What kind of child hater would put their 8 year old in a car without a helmet?”

Bottom line: There’s a certain amount of inherent risk in moving at any speed in a car.

And don’t forget the near total absence of social (or insurance industry) pressure to hold drivers responsible for blindingly stupid behavior. Examples abound:

Remember all the brain-stem mommys who decapitated their kids by NOT-seat belting them in front of an airbag?!? Or the senior idiot who got probation for mowing down a dozen+ people at that California farmers’ market? Or UPS getting sued because they think (properly in my opinion) that the deaf shouldn’t be allowed to drive a truck.

Really? I would have thought that the Malibu could have at least beaten the Camry, and the Fusion is known for being pretty decent to drive as well. I don’t, however, disagree with having the Mazda in first place. It looks like a great car.

One point about ESC that detractors miss: it’s all software, and it weighs nothing. When people talk about mass and safety, it’s crash structure (and bigger engines, transmissions with more gears, more metal in general) that results in increased mass, airbags aren’t heavy, and the electronics and software to run ESC can’t weigh more than pound.

I’d second that ESC should be a mandatory feature. People aren’t going to magically become better drivers (and, really, it’s not like they’re really much worse than they every have been) and, even then, bad things happen to good drivers who are otherwise doing all the right things.

Unfortunately, for the rest of us that do not belong to the Justice League of Superheroes, the ‘kryptonite’ of accidents exists in every day life and we need ESC, seat belts, etc. I have been in the insurance industry for a long time and have heard people explain their failure to use seat belts, from their hospital beds, by stating that they had never been in an accident and didn’t think they needed to wear a belt – ‘a belt can kill you’ is popular.

Nothing is sadder, of course, then listening to that explanation from the mouth of a parent whose young child is dead or permanently disabled. A belief that ESC ‘does nothing’ or that you don’t need it borders on the irresponsible and certainly displays a lack of understanding about cars and safety.

On a lighter note, I test drove an Accord and a Mazda 6…and chose the ‘heavy’ Jetta TDI with its ‘excessive’ torque.

And don’t forget – It’s “totally, completely, 100% new”. I think I’d remember that name otherwise, thank you.

Post submitted twice to parrot Mazda MAZDA6

And don’t forget – It’s “totally, completely, 100% new”. I think I’d remember that name otherwise, thank you.

Will this platform be underpinning the 2010 Ford Fusion?
My father has been using FoMoCo cars since the dawn of time, and if the Fusion is on par with this car, this would be the first blue ovaled car I could strongly recommend to him.

FWD isn’t going to help you if your car goes out of control. Stability control will selectively brake an individual wheel and cut fuel to keep you on the intended path. I mentioned the vehicles I did because they are cars and not SUVs.

FWD and RWD vehicles obviously have different driving dynamics, however, both can get into situations where control is not going to be recovered by the driver’s use of the gas or brake pedal. Those situations (assuming they are within the realm of physics/tire adhesion) will be helped by a system like stability control that can selectively brake a wheel like sticking an oar in the water on one side of the canoe. That and lighting fast fuel shutoff.

Cars (FWD or not) can still lose control for various reasons. Hydroplaning is one of them. That is actually what happened to me in the Vette. There is no way I could have saved it, simply because I had no way to selectively brake an individual wheel. Even if I did, I most likely would not have been able to do it quickly enough to save it. This had nothing to do with FWD vs RWD.

There are plenty of video clips out there showing cars losing control from over-correction. You seem to be implying that FWD cars are immune or so unlikely for this to happen that it’s not a worthwhile safety system. I, along with many others, will disagree with you.

It’s a “do I have my house in order” type of moment when loss of control does happen. I give thanks to the stability control gods when I can, as I probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.

One example is appropriate here to me – that of side head airbags. There are a number of people who don’t think they’re necessary or who don’t really care if their vehicle has ‘em. If you’ve ever watched the BMW clip years ago when they pioneered them, you’d see the benefit. The pole is unforgiving, even at 20 MPH. It’s just a matter of chance really whether you are in that situation. If you are the dummy, you’d want that cushion as you slide toward that pole. Just as you’d want stability control if your base Altima’s ass end starts to want to come around and say “Hi” doing 65 MPH.

argentla, you find it offensive that a 4-door sedan weighs more than a 2-door high-end sports car? Do you see anything wrong with that statement?