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http://www.baltimore.bbb.org/AlertDetl.asp?ID=94
This is from the Baltimore BBB...
There is NO three day return rule for automobiles in Maryland, or any other state that I am aware of.
And demand there turned out to be 8000 per month, if I remember correctly. In most (all?) countries this car has been introduced in, demand has been much higher than anticipated... hence Mazda profits are up 50% from last year.
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Went pleasure driving tonight in the 17 degree weather. I'm at 998 miles now. Expect my 1000 mile driving report soon :-)
You've mentioned many times the increase in power (and torque?) during break in of the 4cyl engine. Feel like getting wordy about the experience and telling us how the car differs from the test drive after being driven 1000 miles? Any way of describing the change in the sound? It'd really help those of us up on the fence.
Anyone else able to describe the way the 6s improves after 1000 miles?
Seems like the 6s can be had with those goodies right off the lot (although it only seems to be available in silver right now).
Anyone know how long it'd take to order one custom built? Can a custom built Mazda6 be put together with any options or are you stuck with the weirdness of the website packages (Bose only comes with sport package, etc.)?
As for the options, I've heard Mazda may relax the option selections, but when you order, it's the same as the website.
Enterprise also seems to be varying their mix of vehicles too. I've seen them offer Toyotas, Mistubishis and Nissans in OH.
I think they're trying to offer something more for people willing to pay for it. Plus, it's just competitive response. When one starts doing it and benefiting, they all have to do the same. After having suffered in many a subpar vehicle as a rental, I will pay a little more for one I like.
I know Budget rents Proteges, because they have a Budger car sales lot here in MD, and they sell Proteges all the time. They also sell Focuses (Foci?), Escapes, Taurus' (Tauri?), and they used to sell Escorts as well. Enterprise seems to do more GM vehicles, but they do have a mix (I got a Mitsu Lancer from them, as well as an Impala and a Neon).
I will be renting in 2 weeks or so though, so I might not be fortunate enough to get a 6. Would also be cool to get something you hardly see on the road too.
For those on the fence between a 6i and 6s, my opinion is this: I drive in urban areas, so I don't go past 60mph often. 2nd gear on the '6 takes me to 60mph. 3rd gear acceleration (to 85-90mph) is strong, but not as thrilling.
The tires fight for grip all the way through second gear- momentarily breaking lose on road imperfections. So for me, more power would create a lack of control. On a smooth road, the tires seem to grip just enough not to understeer. Again, I don't want to upset this balance.
With better tires, the 6s would put more power to the ground, but not much more with the stock 16's (and in this cold weather).
I've also been getting 34mpg in heavy city traffic. I can't figure out how!!! This is the most fuel-efficient car I've ever driven- my last car (Celica) had a 1.6l engine, got nearly 40mpg HIGHWAY, but still only got 24mpg CITY. The '6 is getting 34mpg CITY on the exact same route. That's insane! I keep thinking it's a fluke, but so far it's been consistent.
While the V6 definately has its thrills- better sound, more pull, great 3rd gear on the highway- it's not for me. Try to get an unsupervised test drive and decide for yourself.
Ontario Mazda in Canandaigua, New York had a Lapis Blue with 5 miles on (buried under some snow I imagine). We did the deal over the phone on Saturday and I drove it home to Long Island Monday. ($1300 below window sticker if you must know).
Forgive me for not breaking it in properly but I had it up to 105 mph before I knew it. What a sweet car for a 400 mile trip. The stereo's great, the Michelin Pilot tires hold the curves and there's plenty of power for passing.
One funny glitch: whenever I put the climate control system on "auto," it put the air conditioning on. It was 6 degrees outside. Anyone know about this?
I hate that! Let me do it myself!
The auto controls are more complicated too, I think. I hate having to go through all the modes to find the one I want with the auto system. I would rather have the manual system too.
The standard type (on the 6i) with three manual controls is better and doesn't lower your fuel economy. Tried and true.
fowler3
I really like the power and how linear it feels. I never did any 3000 rpm clutch drops from red lights as somebody will be buying this car but did give it some power. Its very quiet and the exhaust note is very sweet. I was always slowing down as I was always speeding in the city if there were no cars in front of me. The tires are quite noisy making more noise than my winter tires but the interior is quieter than my P5 at hwy speeds. The car feels very tight and fun to drive, like a bigger P5 though the steering didn't feel as tight as the P5, like there was more boost. I think that the P5 is set up to be a tighter driver for turning in than the M6 is which would account for this (smaller toy with useable space vs sporty family car?). I took the M6 up to 135kph (80mph) and it was very solid and quite (sans tire noise) and the engine was turning almost 3500rpm. Did some quick lane changes at speeds of 90-110kph (60-65mph) and it was very stable. Brakes have a great feel (just like the P5) to them and stopped the car quickly and controlled. I did go down one snow covered road and did find the tires had no grip on snow (no surprises here) and the ABS kicked in right from when I hit the brakes under normal braking. I would get winter tires as I'm use to driving with winter tires on my car now and enjoy the shorter stopping distances and control. The interior was very comfortable but did expect more lat/thigh support in the seats (personal thing). Do the leather seats offer more? I had plenty of head/leg/hip room (6'1", 190 pounds) and had enough room to sit in the back seat also without moving the front seat from my position. Love the look of the car, mostly from the front angles. Can't wait to see the wagon when it comes (love the pictures I've seen so far). I would seriously consider buying this car if I was in the market for a new car but since my P5 is only 18 month old, its way too early to do this. Besides, even after driving the M6 I still enjoyed driving the P5 back home.
Has anyone in Canada bought one yet?
everyone time i think about doing it, that is the only thing that scares me. Once into a drift, how to break away from it?
Am I wrong?
How do you correct a drift? Straighten the wheel a little! Your tires will grip again. Don't brake while drifting or the added weight on the front tires will cause them to bite and the rear to float- you can wind up facing where you came from.
You could use the throttle to steer the car. You can oversteer by braking or understeer by accelerating. Not recommended on public roads. Weight transfer is everything, but not easily learned in traffic!
Be safe, don't experiment too quickly. Not only is it safer, it's also faster. Usually, you go faster by starting a turn slowly- braking hard and then accelerating in the turn- otherwise you'd exit at your slowest and spend time in a straight making up that speed.
I haven't autocrossed yet, but The Secrets of Solo Racing by Henry Watts was a great read. I've taken my daily commute time down two seconds!
Someone correct me if I've mistyped anything- this isn't the kind of incorrect information I'd want to pass on.
"If you have control of your vehicle, you're not going fast enough."
In slow, out fast is far quicker than in fast and out slow (aka - over-cooking the corner).
If you have to slow or brake mid-corner, you've sacrificed the all important momentum and traction. You want to be rolling on the power mid-corner, not staying off it.
Who ever thought we'd be discussing racing driver techniques in a "grocery getter" forum?
Not me.
Though I don't recommend drifting with groceries. It'd make a mess.
For those of you who can't decide on the I or the S it seems (at least in the Northwest) that the M6i is the most delivered car. I was asking for a M6s (dark grey) with the sports package and the MT... For some reason there are none available. The broker is worried he won't find this car without leather and moonroof (neither of which I want).
However, if I were to pick a M6i I'd be all set.
I told him I wasn't in a hurry.
Here's the price he quoted me for the config I requested: $21,650. (with added homelink mirror)
Does that sound okay to those who have already purchased?
It's only about $2000 under Msrp. But the broker says Mazda has really cut the dealer markup on these and that MSRP is really very close to invoice.
I'd say he's pulling my leg, but he quoted me more than $3000 under MSRP on a Murano...so he'd have no reason to jack up a Mazda.
thoughts?
Okay, when the broker does find this car, I'm getting it!
I wonder if there will be any incentives on the 6 soon? Like this summer?
I called Enterprise and asked if they had Mazdas, but they don't. And they are the ones my insurance company uses, so I won't be driving a Mazda of any kind for a rental.
Another issue in the 6i vs. 6s decision is the availability of aftermarket stuff. Since the 2.3L engine is available internationally in the 6 and the 3.0L is not, I suspect there will be way more goodies available for it.
Power--not much til about 2-3000RPM, then it kicks in. To really get a quick start from full stop, a manual would be essential. Transmission was smooth, though, and good power compared to the two 4-cyl automatics I own.
Handling--I liked it. Salesman invited me to toss the car around in an empty parking lot, and it really gave me confidence in what the car can do, at least at lower speeds. Pretty imperturbable. I also found myself wanting to floor it and change lanes a lot on the highway just for fun. Braking also felt great. Everything felt right.
Highway cruising--surprisingly good. I don't think you lose anything with the somewhat firm suspension. I got it to 80, and I didn't find it very loud. Quiter at 65, of course, but just background white noise at 80. Not sure what the RPMs were, but I didn't hear the engine or any road noise. Seems to me it would be great for highway crusing.
Comfort--the car I drove was a base 6i, cloth seats, no lumbar support adjustment. I wasn't crazy about the lower back support. I sat in a loaded 6 in the showroom with leather seats and 8-way power driver's seat and it definitely seemed more comfortable (maybe just because of the adjustable lumbar support). Leg room was good. In smaller cars, I find the dead pedal too close, but it was okay in this car. Also, the tilt/telescoping steering wheel and the up/down adjustable seat helps you find a good position. Plenty of headroom for me (5'10").
Rear seat--very comfortable, leg room was adequate, with the front seat adjusted pretty far back. I also sat in an Altima in the same showroom, and it had more rear leg room, but a less comfortable rear seat.
Misc--I liked the dual overhead lights for the rear seats (also for the front seats). The rear seat springs forward nicely to fold it down, although it doesn't get nearly horizontal. In the hatchback it's supposed to fold flat, although we haven't seen the US version yet. Speaking of things lacking on the US version, the lack of rear headrests is even worse than I thought. It looks like it would offer NO whiplash protection for anyone over 5'4" or so. What's that all about?
Still looking forward to the hatchback...
Mazda6s: I have Kenwood 6"x8" components to go up front and two powered 6" Clarion super-compact subwoofers to put underneat the seats (just looking for low-end fill, not boom). I have speaker brackets that convert the 6x8" opening to a 5 1/2" round opening and have Cadence components to go in the back, also. If the 5 1/4" components sound better, I'll switch and put them up front. I'll probably not connect the tweeters for the back speakers to keep nice imaging up front.
I did it all on eBay for under $300. The speakers are all 92db 1w/1m efficient and should have no problem playing loudly off of the stock head unit. This was the single most important thing I was looking for since I wasn't planning on adding an amp. I really like the sound of Infinity speakers, but only Kenwood makes an efficient 5x7 or 6x8" component speaker. I've heard Kenwood speakers before and thought them to be only slightly above average, so I may not keep these.
The Cadence speakers I've never heard, so I took a risk. I saw they have what's called a Zobel circuit in the crossover, which indicates to me that it is a very high quality crossover. I've done a bit of DIY audio, and have built these circuits to control the rising impedance of the woofer.
The subwoofers were $50 each. Talk about a steal!!! It was an impulse buy, and I bought two. They're made by Clarion and won an electronic's award when they debuted in the year 2000. It's a book-sized 120 watt, 6" subwoofer that goes down to 30hz. It should fit underneath my seat. I bought a discontinued model- the newer ones are even skinnier, use a 7" woofer, and play clean down to 20hz.
To Everyone: I can't figure out how to get the door panel off. I found several anchors that pull out (on the left and right sides of the door) with a hard tug, removed the tweeter assembly, the door handle panel, and undid the screw behind the light lens. The door panel won't budge. I haven't even tried the back doors yet. I'm told there's a hidden screw underneath the power window panel that I missed, but the door was so solidly held on, I'd bet there's several screws and/or anchors I was missing. I pulled much harder than I was comfortable doing. Any suggestions?
Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocrossing and Time Trials
Henry A. Watts
How to Make Your Car Handle
by Fred Puhn
Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques
by Ross Bentley
Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving
by Carl Lopez,
Thanks!
Oh also I'm more interested in driving on street than on race track, and more of FWD and AWD than RWD.
The only comment I got from my old Audi was: "Nice ski rack, Thule, right?"
If giving up wood trim, khaki leather, and quattro for girls flirting with me on the interstate (I know it is the car, can't be me, I mean, look at me, who would flirt with me), I would take the 6 everytime.
When was the last time a sedan caused this much commotion?
You think you can get that same raction from driving an Accord?? (ha..ha)
>Something I have gotten out of my new 6s that I >never got out of my old Audi A4 is the looks, >the inquiries, and the flirtations on the >interstate. I have gotten stopped more times >than not in the parking lot and gas stations >with questions about my 6. How much power does >it have? Is it fun to drive? How do you like it? >Looks sharp! At that price, a bargain!
>The only comment I got from my old Audi >was: "Nice ski rack, Thule, right?"
>If giving up wood trim, khaki leather, and >quattro for girls flirting with me on the >interstate (I know it is the car, can't be me, >Imean, look at me, who would flirt with me), I >would take the 6 everytime.
>When was the last time a sedan caused this much >commotion?