# Test drive 2009 Mazda6 Grand Touring V6



## brkf (May 26, 2003)

So we took out a Mazda6 V6 Grand Touring.
MSRP: ~30k
Options: Bose/Moonroof
Standard Equipment: xenons, leather, 6 speed auto, bluetooth, power everything

Well approaching the car it looks far better than pictures would indicate. There's a strong family resemblance to the RX8 and Mazda3. The front and sides seem nicely sculpted. The raked windshield and high beltline with tall trunk creates a nice illusion of forward motion. The trunk is probably the 6's best angle as there's a nice combination of shapes colliding to create an interesting view. The car looks almost expensive but not quite so it's questionable if the chrome adds or detracts from the appearance. It's a mature brother to the Mazda3, but downright plain beside the RX8 (unfair as most everything looks plain by a RX8). The massive number of scratches decorating this brand new car makes me think either the delivery people were careless or the dealer doesn't know how to detail. Anyway, is the Mazda6 posing or is it legitimately nice?

Inside the interior's comfy, roomy and feels almost european. Pull open the lightish doors and you're greeted by soft-touch plastics on the upperside of the door. The actual door handle on the interior, sadly, is covered by an ultra-cheap gray plastic. Why give the area you touch daily such an economy-car feel? 

Slide onto the soft front seats and you've got a nice cockpit layed out. The small, meaty steering wheel with tilt and telescope feels pretty darn solid, pushing a sense that this might be a driver's car. The wheel's adorned with a variety of buttons and switches - too many and they all feel brittle. Beyond the wheel the view of the tach and speedo is nice...sadly with this an automatic transmission vehicle the tach's sort of a joke. 

The center stack's decked out like the Accord. In other words there's a gazillion buttons and switches and it's all so very overdone with an eye toward appearing important but really with no concept of keeping things simple. Buttons seems to exist for everything on the dash - too much clutter. What's up with the stereo controls? Really, do we need so many buttons for what really amounts to a few basic needs: on/off, mode, up/down, volume up/down. The rotary HVAC seemed to function fine and intuitively, while the car's AC blew comfortably throughout the drive. The lack of rear AC vents is a big oversight though. At the top of the center stack you'll also see Mazda's now ubiquitous info center. This was great on the 3. At this point it's just silly on this car. Traveling across the dash there's a line of some kind of weird tacky plastic wood. This same plasto-wood adorns the center console. Overall the dash layout feels busy and poorly planned. 

Before pressing the start button - illogically placed on the bottom of the center stack - I adjusted my seat. It's a big, soft seat. The creamy-white leather on the test car with 40 miles on it already had a variety of black marks. Wow this stuff will not age well. The seat controls reside at the back portion of the lower left of the seat - apparently the psychotic idiots from VWAG got at this car as seat controls seemed a low priority for the 6. 

After making some adjustments to the seats a few things became clear. The steering wheel's mix tilt/telescope and size is fantastic! The seats have no thigh or back support. It's just a flat, soft seat. No amount of adjustments could change this. Overall it was clear the seats were not designed for aggressive driving.

Firing up the six you hear...nothing. This is a GT, and no we don't want to hear the engine bark to life. I eased the car into drive and then accelerated. Woosh. The car moves silently and with easy authority. Without pressing hard the giant V6 swiftly and easily propels this car. Throughout the drive the 6 seemed to have ample power on hand. At WOT throttle the car just rocked back and moved as if a giant hand were pressing us like a matchbox car.

The 6 speed automatic mostly shifts seamlessly. No, this isn't stupid-smooth like the DSG's easy shifting but for the most part it seemed the 6 was well sorted. Why this car lacks a freeway cruising gear is a mystery though. The first 5 speeds can be arranged to give the car some aggressive driving while that 6th gear could be ultra-tall for relaxed freeway. In typical Mazda fashion, the gearing isn't sorted correctly. Almost come to a stop, hit the gas and the 6 speed can't decide what to do. The car will buck and then launch forward. Automatics still have a ways to go...

Overall, while underway the Mazda6's suspension soaks up the road with aplomb. We drove a pockmarked, crazy awful road and the 18s absorbed everything. Nothing gets through to the cabin. The car's quiet and smooth. Road noise was really muted, we could carry on a conversation with backseat passengers easily. Heck, the AC made more noise than the engine or road.

Sadly, that really soft suspension also meant that steering feel was vague and turn-in felt more like my Grandpa's old Park Avenue. I drive this same crazed pocked-marked, s-filled road on my way home from work daily. In my wife's A3, my Cooper and my BMWs this road is straight up fun. Even without going hard this can be a fun road. In the new Mazda6 this road felt like it was far too challenging for the car's nose-heavy design and soft suspension. Understeer is the name of the game and every corner required far more input and weight adjustment than I would like to excerise at such simple speeds. If the corner caution sign said 30, then 40-45 was really pressing the 6. 50 could be found but this required really pushing the chassis/tire/suspension combo far more than I liked. 

By the time we reached one of my favorite feeder roads to Interstate 8 I knew the Mazda6 was no longer a fun, euro-like little car. This thing had been thoroughly Accorded. That banked 30 mph corner I take at 60 in my Cooper and BMW would be a challenge for the 6 at even 45. The front kept plowing, the rear refusing to come around with out more judicious use of the brakes. 

The freeway drive was quiet and serene. At that point I no longer cared. The tach did show an engine running way too high at 80 mph though...again, what's wrong with Mazda's gearing?

While we get S-plan pricing, there's little chance I will return for the Mazda6 when I buy in a few months. As my wife pointed out on the drive home after the test drive - the car simply wasn't lively enough to be a daily driver. Yes it's roomy, looks pretty nice, the interior's nice and the engine's crazy smooth but the chassis/suspension/tire combo of the car makes me think I wouldn't pay more than 18-19k for it as outfitted. Anything more and I begin to think about a used 2006 e90 BMW. or a new GTI 4 door or Jetta Wagon TDI. I'd rather drop 20-22k on a used Bimmer and have a car that will be far more fun to drive day in and day out. Or spend 23-25k on new VWs and get a more rewarding European drive and much better gas mileage, plus about the same amount of interior space.


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## AzNMpower32 (Oct 23, 2005)

Sadly, the Mazda6 now has separate platforms for Japan/EU and North America. And guess which one is bigger, slightly uglier, and has a softer suspension setup 

I saw the new Mazda6 in June while in Germany, it looked fairly acceptable, if not very pretty. But the ones sold here look just downright.....well.........big.

The reason Mazda has a bad knack for poor gearing is because they are mostly engineered in Japan and don't have any concept of higher speeds. My dad's MX-5, a 6-speed version, revs 60mph or 98 km/h @ 3100rpm........not exactly relaxing or good for fuel consumption. But put it this way: In Japan, all cars are electronically limited to 180 km/h by law, and speed limits are 100 km/h, tops. So they don't need to gear a car to go 200 km/h because well, they don't get the concept. On the other hand, the BMW 118i in Germany, revs a mere 2250rpm at 100km/h because when you're blowin' 200km/h, you still need to have some sanity left in ya.

It's the same reason the parking brake is on the wrong side; they drive on the wrong side of the road.


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## PhillyNate (Jul 27, 2008)

I traded in a 2005 Mazda 6s manual for the BMW I have now. What a very good car it was. It had to be the best handling front driver of all time. Very good but not great Ford V6 engine with Mazda components, it revved freely and very smooth (not quite BMW smooth) and almost no torque. Interior fit and finish could've been a little better. Almost forgot the bad fuel mileage for a 3.0 liter but it did only require 87 octane. To put the mileage in perspective, I am still saving money using premium in my 328i coupe which has a smaller fuel tank(18 gallons vs. 16 gallons). Having said that I would've kept the car had I not had an opportunity buy "the ultimate driving machine" which was a passion. I continue to be impressed with Mazda that's why they are known as the "Japanese BMW" in some circles because of their passion for the driver. I do like the new 6 eventhough it is bigger than the european version, but if I were still a Mazda consumer I would be extremely disappointed in the fact that the V6 variant will not be available with a manual transmission. Though I have moved on, it's still disappointing as an enthusiast.


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## eazy (Aug 20, 2002)

AzNMpower32 said:


> Sadly, the Mazda6 now has separate platforms for Japan/EU and North America. And guess which one is bigger, slightly uglier, and has a softer suspension setup
> 
> I saw the new Mazda6 in June while in Germany, it looked fairly acceptable, if not very pretty. But the ones sold here look just downright.....well.........big.
> 
> ...


both the Japan/EU and North America version of the Mazda 6 is base on ford's CD3 platform. Just the NA version has a bigger body and I think that back of the car is cleaner in design when compare to the Japan/EU version. Mazda wanted to make the 6 bigger for north america so it can be a better competitor to the accord, camry, malibu, Sonata, & the Altima.

after seeing the new mazda 6 in person I think it looks throught my eyes in the photos. The only problem I have with it is that the stupid dealer was charging 3K over sticker for the car. :thumbdwn:


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