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Midsize Sedans Comparison Thread
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Comments
As of a month ago, my Mazda regional rep told me that the slightly refreshened 2006 Mazda6 will be an eighteen month product run. During this time the 2007 will be in final development and eventually retooling stages. It is true that the 2007 Mazda6 will be slightly larger than the current Nissan Altima. It will still stand apart from the other boring ho-hum sedans due to the ZOOM ZOOM factor.
Aggressive style and looks, sharp and clear lines, sport-tuned suspensions, speed sensitive steering... all adds up to make the next generation 2007 Mazda6 an even better player in the field.
Vanilla seems to be the best flavor in the mid-size segment.
I've been looking at it again and again throughout the day, and I like it better
each time. Does anybody know when the launch date is in the US?
It's a review of Sonata, to make myself clear.
Hmm... sounds a lot like my '04 Elantra GT. It also sounds like a sales pitch.
I like how he parked the Sonata beside the Accords :P
It clearly qualifies as an import and it's clearly a midsize sedan.
If Hyundai Sonata qualifies for this board, Kia Optima should too.
Heck, they are basically same cars. :P
I'm starting to like it to... any interior shots?
It seems quite possible that Edmund's got a wrong spy photo for '06 Elantra.
The spy pic looks so similar to the photo released for '06 Optima.
I did hear somewhere that the two shared platforms (which I don't think is true),
but even so, they just look identical!
Even Sonata is somewhat lacking in that department.
Hopefully Hyundai got it right in the Optima. My aunt works for a Kia Dealership in Spartanburg, SC. I'm gonna get ya'll all the information I can on this vehicle. I bet she doesn't even know it exists yet.
I'll keep everyone posted on what I find out.
And also, I LOVE the way it looks. It looks like a Sonata with added style. I'm feeling it.
Many people at my work place already sold and some are seriously considering selling their trucks, Suvs and thinking about purchasing a car with good gas mileage.( even station wagons)The middle class Americans who live from pay check to pay check, got children in the college are the majority.
Looks that these compact /midsize cars which give good gas mileage ,reliability and cheaper to buy and maintain will sell in much larger numbers.
I am really suprised that the Nissan as well an Infiniti can still get away with putting such a poor radio in thier cars. It might be the Antenna combination, becuase they seem to play XM and CDs okay.
Cheers,
MidCow
P.S.- What is all the influx of Hyundais and Kias?? Next you will be seing Suzikis and Aeros Is cheap people's main criteria ?
Kia and Hyundai will never be the premier auto brands until they learn how to design their own cars and stop ripping off other manufacturer's designs.
The only original mainstream sedan design recently has been the Chrysler 300.
ummm no... Accord copied some old car i dont remember :P
Hmm, and I thought Chrysler had resurrected a retro-Mercedes model.
Suing for theft of design would cripple most of the auto industry. Any day now, I anticipate seeing a Korean clone of the Beetle.
They updated the site and now the have Mazda 6 and 3 sales.
http://www.automobear.com/index_home_content.html
Mazda 6 : Under Mainstream
Mazda 3 : Under Entry-Level
Yes, I think the current Accord was influenced by the Passat. Remember the B5 Passat was designed in 1997 when the Accords were very boxy. The profile (side view) of the Accord is too much like the Passat to be a coincidence, and I did read that the Accord designers used the Passat as a benchmark for the current generation.
Where did you read that?
Sources?
I've never read an article that said that.
Its been a problem from the get-go and Nissan refuses to do anything about it. AM stations and CDs work GREAT, but the FM reception is awful. I'm not really worried about it because tomorrow, I'm having XM installed in my Altima.
Hopefully Nissan will do something about the poor reception with the redesign. Reception problems have been an issue since the 2002 Altima it the lots.
But the current Accord and B5 or B5.5 Passat look nothing alike IMO.
But styling is subjective.
Looks like Mazda marketing is sticking more of their noses in the auto design end - Ugh!!!
... especially as the current Sonata appears to look like all the other mid-size sedans. The lithe cat-like lines of the previous generation are reminiscent of the Jaguar. Hopefully, Jaguar returns to its former glory so that it gets copied again by other carmakers.
Sources?
I've never read an article that said that."
Here's what Edmunds said in their review of the 2003 Accord.
"For 2003 Honda has suggested a new direction for the Accord. The company tells us the car is now more "passionate" and "emotional." Its styling and demeanor are supposed to capture the spirit of a cheetah. There have even been industry trade stories reporting that Honda used Volkswagen's Passat as inspiration on how to give the company's volume sedan an appealing aura that goes beyond pure logic."
Honda didn't make it 'cheetah' like.
I wouldn't call it copying... because they do not look alike at all.
Note: No where in the article did it say it looks similar to Passat.
I don't think the new Sonata looks much like other mid-sized sedans in its class. IMO it doesn't look like the Accord, it doesn't look like the Altima, it doesn't look like the Mazda6, it doesn't look like the Passat (maybe a little resemblence on the roofline), and it doesn't look like the Camry. Which current mid-sized cars does it look like? If anything the front end reminds me of the previous-gen TL, the rear reminds me of the new Lexus GS and IS models, and the middle reminds me of the A6. If you're going to intentionally copy styling themes (and the only one we know for sure Hyundai copied is the A6), those aren't bad cars to copy.
6% sales tax and FL state fees were included in the OTD price. Backing out tax & FL fees, the sales price was $16705 after the rebate. That included an extremely high dealer conveyance fee of $479.50...but I didn't matter since I was concerned with bottom line out the door. Whether the conveyance fee was $100 or $800 was immaterial. The real cost to me was the OTD price.
Yes styling is subjective, but in most of the aticles i've read, they've all said it clearly copied Honda's rear.
http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-neil10aug10,1,4142865.story?ct- - - - - rack=1&cset=true
Funny article (truethat posted this earlier...)
The reviewer parked it beside a Honda Accords.
Marketing + engineering = conflict (usually) :surprise:
I'm sorry but no car company cares about the accord or camry. That is not a high enough standard to make a modern cars these days. Just like hyundai did using lexus and audi as their model cars , many other mid size compnay(will at least try that route)
06 sonats if there is one car it resembles alot is the audi a6 previous gen. Everytime i ahve seen one, i dunno what it is about it, maybe the front
The accord wishes it copied its back. Ctalk how about the bmw 5 series did it copy the dear accord as well?
I'm sorry but no car company cares about the accord or camry. That is not a high enough standard to make a modern cars these days. Just like hyundai did using lexus and audi as their model cars , many other mid size compnay(will at least try that route)
Maybe you should re-read your post...
And the bmw 5 series did not copy the accord as the sonata did not the accord. Just look at the sonatas front, the back they ahve was prob the only way they could have designed it for harmony sakes
Let's see now... there's the new engines, transmissions (maybe all-new too, not sure), suspension (with a unique rear suspension in some markets), wheels, electronics, interior (I know those who think it's boring will give Hyundai full credit for that), and the body that has some styling cues reminiscent of other cars but is in whole a unique design.
The cars in this segment look very generic to me anyways.
(Which is also what a lot of reviewers said, ctalk)
The bottom line is, does the car look good? Does the design work as a whole
together (front/rear, interior/exterior)?
I think the exterior of Sonata is better balanced than Accord and even Camry.
Interior-wise, I'm not too impressed, but it works.
I think that's how far people will ponder if they are actually considering a Hyundai.
Some people (who have strong feelings about alleged design copying) will never
consider Sonata. Why should Hyundai pander to them and risk developing a
completely different design? Hyundai is smart sticking to what is proven to make
sales.
Look at Mazda. Their "unique" design isn't selling too many cars. Even the old
Sonata (with its even more questionable source of design inspiration) sold more
than Mazda.
In terms of more long-term strategy, Hyundai will come out with more unique
designs. It's one thing to beat Japanese minors and another beat the Big 3.
Hyundai needs to build more audience before it can do more radical things.
They are playing it very safe. And I think they should (with billions dollars worth
of new investments everywhere from AL to Slovakia/China/India)
Just some of my thoughts. If you disagree, do it all you want. I'm just not gonna
write about this topic again.
If anyone comes across one, share with us!
600kgolfgt posted earlier that Mazda may make its NG Mazda 6 more Accord/Camry like (and admited bringing the current 6 over was a mistake) To do well in this segment, you have to be 'vanilla flavored'
Actually, Mazda's global marketing director didn't say bringing over the 6 was a mistake - they said marketing the 6 as a sports car instead of a sedan was a mistake (I guess he thought it was cannibalizing sales from the MX-5 and the RX-8 or something).... :confuse:
Just a little clarification. :shades:
Hondas and Toyotas have very high resale.
High resale usually means llong term reliability.
YMMV,
MidCow