(Cj)

Since you've driven more cars in the class than I have, where would you rate the Mazda6's interior compared to the others?

From the cars in the class, I've driven I'd say the Mazda is close to 1st, but I'm curious what your take is. One thing you pointed out above that I agree with is that the orange/red lighting is a bit odd and it would have looked better if it were blue or green, but other than that the fit and finish and the materials are hard to beat.

mmarshall

In the Mazda6's class (lower-priced, mid-size family sedans), I'd rate its interior first for plushness, second to the Chevy Malibu/Saturn Aura twins for physical attractiveness (particularly the Malibu LTZ), second to the Accord in precision-assembly and build quality, ahead of the Sonata in back-seat room, and somewhat behind the Legacy and Camry in interior room. The Camry, years ago the standard-bearer in this class, no longer impresses me....particularly in its poorly-done dash plastics, *****, and trim.


The red-orange dash lighting is not strictly a Mazda feature. Many BMW's, Audis, and Pontiacs have also used it for years. So did my own 2001 Lexus IS300 (the 2Gen IS uses the traditional white Lexus back-lighting).

The Ford Mustang has what is perhaps the best solution to the problem......a switch that adjusts the dash lights to any one of 125 different colors. One should find a suitable color in there somewhere.

(Cj)

Yeah that sounds about right. The Malibu/Aura were very well done too, but the Accord really still is the benchmark for interior precision. Too bad the Accord doesn't look better on the outside. And yes the Camry does have the best space utilization.

It's too bad more people don't know about the gem that the Mazda6 is, because sales have been extremely low...

mmarshall

Mazda6 sales might (?) pick up soon with the Camry's PR problems, but the Accord is likely to be the main beneficiary. Ford and Chevy have (or at least had) some factory-incentives going on deals with Toyota trade-ins. Whether the incentives, right now, apply to Mazda products or not (Mazda, of course, is Ford-owned), I don't know. That's something that the Customer-Assistance people will have to update on.

mmarshall

Next planned reviews: 2011 Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Equus, Jaguar XJ. None have yet been released in the American market, but the Fiesta should be coming in a matter of weeks.

(Cj)

I can't wait! The XJ is gonna be awesome

lamar411

Great review as usual mmarshall, always appreciated

I think the car looks great but the sales dont really seem that great. What did you think of the quality of the cloth seats?

mmarshall

Thanks. Glad they help.

The cloth seats, especially in back, definitely had a softer-then-average feel and plushness for today's sedans, especially lower-price Japanese-designed cars which tend to have overly-firm front and rear seats. Mazda either used more padding than usual, or a softer grade of padding......I think maybe a little of both. The cloth also felt high-quality as well.....though, of course, the real durability test is not a 30-minute test drive, but years of kids jumping up and down, spilling ice cream cones on it, packages laying on it, and the family pets. Some automakers, today, test their seats with machines that bounce and slide weights up and down on them thousands of times to check for wear.


The same seat fabric.....with padding almost as thick, believe it of not, could also be found (in large swaths to boot) on the door panels, and even the sun visors had the same fabric.....with a healthy dose of padding....on them, too. Mazda definitely did not cut corners with this interior....in some ways (not all), it sets the standard for its class.

I was also pleased to see it because a number of recent Mazda interiors have generally not impressed me.

Many "enthusiast" car buyers don't like soft, squishy-feeling seats, because they want the lateral support for hard cornering. Sport-oriented or Recaro-type-type seats are probably not needed for this car, especially the 4-cylinder version, because its handling, while competent, is not particularly sport-oriented, and has body roll.

Nextourer

Thanks for a great review! I was hoping this would be as good as the previous generation (didn't care for the overenthusiastic application of siilver in the last generation with regards to the centre console but otherwise it was well proportioned compared to the slightly bulbous look of this new one). The interior was pretty impressive (I do like the black/beige combo. Very striking imo than a straight bland all-beige). Have you done the 2011 Sonata by any chance? If so, I might've missed it.

Thanks again!

mmarshall

Sure. Anytime. Glad it helped.

Sure Have. Not everyone, however, agreed with my opinions on the new styling.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ai-sonata.html

mmarshall

Here's a preview of some of the upcoming changes for the 2011 model:

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows...da6/index.html

(Cj)

looks great!

an improvement inside and out!

LexFather

Very nice review Mike. It sadly is still a car overlooked by consumers. I think its brave and very impressive you put it out there its not as sporty as what others say. It sounds like a solid sporty looking car but as you stated not a BMW for less or anything.

mmarshall

Thanks.

That can also be said, to some extent, by two of its competitors...the Mitsubishi Galant and Kia Optima, though I'd rate the Mazda6 at least a notch or two over the Galant in several areas.....particularly the interior. The Optima seems like a nice car, but I haven't reviewed the latest version.

Mazdas were once VERY BMW-like, though most of the sedans went FWD back in the 1980s, except for the 929 (I had a small GLC sedan with unassisted, non-power steering, and the road feel, even with FWD, was amazing).

The RWD 929 and Millenia, BTW, were both flops in the American market. I test-drove them both when my own Mazda 323 was being serviced, and neither one, IMO, was very impressive. The 929 had way-overboosted steering and a Jerk-O-Matic throttle linkage starting up from rest (you could easily spin the rear tires on a wet surface), and the Millenia, with the Miller-Cycle engine, despite being originally intended for the cancelled luxury Mazda Amati division, just didn't have a very upmarket, premium-car feel...it felt and drove like a Mazda-badged Accord.

When Ford bought the company, that's when the noticeable changes started. Ford took Mazda more mainstream to try and appeal to more people (and, of course, share common platforms to cut costs). In some areas, it worked, and in others, it didn't. Mazda, however, did not entirely give up on sportiness by any means, as shown by the huge success of the Miata and, to a lesser extent, by the limited-production MazdaSpeed sedans. The "Zoom-Zoom" campaign, though, at least IMO, was gimmicky and didn't help the company's sagging image much.