Kevlar
10-23-2006, 10:32 AM
Wow... the Mazda 6 has come a long way since its introduction. Jumping right in, it's isntantly noticeable that they fixed some of the problem areas in the dash from earlier. The center console that used to house the radio/tape/CD area has been redesigned so it doesn't start peeling on the first hot day. The seats feel changed, but not for the better. Of course, that could be because the car was new and needed some more seat time to get more plyable. Be foreward, the first couple of hundred of miles will make you stop frequently to stretch and relax your muscle as the seats initially are not very forgiving. Overall, the rest of the interior felt unchanged which is fine because why change what works.
The suspension of the car felt quite soft and made for a comfortable ride through the city and while on the highway. It soaked up smal and large bumps alike without upsetting the passengers too much. Through agressive turning and stopping though, you paid the price with quite a bit of body roll combined with excessive nose dive and tail squat. After all, it is a sedan... but I think they need to put a little more performance into the suspension.
The engine ... now that's a joy. The engine was very smooth and powerful at all engine speeds and travelling velocities short of supersonic speeds past the century mark. My only real complaint would be that the engine transition from off-throttle at idle was rather jumpy. No matter how gently you applied the throttle from a stop, the car would jump forward making every departure from a stop light look as if you are trying to drag race the guy next to you. That gandered a few strange looks from other drivers as the nose raised up into the air like a scared horse.
The transmission in the car has six gears which make for great fuel economy. An attempt to make any sort of pass on the highway though will drop down two gears from sixth to fourth which would send the RPMs skyhigh and passengers wondering if they crossed the starting line at the Indy500. However, when not in passing mode, the car is capable of crusing at anywhere from 70-90 with ease. Anything below 70 and the car wants to gallop faster while anything north of 90 made it communicate to you that it was unhappy that it was working that hard. It would do it if you asked, but it was not happy about it. You could feel the fight back from the gas pedal as the resistance was much higher.
One other large complaint ... the lack of brakes. Braking from speeds required much longer than you would think from a performance sedan. The brakes felt soggy and not very progressive. They need to do something about installing a larger brake booster, larger calipers or better pads or SOMETHING to help inspire a little more confidence under braking. For that very reason... high speed cruising often required much more stopping distance than normal due to the simply fact that the comforte level just was not there.
All that being said, the car is an excellent car and definitely would be a great car to drive around in on a daily basis to and from work and for long road trips.
The suspension of the car felt quite soft and made for a comfortable ride through the city and while on the highway. It soaked up smal and large bumps alike without upsetting the passengers too much. Through agressive turning and stopping though, you paid the price with quite a bit of body roll combined with excessive nose dive and tail squat. After all, it is a sedan... but I think they need to put a little more performance into the suspension.
The engine ... now that's a joy. The engine was very smooth and powerful at all engine speeds and travelling velocities short of supersonic speeds past the century mark. My only real complaint would be that the engine transition from off-throttle at idle was rather jumpy. No matter how gently you applied the throttle from a stop, the car would jump forward making every departure from a stop light look as if you are trying to drag race the guy next to you. That gandered a few strange looks from other drivers as the nose raised up into the air like a scared horse.
The transmission in the car has six gears which make for great fuel economy. An attempt to make any sort of pass on the highway though will drop down two gears from sixth to fourth which would send the RPMs skyhigh and passengers wondering if they crossed the starting line at the Indy500. However, when not in passing mode, the car is capable of crusing at anywhere from 70-90 with ease. Anything below 70 and the car wants to gallop faster while anything north of 90 made it communicate to you that it was unhappy that it was working that hard. It would do it if you asked, but it was not happy about it. You could feel the fight back from the gas pedal as the resistance was much higher.
One other large complaint ... the lack of brakes. Braking from speeds required much longer than you would think from a performance sedan. The brakes felt soggy and not very progressive. They need to do something about installing a larger brake booster, larger calipers or better pads or SOMETHING to help inspire a little more confidence under braking. For that very reason... high speed cruising often required much more stopping distance than normal due to the simply fact that the comforte level just was not there.
All that being said, the car is an excellent car and definitely would be a great car to drive around in on a daily basis to and from work and for long road trips.