Looks like they pretty much rebuilt the whole car. Not only will the Camry crush it in sales, it will crush it in resale value also. The Mazda will likely be worth only half its original value in about a year.

 

You would take the 4cly T, over a smooth V6 now?

 

I honestly believe this Mazda is better than the Camry XSE. Its just better performing and more refined. But - the Camry XSE will still win in sales and that just sucks for Mazda. +1 for them though.

 

I test drove a 2014 or 2015 Mazda 6. 6 speed manual, leather seats, beautiful pearl white paint, all the options except a sunroof.

My main impression???? Drove/felt like the smaller Mazda 3 hatch I drove earlier that day. I was expecting a rather significant jump in refinement for the 6, since it was a much larger car. Granted interior space for the back seat was vast, trunk was really big, and man it looked nice on the styling standpoint, for a 4 door family car its a very sexy shape IMO. My main beef with the 6 was the noisy ride, I was expecting something a lot quieter since the interior was IMO a step above the mid-level Mazda 3 I drove with cloth seats. Still it did ride nice, even with those huge 18" wheels and low profile tires(for a practical car though, I was digging the 16" wheels on the 3 in terms of tire wear/replacement costs).

My main conclusion??? If I wanted a new, practical car, the 3 hatch was the way to go. I didn't need the extra rear seat room, more cargo room was just a seat fold away, they both drove about the same, the 6 wasn't any more luxurious/more refined, I could get a better equipped 3 for less $$$$ than a base 6.


Maybe Mazda fixed my road noise/refinement gripe with the latest version of the 6. I mean the one I drove was really nice on the inside, way nicer than a Camry in terms of materials/fit/finish/interior design, it looked like a luxury car IMO. Just when you drove it, it didn't have that luxury car quiet/refinement to it I expected.

 

Please point out which Accord in the current lineup has a smooth V6.

 

The one that says Camry. That's what I was referring to, that he included in his post. The Accord does not have the V6.

 

same here. It would be an easy decision for me.

 

About 3 months ago, I drove the non Turbo, 2017.5 Mazda 6, as stated by the Sales Manger at a New Car Mazda Dealer. He said they were last of the end runs that Mazda put essentially some Free options in for customers. I also drove a few other cars in that class that I was also not impressed with for the class.

The Mazda 6 I drove was noisy even at low speed, low engine speed and high speed. Had lots of wind noise and was Boring. Nothing special at all. Reminded me of a very boring low end rental car. I was not looking for the car myself as I was with a long time friend who was looking for His Wife. I keeping see cheers for the Mazda 6. Not at all a cheer car to me. I've rented the 2018 Camry a few times, and its just so much better than others I drove in the class to me. Its far quitter, more comfortable and much better IMO. I am not at all a Camry Fanboy, and would not buy one.

Anyone can like what they like, or not. Maybe the new 6 is that much better as I have not driven it. You can like what you like, and not like what you don't. To each their own.

 

Have you driven the 6? If so, what year? Just asking.

 

Yes I am aware of that. I'm saying if you are going to charge around $35k, 250hp from a marketing standpoint is low. This being front wheel drive will have a hard time putting down all that torque in such low RPM's. They should have pumped 310hp from it with lower torque numbers, even if it is just for marketing it will look better than 250hp only if you use premium and only 227hp if you decide to cheap out on fuel. Not exactly glowing marketing material. If Honda has a hard time moving its Accords with more power, This thing will struggle even more.

 

If they indeed improve the car substantially in terms of driving dynamics and NVH, they missed the mark on the engine dept. Mazda could have built a best in class vehicle, but they will lose out just on the marketing alone. 301hp in the Camry vs 250hp/227hp.

 

Horsepower isn't everything. I mean the IS 350 has 311 horses but loses the 0-60 fight to the 330i with 248 horses. The 310-lb-ft torque number is massive - it's probably lots of fun to put around town in.

 

Sometimes I wonder about these acceleration times. I was watching the Edmunds comparison video of the BMW M and Benz AMG cars and they achieved their crazy acceleration times with launch control. Now is that how normal people drive with their turbo cars? When car reviewers quote acceleration times, they should mention that the best times were achieved by pressing a series of buttons and paddles. Then quote a time for how normal people drives.

 

Yeah, I guess if you do a 5-60, the results would be really close. The BMW might even be a hair slower. But either way there is something to be said for having good midrange power, which was my main point.

 

Mazda is obviously aiming for people who don't floor the car for acceleration. More with the high tq number looking for people who will be happy just squeezing the pedal off with lots of tq. I'm sure it moves very well in that scenario.