By the time you finish this paragraph, someone will have driven home with an appliance car. They will awaken tomorrow morning and turn the key to their transportation device, back it out of their vinyl-sided suburban domicile, and quietly motor to work. This is what we've been told will happen when we get older, get jobs, and need to start transporting hatchlings to soccer practice. This is also why we are glad that sporty mainstream sedans like the previous Mazda6 exist, because given the choice between floating around in a mayonnaise-filled sensory deprivation tank on wheels and not having kids, the staggering emasculation of a vasectomy actually starts to look like a good option.
Good write up, not 100% sold on the new 6. I wouldn't be in the market for a sedan of this size for quite some time (when the wife and I have kids, maybe?)
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Funny how they advertise it here with claims that they have paid extra attention on making it a silent car, but then in a recent comparo of 6 mid-class sedans (The 6, Ford Mondeo, VW Passat, Toyota Avensis, Renault Laguna, Citroën C5), the Mazda was the loudest of the group.
Quote, originally posted by xJeTTx »
hey, fake wimbledon, how about you leave the news to wimbledon?
wimbledon, can you make a thread about this, so i can read it?
...because given the choice between floating around in a mayonnaise-filled sensory deprivation tank on wheels and not having kids, the staggering emasculation of a vasectomy actually starts to look like a good option.
Does it bother anyone else that there's no rear a/c vents for the back seat passengers?!
There are probably vents beneath the seats, but still I am kind of surprised. I don't see them on the accord but the Camry has them on the back of the console and the ceiling.
Wait, so a single forged lower control arm is BETTER than and an IMPROVEMENT from two ball jointed lower links? That seems like a backwards step to me.
I don't see why they bother with the V6 when it adds 238 lbs (good lord!!) to the front-end. Why not use the 2.3 Turbo Four? Same power, much less weight.
Spend some R&D on making that motor as fuel efficient as possible (start/stop, regenerative braking, direct injection etc.) and tout V6 power and inline four gas mileage.
I do love the fact that the car got so much bigger and only gained 36 lbs.
Wait, so a single forged lower control arm is BETTER than and an IMPROVEMENT from two ball jointed lower links? That seems like a backwards step to me.
Depends how they're implemented. The double lower link setup the car had before was (supposedly) prone to bumpsteer. The new setup might not have the perfectly smooth camber curve it had before, or maybe some amount of bind in the control arm, but they considered that an acceptable trade-off.
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There are probably vents beneath the seats, but still I am kind of surprised.
Yeah, I'm sure there will be floor vents for heat, but I was just surprised by not having a "a/c" vent for people in the back. The next gen Mazda 3 that I saw has them, so I just assumed the 6 would as well.
I don't see why they bother with the V6 when it adds 238 lbs (good lord!!) to the front-end. Why not use the 2.3 Turbo Four? Same power, much less weight.
Spend some R&D on making that motor as fuel efficient as possible (start/stop, regenerative braking, direct injection etc.) and tout V6 power and inline four gas mileage.
It's quite simple: If you're trying to sell a midsize mainstream sedan in any large numbers, you need a V6 option.
You wish it was not true but that's the way it is. It's not your fault, that's the way it is.
I don't see why they bother with the V6 when it adds 238 lbs (good lord!!) to the front-end. Why not use the 2.3 Turbo Four? Same power, much less weight.
Spend some R&D on making that motor as fuel efficient as possible (start/stop, regenerative braking, direct injection etc.) and tout V6 power and inline four gas mileage.
I do love the fact that the car got so much bigger and only gained 36 lbs.
the V6 is probably much more reliable, cheaper to make...plus in the real world I don't hear "great" mpg numbers from MS3 owners. but yeah 238 lbs is huge.
It's quite simple: If you're trying to sell a midsize mainstream sedan in any large numbers, you need a V6 option.
You wish it was not true but that's the way it is. It's not your fault, that's the way it is.
Mazda is expecting 75% or more to be four cylinders, though. If they're right, and they're right about their sales projections, they would end up selling more fours alone of the '09 than they did of both the four and V6 together each year from '03-'08.
Not that I'm denying the purpose of the V6, but it's not the dealbreaker you're making it out to be. Most buyers wouldn't notice, but a significant minority would... and it might hurt the car's "sporty" image to not be able to tout "273 horsepowars!" even though the car's sporty edge is all in the handling and the four probably handles better.
Splinter - Team Post-Killing Ninja My decantering is delicate and courageous.
Some commented above about the lack of rear-seat A/C vents. It only got my attention because I hope that the new Mazda 6 has a more powerful blower fan than the one in my '07 3. My son rides in the backseat on a hot day, and I feel sorry for him as we turn the blower to full-blast and direct it towards the backseat so that he won't suffocate from the heat. The result is usually that everybody in the car gets pretty sweaty, at least until the A/C has been running for about 20 minutes. In a more expensive car like this 6, such performance will be unacceptable.
"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man." - Jebediah Springfield
So somehow Mazda's decisions here make sense? I'm sorry but I don't get it.
You guys at Motive are defending Mazda for making the car bigger (and uglier) because it appeals more to US buyers and is supposed to compete with the Camry and Accord more directly. Here's the problem; in the categories where it counts, the new 6 falls on its face compared to the Accord and Camry. Both the Accord and Camry are more comfortable, are faster, and both get better fuel economy. Also, the Camry (still) has best-in-class rear seating accomodations and comfort, and both the Camry and Accord are more refined than this new 6. Then there are the little things that Mazda is known for ... like weak A/C systems. That's not going to help the new 6 very much to win over Camry or Accord buyers. And yes, the 6 relative to the competition has a rather weak A/C system, because my friend works at a Mazda dealer and I've sat inside the new 6.
Did I mention both the Camry and Accord have far better reputations when it comes to quality and reliability?
So Mazda made the USDM 6 bigger, with bloated styling, and is trying to compete with the class leaders and to appeal to Americans ... yet the car still has sporty dynamics and has nothing outstanding to offer as an "appliance car".
I'm sorry but Mazda made a horrible decision here. The new USDM 6 is totally conflicted. It's big and bloated, yet it retains a sporty character, yet it lacks any outstanding "appliance" features to steal away buyers from the class leaders.
Mazda is silly to think it can "out-Toyota" Toyota. Mazda tried to do that in the 1990s, and failed.
Mazda needs to learn to stick to it's niche that it has in the market, and to establish itself in that niche. Mazda should have given us the same 6 as Europe and Japan, not this big, bloated mess, and Mazda should have kept the wagon and hatch versions.
It is. Loved the pics, but in person that front end is depressing. Add the fact that we aren't getting a wagon, hatch, convertible etc. and it really is dead to me.
Anyone else tired of that red cherry kool aid lighting? Looks cheap, always has.
Yes Martha, you can get your new 2010 Toyota 4Runner with a 4-cylinder. As long as it's 2WD. And as long as it's with an old 4-speed automatic.
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