hiwayman17
11-24-2002, 12:07 PM
Let me begin by saying Mazda6 is "THE" sports sedan...Altima is a pretender...
As many people have pointed out on various other message boards, the Mazda6 offers a great driving experience, but the car is not without a couple of glaring and unfortunate flaws.
First...the car looks very small on the outside when I first saw it in the flesh. And for me that's a very good thing. It don't appear overly tall like the Camry or Altima and it doesn't look massive. I drove a dark red 4 cylinder with the 5 speed.
The 5 speed feels like it came from Toyota or Honda...smooth and light and very easy to shift. The engine is quiet and very smooth. The way it accelerates would indicate to me that the car is more powerful than the 160HP Mazda is claiming. There is a smoothness to the Mazda6's operation that I couldn't achieve in the Altima manual. While some will claim that the Mazda6 is still underpowered, I think few will be able to make valid complaints about the handling. This car has BALANCE. It feels great on winding roads. It corners flat with a very taut, firm (German) ride. I didn't notice any the the "lumpiness" C&D mentioned in their test drive...but they drove the V6.
The Mazda6 has a dashboard design better than Altima, Accord and Camry. And all those magazines that mentioned BMW-like materials....well they were 100% correct. The dashboard material is outstanding. The silver center stack controls operate with smoothness and feel high quality. The instruments and center dash controls are all right where they should be.
The seat design is exactly the way I love it...very firm with great bolstering. These seats tie with Honda for comfort and support.....
And now for the "fatal" flaws. While the seat design, shape and feel are perfect for me, Mazda selected the worst possible interior fabrics. The seats are a combination of patterned and solid fabric. The solid fabric trim on the bolsters has the appearance and feel of cotton/polyester demin and the patterned center area of the seat is done in "short velour with patches missing" fabric similar to what Subaru uses. This fabric combination has a harsh, rough feel. The patterned fabric is used on the doors and comes off looking like stripes and striped fabric doesn't look good in a car. Overall, the seat fabrics are very cheap looking and it's obvious Mazda cuts costs in regard to this one area. Since Mazda is marketing only two interiors--fabric or leather, the one and only fabric needs alot of improvement. And I just know someone is going to say...get leather. Well, I hate leather interiors.
Second interior flaw...the dead pedal. It is neither prominent, proper angle or wide enough.
Last flaw...While interior room comparisons to the Accord, Camry and Altima will most certainly result in the opinion that the Mazda6 is smaller, my disappointment stems from the fact that in comparison to the Mazda Protege, the 6 is only very slighter larger.
My advice to Mazda.....get new and better interior fabrics and I'm 100% sold on this car.
As many people have pointed out on various other message boards, the Mazda6 offers a great driving experience, but the car is not without a couple of glaring and unfortunate flaws.
First...the car looks very small on the outside when I first saw it in the flesh. And for me that's a very good thing. It don't appear overly tall like the Camry or Altima and it doesn't look massive. I drove a dark red 4 cylinder with the 5 speed.
The 5 speed feels like it came from Toyota or Honda...smooth and light and very easy to shift. The engine is quiet and very smooth. The way it accelerates would indicate to me that the car is more powerful than the 160HP Mazda is claiming. There is a smoothness to the Mazda6's operation that I couldn't achieve in the Altima manual. While some will claim that the Mazda6 is still underpowered, I think few will be able to make valid complaints about the handling. This car has BALANCE. It feels great on winding roads. It corners flat with a very taut, firm (German) ride. I didn't notice any the the "lumpiness" C&D mentioned in their test drive...but they drove the V6.
The Mazda6 has a dashboard design better than Altima, Accord and Camry. And all those magazines that mentioned BMW-like materials....well they were 100% correct. The dashboard material is outstanding. The silver center stack controls operate with smoothness and feel high quality. The instruments and center dash controls are all right where they should be.
The seat design is exactly the way I love it...very firm with great bolstering. These seats tie with Honda for comfort and support.....
And now for the "fatal" flaws. While the seat design, shape and feel are perfect for me, Mazda selected the worst possible interior fabrics. The seats are a combination of patterned and solid fabric. The solid fabric trim on the bolsters has the appearance and feel of cotton/polyester demin and the patterned center area of the seat is done in "short velour with patches missing" fabric similar to what Subaru uses. This fabric combination has a harsh, rough feel. The patterned fabric is used on the doors and comes off looking like stripes and striped fabric doesn't look good in a car. Overall, the seat fabrics are very cheap looking and it's obvious Mazda cuts costs in regard to this one area. Since Mazda is marketing only two interiors--fabric or leather, the one and only fabric needs alot of improvement. And I just know someone is going to say...get leather. Well, I hate leather interiors.
Second interior flaw...the dead pedal. It is neither prominent, proper angle or wide enough.
Last flaw...While interior room comparisons to the Accord, Camry and Altima will most certainly result in the opinion that the Mazda6 is smaller, my disappointment stems from the fact that in comparison to the Mazda Protege, the 6 is only very slighter larger.
My advice to Mazda.....get new and better interior fabrics and I'm 100% sold on this car.