G Man

First let me say I'm aware the new Mazda 6 is geared towards the more conservative, "mature" crowd. But does anyone see a huge oversight by Mazda in not offering the 6 cyl in a manual transmission?

I did some searching and haven't seen much discussion on this. Curious as to the board's thoughts on this one. My feeling is they should have at least offered one trim in the larger engine. I may be one looking to buy a "family" type car in the future, and this takes the 6 out of the competition for me. Perhaps since I am not a family owner, I am the one who doesn't get it.

Anyone have any insight as to the reasoning behind this? I noticed the baseline 2008 6 cyl model had the manual transmission. WTF Mazda?

kvndoom

The new 6 is geared towards yuppies. It's not a car, it's an appliance. Hence the special "North American" version. It's made to look like a Toyota since Toyotas are popular, and it has no 5-door or wagon available. The "world" version (i.e. the world outside of America's microcosm) has more engines, more trims, more choices. It's a trend that's pretty sad in this country really. Take any automaker and go to their website, then go to their European or Australian website, and see the differences.

musclecarconvrt

My wife loves her Mazda Speed 6. It's embarassing how much more power her sedan has than my sports car. It is a very nice car. Shame it isn't getting much attention.

delhi

So does it make the S2000, RX-8, Cayman etc... any less of a sports car? Should we consider how the M5 with 500bhp makes the Corvette and 911 embarrassments?
You need to unfail your assessment of what a sports car is.

MSP6 is a failure because of early lousy engine problems. I remembered how the engine goes into severe retard-mode during hot days and anything less than 93oct. Not to mention the Legacy GT its pain competitor is the superior car in terms of interior, exterior and proper AWD execution. Not to mention the mass after market support for Subarus. The only thing the MSP6 has over the Legacy GT is price (thanks to mega discounts). MSP3 was a better execution in terms of Mazdaspeed versions.

Kris

When i first seen the wagons, i was like nice... thats the ****. But now... bleh i dont care for the car.

alfy28

lol this made me laugh, because its so true.

musclecarconvrt

You read that wrong friend. I was complimenting the MS6 as being a very nice car with a healthy amount of power; more power than my RX8 which I am still thoroughly happy with after 4 years and 96,000 miles. I get enough greif from my local red neck car club that thinks muscle car torque is everything. Don't need that from fellow RX8 owners. Sorry I gave you the wrong impression. My RX8 is a beautiful car that is augruably the best handling, most sporty car you can get for the money. I just wish it had a little more power in stock trim.

Back to the MS6. You are right about the engine problems. I got my wife's MS6 tuned on a dyno by a good friend who pulled an extra 40hp and about the same amount of torque with just a simple tune. No aftermarket go fast parts. That shop was just getting into the MS6 in early 2007 and used our car as a test mule. The very next weekend one of the cars they tuned threw a rod on the way home. It was not the tune. It was the engine. Many others have don't the same thing. Even stock MS6 engines have blown on while on cruise control! The early build MZR turbo engines have weak rods and a bearing tolerance that wont tolerate anything. The rods seize on the crank and snap like a stick. We immediately decided not to mod our MS6 and the shop quit tuning them. At about 25k miles our MS6 is still running fine but as soon as our warranty is up, I'm pulling the oil pan to inspect everything and may step up to better rods.

delhi

OK. I apologies for my over-reaction. 3rd cup of coffee tends to do certain things....

G Man

Thanks for the input everyone. I didn't realize that other nations get so many more options in trim. Surprising since the US is a bit, well, decadent...

As you mentioned, previous versions of the 6 were pretty impressive, and I was surprised they aren't (as yet) offering a MazdaSpeed version of the 6. Perhaps in 2010? Just really surprising to me since Mazda seems to pride itself on the whole "sports car at heart" thing. Especially since they seem to be very understanding with aftermarket upgrades. Maybe they feel the 8 fulfills that role, and want the "yuppie" car as mentioned earlier?

Whatever, I'm saving up for this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_WhiteStar

or this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_BlueStar

Yeah, I know... But I'm keeping the 8!!

RK

iTrader: (1)

Not sure why this would be surprising. Our use of cars is dramatically different and the average US market is not that different from San Fran to Iowa. I mean we were all brought up on the same GM/Ford/Chrysler commercials and car shows that helped us define what we want from a car. Euros have a significant difference in their use of roadways then Americans and to top it off there's a huge difference in consumer appeal from a German to an Italian to a Brit because they were all brought up worshipping significantly different styles/brands of cars... Same with Asian models which are distributed to China, Australia, Japan, India, etc.

Most 6 owners I've spoken to don't like the car but most Accord/Camry type people have enjoyed it. It's a more enjoyable car then what it's competing against and the reviews for it are very positive but it's definitely a step down in terms of a car built to be fun to drive.

The 6-speed manual option is kinda weird to me but I assume they'll have a 6-spd MS version in a year or two.

SilverHokie

iTrader: (1)

My girlfriend is getting the new Mazda 6 and I didnt really think it was that bad. Auto sucks and all...but still...I think it looks WAY better than the old one...its just WAY bigger.

See one in person you'll know what I'm talking about.

kvndoom

I think you pretty much summed it up. Mazda isn't after Mazda fans with this car.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Yeah but they're not drifting THAT far away. Most of the reviews I've seen note that it still avoids that 'isolated' feeling that lots of mid-sized box cars end up delivering. That disconnect from the road. But they do still kinda want to make some money and there is a big market of people who don't want to feel the road through their car.

Hey as long as they sell more 6s and spend some of that nice new green on Rotary research and producing speed versions.... I'm all for it.

musclecarconvrt

We really like our MazdaSpeed 6 and it handles very well for a car that is 500lbs heavier than my RX8. I think Mazda is selling to it's regular Zoom Zoom customer. It just needs to A.) put out an engine that won't blow up and B.) market the car!
To watch Mazda ads on TV you'ld think the only cars they make are the CX7 and the 3. The MazdaSpeed 6 is in the same class a the Evo and WRX. The difference (besides a devoted following) is that those cars don't blow up and you see commercials of happy drivers flogging the crap out of them every day.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

the new mazda 6 is sexy

Razz1

Sexy as a Camery!

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

sexier then the new Pontiacs

Razz1

mu ha ha you sure have on ugly opinion.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

Mazda 6 > Pontiac

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

ooooooo low blow jedi