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Comments
ANYWAY, here's Top Gear's conclusion regarding the Mazda:
"So that leaves the Mazda as our clear winner. The only thing we'd change is that interior, or, to be more precise, the awful looking centre console. The rest of the car we like enormously. It's the best looking from the outside, has the best engine, the best gearbox, the best ride, and the best handling. True you'll pay a bit more company car tax [UK has car tax based on a vehicle's CO2 emissions]. Sorry, but if you want the very best car here, that's what you are going to have to do."
http://www.topgear.beeb.com/
Now go to the top right, pick new cars, Mazda 6, and then click on roadtests. I would post the entire link but it won't let me here, says it is longer than 115 letters!
And here are a few additional telling quotes from the article:
"[T]he seats, driving position, and instrument binnacle are all top notch."
"[The Mazda's 1.8 liter engine is] the only engine here with a little bit of spark and passion to it. Mazda's engineers have done an equally good job with the Six's [five-speed manual] gearbox which ... is pretty close to perfect."
"Wind noise isn't a problem in the Mazda, nor is high-speed ride which is excellent, but the cabin does let in too much road rumble."
Re ride and handling, "[T]he Mazda is the clear winner in this section. The Six isn't perfection. There's an initial lightness that the steering suffers from as you begin to turn in to a corner that we'd like to see dialled out. Yet once that passes, the steering is spot on. So too is the way the chassis holds its line and controls the body through the corner, and it doesn't matter how bumpy the road gets, the Six does a better job of dealing with it than even the Mondeo."
Damn impressive overall, especially given that European reviewers generally tend to be tougher critics of chassis dynamics than American reviewers (from what I've seen in my decades of reading U.S., British, and French publications).
And here are a few additional telling quotes from the article:
"[T]he seats, driving position, and instrument binnacle are all top notch."
"[The Mazda's 1.8 liter engine is] the only engine here with a little bit of spark and passion to it. Mazda's engineers have done an equally good job with the Six's [five-speed manual] gearbox which ... is pretty close to perfect."
"Wind noise isn't a problem in the Mazda, nor is high-speed ride which is excellent, but the cabin does let in too much road rumble."
Re ride and handling, "[T]he Mazda is the clear winner in this section. The Six isn't perfection. There's an initial lightness that the steering suffers from as you begin to turn in to a corner that we'd like to see dialled out. Yet once that passes, the steering is spot on. So too is the way the chassis holds its line and controls the body through the corner, and it doesn't matter how bumpy the road gets, the Six does a better job of dealing with it than even the Mondeo."
Damn impressive overall, especially given that European reviewers generally tend to be tougher critics of chassis dynamics than American reviewers (from what I've seen in my decades of reading U.S., British, and French publications).
"It feels taut and agile, the firm suspension soaking up all but the worst road imperfections with a sophistication that BMW drivers will recognise and Volkswagen drivers will not."
here's the link if you can manage to paste it in your browsers:
www.topgear.beeb.com/content/cars/cars/C6/C1/roadtests/01.html?
qual_Id=1&newOrUsed=new&model_id=83602&man_id=C6
check it out
They're the only reviewers that seem to measure sound levels at different speeds and throttle levels (full v. cruise, hwy v. idle etc.).
Rich
Speculation is the order of the day, and keeps interest going (how many pre-release forums - except for exotics - generate this much discussion here?).
And I can then judge for MYSELF what I think of the noise level and quality, so the dB meter is moot (for me anyway, still would be a curiosity for everyone here).
Lets just say I'm driving mine until the wheels fall off. The rear view mirror fell off yesterday, so maybe its on its way. BTW, has anybody here driven around without the rear view mirror. Its seriously weird! Just this big panoramic view of the world. You almost feel over exposed...
The Maz6 is the most important car Mazda has ever launched...essentially the whole companies future rides on this car...they will get it "just right" !!
Rich
Now, for confirmation (yea nor nay) from the folks in the know.
Now that they're back on track, I hope Ford will let a good thing be and not force bad parts etc. on them. I do like that Mazda is in charge of developing FoMoCo's 4-cyl engines and likely will have a lot of impact on compact and mid-size chassis design.
BTW, I would get that fixed ASAP if I were you. It's against the law to drive that way, and if you get pulled over, you have to get a repair order and all that crap. So save yourself the drama and get it fixed.
This road test makes some interesting points, a few of which I have not seen made elsewhere:
- 2.3-liter engine with manual transmission moves the car with "brio," and the transmission is very pleasant to use.
- too much engine noise, especially at highway speeds.
- the chassis controls body movements "perfectly," and the car [with 17-inch tires] is "incisive, precise, and efficient." However, the suspension is "a bit hard" [perhaps attributable, at least in part, to those tires].
- the Mazda's strength lies more on curvy roads than on the highway, where the 6 is too sensitive to crosswinds, thus requiring frequents small steering corrections. [I don't like the sound of THAT -- perhaps this can be corrected before the 6's release here...]
- the steering is too heavy at low speeds, and the brakes are strong but with the ABS kicking in easily.
- the rear seat space is "generous," but the rear seatback is "very hard" for a middle passenger
- very high quality materials in the interior (especially the dashboard and the leather on the seats).
- ideal driving position.
(If anyone's interested, the link is http://www.argusauto.com/pages/editorial/index.cfm?IDArt=65432&IDRub=5&poplet=1 And I also have to wonder whether the blue interior color shown in the photos accompanying the article will make it to North America. I think it may be a bit too, er, adventurous for our tastes -- unless it's just a problem with my monitor!)
In any case, based on the comments in the article, it certainly sounds like the 6 will be a good bit too sporty (and I mean actual sportiness, not simply the appearance or hype of it!) for most Camry or Accord shoppers. In other words, just the sort of alternative to ordinary mid-priced cars that many of us have been waiting for...
The engine rating for the 2.3 is 160hp 155lb and 220hp 192lb(only) for 3.0.
Both engine will be mated with 5 speed manual and optional 4 speed auto with manual mode for the 2.3 and 5 speed with manual mode on the 3.0.
The models will be Mazda6 i for the 4 cylinder and Mazda6 s for the V6
Nice to see 160hp. in the 4cyl, which is 10 more than the UK version.
Anyone who wants to read the article above can copy and paste the address at http://world.altavista.com/tr.
One little thing I just noticed about the 6 is that the emergency brake is not in the center, where it is on most other sporty-cars (such as the Alfa-Romeo it was being tested against).
I'm glad to be able to see pictures of it in a different color. Silver really suits this car. Oh yeah, judging by thepicuters, I think that they have de-Altima-ized the taillights, but the video is a different story.
edmunds2460...I didn't find the 4 cyl loud at all...
If you want a car that you can steer with your pinky finger, and can't hear/feel the road or engine in, buy a car from one of the big 3 - they turn out droves of 'em. Of course Honda and Toyota manufacture that style too. Not for me. I like the road feel and the sound of my 2.5 when it's growling away up front, and a bit of extra work at the steering wheel on a windy highway trip is well worth the extra control I get on the back roads.
I don't like feeling isolated, as I do in the more luxury-oriented vehicles. OK, I do sometimes, like right after surgery (those little bumps in the road feel 1000X bigger when you have fresh stitches in you) or when I'm feeling nauseous.
Other than that, I like to "feel" the road and the "feel of the deckplates" as I drive. I consider that part of the driving experience. Now, some noises, such as those created by loose or resonant suspension components or raspy gear meshing (or is it shredding?) noises may not be welcome. It depends on the "quality" of those sounds.
http://www.mazdausa.com/mazda6/mz6_main_flash.asp
so only 2 trim levels (Mazda6i and 6s). What's up with the '6i', trying to imitate a BMW 325i or something?