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Comments
Jason.
They gambled that ABS buyers could be forced into buying leather and a sunroof. In my case, at least, they lost that bet.
They went through the same mix issue with their Protege. They still sell lots of them with AT, but they sold a lot more when they ordered more with MT as many of the car mags said THAT was the most fun-to-drive option, and Mazda NA also pitched the Protege as a sporty compact sedan (as in the commercial where it tails a Miata through some twisty back roads...that commercial made me want to go out and find some....but this area is sorely lacking...then again, most drivers here are terrible, so I guess it cuts down on the accident rate).
I had the opportunity to drive 45-55 with little hard acceleration or braking in my Protege. I got over 40mpg! (254mi on 6.2 gal), and that includes about 100 miles of 70+mph freeway driving, which I'm sure brought the average down (I typically get 32-33 mpg when going that fast on hilly freeways like those through TN and KY).
There probably was some slight error as every pump will cut off at a different level of fill, but it should still be in the high 30s. My previous best-ever on an all-freeway fill-up was 38mpg.
Since I was unfamiliar with the area, I was driving a bit more sedately than usual.
I guess it can pay off, if economy is your thing. Now that gas prices have shot up to $1.60/gal for regular, I might be taking it a little easier on both pedals.
Third tank: roughly 280 miles and 13.4 gallons.
Damn! I've been driving the car a little harder since it's break-in, I guess. We've had slightly colder weather recently, too.
Anybody try heel-and-toe'ing in the '6? I'm trying to learn, but it feels akward.
I'm installing a small (30x4) amp under the driver's seat. My power cable runs around a rubber boot with a ton of other wires- I had to pry the boot out, and I never did get it reseated completely. It makes me nervous- I want to try again. My remote turn-on lead was spliced from the auxilary power jack in the center compartment, and my ground wire is screwed into the parking brake handle mount.
Probably with a nice trade-in that you'll get bottom-dollar for. Discount given after $1500 of dealer add-ons to raise MSRP. Only one car out of forty available with this discount and it was just sold- the rest are at MSRP. If not, buy two and throw one on eBay. Call 'em up!
fowler3
The 6S with sports for those who asked hanlded great in the snow. Ice I would guess would be a different matter.
Has anyone put the new duratec air filter on their car or any other makes. Just curious I believe it gives an extra 5 horse power.
The 6S with sports for those who asked handled great in the snow. Ice I would guess would be a different matter.
Has anyone put the new duratec air filter on their car or any other makes. Just curious I believe it gives an extra 5 horse power.
Yes, and yes. These tires are EXCELLENT in the rain, but only OK on pavement. I've never had snow tires, so I'm not sure how much improvement is to be had. The tires are pretty confident to me in the snow so far, though, while I see other cars stuck, spinning, or sliding.
Then again, I enjoy driving in snow. When the white stuff falls, I go out to drive. I like sliding around, and it's my only chance to drive in DC without traffic. In Maryland, everyone else panics. So long as restaurants and movies are still open, it's the best time to go!
Saw a new MR2 that was just thrashed being picked up by the wrecker. No other cars around but the CHP, so I'm guessing the kid (on his cell phone probably calling dad) got a little excited around one of those joyous mountain roads. I didn't let that get to me (although my passenger was a little shaken) and continued to have a blast down the mountain after a beautiful day of snowboarding.
One thought that never crossed my mind was "gee, I wonder how many of these cars Mazda sold last month". Rather, I was thinking how much darn fun this car is to drive and how awesome it handles, yet remains comfortable.
1) It's way, way more practical.
2) I knew that one day I'd get into trouble with the MR2.
The '6 is nearly as fun to drive as a rear wheel drive car, but with the idiot-resistant front wheel drive mannorisms.
Gotta ask... any of you own the lapis blue M6 I've seen flying by me on the 395 recently, or parked in the Springfield Mall parking lot tonight (Sun, Feb 9)? Just wondering...
Also, MT vs AT... First car was a stick (Mom had to drive it home since I couldn't even drive one yet), have owned sticks since. Had a rental AT a couple weeks ago and thought about getting an AT, until I got back in my car (98 Protege MT). Just test drove both 6i and 6s this weekend, both manuals. Seemed like the 6i didn't pick-up much at all in 1st or 2nd gear (though 6s was great). I'm wondering if it was just the un-broken-in engine. Anyone have any comments on that?
Can 'feel' be duplicated by modifying another car? I thought about this- I'm sure we all see tricked-out Hondas on the roads daily. Not all of them are stickers- some of these cars are rather admirable. A strut bars and a decent set of tires will radically transform otherwise ordinary vehicles. Is that all it takes to be a "authentic, bona-fide sports sedan?" What sets our car apart, if anything-- what creates that 'feel'?
Here's what I came up with:
Can anyone else think of more?Very quick steering: 2 1/2 turns end-to-end!
Outstanding steering feedback allows the driver to sense remaining tire grip, skid, road imperfections, wind- you name it.
No play in the brake pedal. Tap, you stop.
The battery is mounted against the engine towards the center of the engine bay to keep its weight centered. In fact, the entire left and right of the car's engine bay is empty to avoid malicious weight shifts.
The rear suspension is below the trunk giving it an extremely low center of gravity.
The engine block is 10% lighter than standard cast aluminum.
The chassis frame was stiffened (as a result of one of the most advanced NVH studies ever) to the point that the need for heavy sound insulation was minimized. This makes better use of the car's weight.
Speakers (except tweeters) are mounted low in the doors. Again, low center of gravity.
Small steering wheel
V6 manual transmission
Peaky engines liked to be revved for spirited driving.
Very high wheel offset reduces torque steer and moment of inertia when steering.
(I'm still debating 2.3L vs. 3.0L)
Performance: Of course, the 6 has less power than the 2 cars mentioned above. In the Altima, you really feel the power come on. It's more Lexus muted (read: sedate, sleepy) in the Accord, but still there. The handling was better on the '6, but almost as good on the Altima SE. Noise suppression was best on the Accord, then the 6s, then the Altima, with the Altima having a very throaty engine. But neither the Altima, the Accord, or the 6i had a vibrating floorboard like the 6s I drove. Maybe a one-car fluke, I don't know...
Interior: The Accord had the best interior, albeit a little sedate (the whole car is actually). Both were roomier than the 6 as well, although the 6 feels more "personal", and I think that's the feeling Mazda was going for. The rear seat was biggest in the Altima though, but it's a good foot larger than the 6 so that's to be expected.
Overall: I prefer the Altima first, because I like alot of power. The 6 handled a tiny bit better, but I prefer power to handling (for my driving style anyway). The interiors would have to rate: Accord (although bland, as I said), then Altima, then 6. I preferred the Altima's over the 6 because the silver finish on the center stack in the 6 makes it harder for me to see the controls in brighter sunlight.
Overall, I think the 6 or Altima would appeal to more a "driver", then the Accord to the masses (as usual), because of the "H" on the hood. Also, the Accord had a slight rattle in the driver door PW control pod. And the 6 had the vibating floorboard that I mentioned before (I drove an i model too, and it didn't have this, so it would be car-specific as I said before).
Keep in mind that this is a personal review of the cars, and not meant to reflect on any of the 3 of them. Surprising to me though, I think the Altima would earn my money though (based on power and room).
I was thinking of some of the original commercials--where they animated the "seatbelt" light with the guy on there driving the car through some turns and whatnot--and thought it would be cool if they panned over to the door ajar light and it was a 4-door he was getting out of.
But we have those break-away pedals! Remember the hype on them?
:-)
Seriously, you're talking about no more than two inches. The frame of the '6 is stiffer- this might help too.
BTW, that 6 v. Accord forum was fine until a certain Accord advocate chimed in... again. It's amazing how one person can ruin it for everyone. I liked that thread, but good riddance. I can only take so much bad information each day.
Just thought you'd like a different perspective on things.
Anyways, the Mondeo might share the 6's platform, just the PRO, Focus and Volvo (S60???) will. Why is that a bad thing? Seems to me some Honda owners are having sleepless nights over a vehicle with mediocre sales numbers (an inferior vehicle by that account)...
Dinu
But, like I pointed out, there is not "spike" in sales rate as is typical of a new model intro (usually about 15% or so).
Remember those MasterCard commercials that end with "priceless", let's have some of those about the 6.
Any creative people around?
Dinu
'Bouncing around' inside the cabin means your body and limbs have more opportunity to accelerate and then be stopped by the dash, door, wheel or whatever. The same principle is applied to helmets - you want it to fit snugly so your head can't accelerate into the liner. You don't want to be able to move around.
Race drivers are strapped in as tightly as possible so they don't bounce around. Extra interior space is great for comfort, but potentially bad for accident safety.
If that's the way you want it, then you have to honor that yourselves.
IOW, if you don't want them to talk about the Accord, you shouldn't do so either.
Incidently a former coworker of mine had his foot shattered by the force through the brake pedal in a relatively minor collision, so this isn't trivial. I really like the idea of the break-away foot pedals in the 6.
Keep tweaking, Mazda, keep tweaking!
BUT - fact is, if you give your arms and legs more room to accelerate into stationary objects, the harder they're going to hit those objects.
This still doesn't change the basic law of physics that if you give something more time to accelerate, or fail to slow that accelearation to an acceptable level the harder it will hit. I'd bet that if you gave a Suburban the cabin space of a Civic you'd get even better ratings.
There are a few folks who are still on the fence regarding the 4cyl i and the 6cyl s. It isn't an easy decision to make.
Personally, I've taken both out several times with manual transmissions and STILL can't make up my mind.
Any thoughts?
The dealers here in Phx seem to stock mostly automatic cars. The vast majority of the stock is base stuff with auto (yeah, those horrid wheel covers). The only other cars are fully loaded. Doesn't seem to be much in-between right now. I'm interested in the i model, and drove both a stick and auto. Interestingly, the auto wasn't as much of a dog as I thought it would be, though the stick was definitely quicker and more fun to drive.
I liked the car overall, peppy, nice handling, good brakes. The interior was OK, plenty of room (I'm 6'2" and 180 pounds), though I didn't find the seats (non-power) to be particularly comfortable nor did I care for the fabric. Car felt solid, but there was a bit more road noise than I expected. Have others had this happen as well?
I'm trading in a 2001 Chevy 2500HD that I'm rightside-up on. Best deal I've found so far was a lease deal with my trade: 0 out of pocket, $301/month for 48 months, base car with auto. Any thoughts on this deal or do I need to provide more info?
Dion
I am about your height (6'3), so maybe that has something to do with it.