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Bring a V6/5 speed wagon and hatch, and consider offering AWD, please.
-juice
I've been showing the wife some 5 doors and she tends to like them. If I can't get her in a wagon I'd much prefer a hatch over a sedan.
-juice
Looks like the platform is Mazda-only for now, so it'll be left up to them to do it.
-juice
I caught up with the guy. It looks slightly larger than the VW Jetta. Nice lines. The driver noticed I was looking closely at it and took off.
3 weeks later Mazda announces the "6". I immediately recognized it as the disguised car I saw. I'm hoping Mazda will roll another one out of their parking lot soon.
I'm definitely going to LA Auto show this year, I'm sure Mazda will show this car to the public; if not, I would be very dissapointed.
My best guess is that the sequence will be sedan, wagon later and maybe the hatch later still. I hope I'm wrong. It would be great to have a reliable (ie Japanese) alternative to the Subaru wagons. They are wonderful cars, but so expensive and so ubiquitous.
-juice
It was the blue sedan Mazda 6. Honestly, at first i thought it was a new Saturn. Then I saw the Michigan "Distributor" plates and deduced it just drove outta the Mazda driveway (I actually didn't see it drive out, but it was just 20 yards from the driveway). When I saw the honeycombed grill, I knew this was something special.
It did not have the trick rims shown in these pictures shown on the net. Again, it was sized between Passat and Jetta.
Outbacks are all over the place, but the Legacy GT wagon is kind of rare, if you want to stand out a bit. There is also the WRX wagon.
-juice
-juice
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011113/t38588_1.html
http://www.carseverything.com/content/article/1346.1/
The point I was happies to note was - manual tranmission with the 6 cylinder :-)
I would be concerned if it got the Ford CD4E tranny that plagues 4 cylinder auto 626s to this day.
-juice
http://www.detnews.com/2001/autos/0111/16/b01-345143.htm
It has the Mercury Tracer listed as the second most reliable compact car. That car )which is a twin of the Ford Escort) went out of production years ago.
And for what its worth, both are based on the early 90s Mazda Protege/323 platform.
Umm, and 'Isuzu Oasis' as the most reliable minivan? Am i the only ignoramus who's never even heard of that vehicle? Oh - and the jeep Cherokee as one of the reliable SUVs - JD Powers lost another few rungs of their 'trustworthy and reliable ladder' - wait, they fell of THAT long ago, didn't they?
So much for good 'ole JD Powers, and Detroit News :-)
I don't always agree with JD Power personally, (ex- the "APEAL" study is ridiculous... thanks very much but I can judge for myself which cars appeal to me) but the Vehicle Dependability Study is one that I would value more so than others, since I can't OWN a vehcile for 5 years THEN decide if I want to buy it.
Ford has had its hand in the works since about 1990. Platform sharing (Escort-Tracer-Protege) and cross-branding (Mazda trucks don't exist, they're all Ford POS's) and parts-bin-digging (The automatic transmissions in some Mazda's like the 626, and the relatively unmodified Duratec in the Tribute, and the heavily-modified in the Mazda 6, soon).
The highest-selling Mazda-labelled vehicles out there are (I understand) the Ford-built Mazda trucks. Thta is sure to bring down manufacturer ratings way down.
However, in individual classes, whatever Mazda has designed and built has traditionally been awesome - in terms of reliability and performance - the 323/Protege, the RX-7, the Miata/MX-5 (still the highest selling 2 seater EVER - its listed in the Guiness Book of World Records, and single-handedly responsible for bringing the British tradition of sporty soft-tops to the rest of the world) and the erstwhile Mazda MX-6 - which was also sold as the Ford Probe, and was one of Frod's most reliable offerings ever (sorta like the Geo Prism being a Toyota Corolla).
That's why a 'company-wide' reliability report does not do justice to Mazda :-)
The Ford thing is a mixed deal. They just fired their CEO, who had canned experienced engineers and quality-control people. This is encouraging for the future. If not for Ford, Mazda might be out of business. But the Focus problems were pretty bad early on. Mazda, and Ford, need to be pretty diligent to bring the 6 (in whatever form) to the US without significant early production problems. This pushes back when I'd be willing to buy a 6, and makes me lean towards some version of the Protege - or buy nothing and hold on to my civic for awhile longer.
-juice
-juice
any of you out there have any new info on the "6"..im gonna be in the market for a catr next year and looking to get either the mazda 6 or the new 2003 accord
-juice
1. yellow
2. 5 or 6 six speed manual
3. 18" wheels (ok, 17" would work too)
4. hatchback
"6" will be at the Detroit Auto Show 1/12 to 1/20. I called Mazda's 800 number and told the girl my 2¢ worth: Bring the Yellow hatchback w/ 5-6 speed manual trans. to the USA!!
Pictures I've seen of the 6 wagon aren't very informative as to the car's profile.
Front and rear appear pretty stylish but side may be too conservative from what I can see. Need sporty add ons like the Protege5 but don't know if that is in the cards. I look forward to checking this out at the Detroit show along with the more pricey Infinit G35.
speed Manual, but Mazda already did a prototype Duratech with RX-7 overdrive five-speed and stuck it in a Miata. Even though the 6 is FWD, the tranny may be an RX-7 O/D five-speed in a new FWD case. The auto, of course, will most likely be out of the Taurus. It's a no brainer. There are two variations of the Duratech of note. One is the dual exhaust version as used in the Taurus rated at 200 hp. Then there is the version used in the Lincoln LS that uses the DRAM (Direct Acting Mechanical Buckets) heads instead of follower valve activation for higher rpm durability. It's hard to say which version Mazda will use. They could even put in the "garden variety" Duratech from the Taurus (single exhaust). The Duratech used in the Miata was a 240-250 hp model that will most likely appear in the 2003 LS that has Jaguar heads with V V T .
So there may be alot of upward hp potential in the 6 as time goes on.
I hope that the 6 does not get a Getrag five-speed. This tranny has a 1:1 fifth with no overdrive. With no O/D, the rear end ratio will have to be higher, which will hamper acceleration and gas mileage. That's the problem with the LS. So hope for a six-speed Getrag (very unlikely because of cost) or the Rx-7 overdrive five-speed, which could be the solution for the LS Manual. Look for future Mazdas to be more Ford. And this may not be bad if the right parts are used. The Duratech as used in the 2002 LS is 220 hp and a real screamer. No mag test has been done, but this V-6 should equal the LS V-8 in 0-60 (about 7 seconds). I think the 6 will be a good value depending on the price point. If too high, the G35 will eat it alive. The 3.5 Altima will also be serious competition if the 6 is in the mid 20's.
As far as the transmission goes, the Powertrain section states, under the heading "New 5-speed Automatic and Manual Transmissions", "The A5M transmission is used for leveraging the higher-torque engines, including the V-6 gasoline engine and the diesel variants. This five-speed manual transmission also features Mazda attention to detail for optimal shift quality."
That's all the article says about this transmission, and it remains to be seen whether or not it has overdrive, but it seems to indicate it is not a Getrag unit.
Surely the 6 will be priced to compete with the Altima and not the G35. In fact, I recall an indirect reference to the Altima when a Mazda rep said that it may not have the sheer horsepower of some of its competition, but it has better handling. The G35 will have both.
Also, the tires of the Flat Rock (US) made 6's are less agressive than the Euro/Asia market gets.
But this is way more info than one can find on the G35. Thanks again Ambull. I'll take my foot out of my mouth now.
do any body Know?
hey do any body know what price range it might come in