http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enth...78.A12239.html


Pretty much confirms what I heard from my sources, the car will arrive late for the U.S. in early/mid 2008 rather than late 2007 like the rest of the world. The original car came over from Mazda Japan and MNAO sent the prototype back as it was to small in their eyes.

Mazda is not going to repeat that mistake again, and wants a true Accord/Camry/Altima fighter, and is planning a car with the same take no prisoner design philosophy as the Mazda3. The 6 should, like the 3, knock the ball out of the court as far as style, value and dynamics. Now all they have to do is compete on brand name.

 

front fenders look pretty good in that prototype

 

I hate this big boat design style that seems to be sweeping across all the brands. Instead of long big boats they are tall big boats. Hopefully the padding is throwing off the look of the car and I'm wrong but oi I like slim and stylish not big/tall and somewhat stylish.

 

Lookin' good. I can't wait till this hits the market and kicks the crap out of the Camry and Accord. Hmmm... make that bad boy an MS and things could get interesting.

 

Like a big Mazda 3 sedan?

 

sweet!

 

grr- brillo beat me to it. damn time zone differences

 

im a little concerned about rear head room. in these pics and previous ones you can see the pronounced slope of the roof to the rear. hope its not as bad as it looks thru the camo.

 

Guessing the debut will be the Tokyo show this year?

 

yes

 

Bigger doesn't not equal better (unless you're talking to an American).

The current Altima is huge... and never needed to be. Nissan had the Maxima to compete with the Camry, but for some reason they kicked their "sports sedan" (which used to get great reviews) to the curb in favor of the Altima.

The Camry has always been big.

The Accord... it grew to compete with the Camry... for better or for worse.

Mazda isn't going to kick the *** of the Camry market. You're fooling yourself if you think so. The market demographics are entirely different than that of the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic. Toyota buyers in general are old and conservative, whereas Nissan's are generally younger. I am willing to bet that Mazda's customer base is similar to that of Nissan. Toyota Camry buyers aren't going to suddenly switch to the new Mazda 6 just because it's bigger now, looks more sporty than the Camry or whatever. They buy the Camry because it's first a Toyota, second fits what they are looking for and third styling and such.

The Mazda 6 is already plenty big... feels damn huge to me. Backseat room is an issue. Sounds like a logical fallacy to me. Check out my posts on Mazda6club.com on the next mazda6... to sum it up... marketing and product planners might be saying and thinking that the Mazda 6 didn't do as well as expected in the US because of size, but they are easily very wrong. There are more variables than that involved in this equation... namely styling... maybe the car was originally too aggressively styled (why they softened it up in the refresh), maybe it was too underpowered (thus FINALLY moving to a 3.5 V6), maybe the interior was too boyracer looking... or too cheap (thus the change in the center stack)... these are just a few examples. And as noted some of the changes have been made... but there is such thing as too little too late... the car's styling is old and the V6 is still underpowered until the replacement comes. The backseat has plenty of room to hold 2 adults on a long trip and I had a full car on oen of my test drives.

So a bigger Mazda 6 won't topple the Camry and MAY (but not likely) put a dent in Accord sales. The Altima is just about the only car is really can take aim at... but at what cost? A bigger, less sporty/sports sedan Mazda 6 may lose many of the customers that it has gained thus far. Seeing Mazda's luck in the past with large sedans (Millenia)... is the gamble worth it? In my opinion... no. They should just make a better Mazda... stick with Zoom Zoom... that is their niche and their identity.

 

looks like a nissan from that angle. bleah

 

Previous reports seemed to suggest that it was still going to be under powered compared to the usual competitors...the power plant replacement will determine whether I give the project a thumbs up. Tired of "all show but no go!!!" Even with the speed 3 and 6 I still think Mazda could do more to be competitive in terms of HP numbers.

 

Mazda has the second youngest customer base in the US. Scion buyers are the youngest.

 

Yep... about what I expected. Exactly why this bigger Mazda6 is not a good idea. The needed a bigger engine and a styling refresh, not more size.

 

anyone know when that is?

 

Fall... October or November I believe...

 

japan8 and mazdamonkey are both right. they dont need to go bigger, itll loose the sporty tossable-ness that the current one almost has. the current 6 is like a big brother to the 3, this next 6 will be the butch little sister to the cx9 and not in a good way. american buyers want big engines and big cars, but mazda builds niche sporty cars and it appeals to the few but pasionate buyers.

the mazda3 has to be the biggest reason why mazda has such a young buyer realm. everyone in them is a 16 yr old girl i swear!

not a bad thing, but just noting the obvious.....

im sure the 6 will get the 3.5l v6 with around 260hp and a base new 2.5l 4 banger with around 160hp and stump pullin torque. longer down the line active torque split awd will prolly be thrown in but i doubt it will be solely reserved for the MPS version. itll prolly have awd in the mix to stay ahead of the curve over altima/accord buyers...

im just glad the fender flares are a reality, that should be the new look of mazda....eg, kabura= sex on wheels

 

Even plus-sized, the 6 will be more fun to drive than the Accord, Altima, Camry, Passat and other family sedans out there.

 

So far each new Mazda model has kept weight gain to a min or reduced weight, so I still have high hopes for the Mazda6.

 

I was driving around the Mazda Tech center in Irvine Ca today and saw one on the street. It was a different one than in these photos as it was blue in color. It had the same front and rear camouflage but without the white markings on the door. It had Michigan Mfg plates and was being followed by a CX-7 chase car.
definitely larger than the current car and sleeker looking like the new Lexus ES350
Could not get my camera phone out quick enough as it passed me going in the opposite direction.

 

Michigan MFG plates? Well it's likely to be more around Dearborn or Flat Rock, than where I am, but if I should happen to see it...

 

Was seen testing in Australian Outback too!
WHEELS has NEW pics for next months issue in 3 about weeks.

 

That is a different body style that won't make it stateside. Brillo touched on that in his first post