Handling comparisons to other cars in its class put
the Mazda 6 near the top of the heap. The Mazda 6 holds
the road better when cornering than the
Honda Accord,
Toyota Camry, and
Nissan Altima, and it offers better transient response than other mid-size
sedans in quick lane-change maneuvers. The Camry feels genuinely
lethargic by comparison and the Altima feels like a bigger
car.
The Mazda's handling is also sharper than the Honda's.
Mazda tells us that no sport-tuned suspension or
handling package is offered on the Mazda 6 because the standard
suspension is already tuned for sporty handling. In other
words, it comes standard with a sports suspension. And we
buy that, as indicated by our assessment above. The Mazda
6 rides on double wishbones up front, with a lateral-link
layout in the rear and coil springs all around. Tires on
the 6i are generously sized at 205/60HR16, with beefier
215/50VR17s on the 6s. Grip is very, very good, tenacious
you might say, right up to the point where the front end
pushes, telling you to lighten up. This doesn't occur until
you've reached competition-level speeds, however. Other
mid-size sedans lose grip far sooner than the Mazda 6. The
amount of power-steering assist backs off the faster you
go, to give good road feel, though still on the light side,
at high speeds.
Ride quality is plusher than we were expecting, but
body roll is nicely controlled by the lateral-link rear
suspension and the standard front and rear stabilizer bars.
In other words, the car doesn't lean much in corners.
Road and wind noise does come through, however. This
Mazda is not as quiet as the latest Honda Accord, and road
noise is relatively pronounced on broken
pavement. We noticed more road and wind noise in cars with
the Sport Package, so we suspect that the package's aerodynamic
enhancements may be the cause.
Braking is better than in other cars in this class.
The optional anti-lock brakes demonstrated a marked propensity
to arrest forward motion, with solid, progressive pedal
feel and good resistance to fade from prolonged heat buildup
when driving hard for extended periods of time.
Zoom-zoom is in plenty supply regardless of which model
you choose. The four-cylinder Mazda 6i is a hoot to drive.
Order it with the five-speed manual and the fun zone starts
at about 4000 rpm, where the engine is very responsive.
The 2.3-liter, double-overhead-cam engine loves to rev.
Below 3000 rpm, however, the four-cylinder lacks strong
throttle response. Measured by the numbers, accelera- tion
is on par with other four-cylinder mid-size sedans. The
Honda may be slightly
quicker, but the Mazda feels younger and sportier. The four-cylinder
works best with the manual gearbox, which is fun to row.
The 3.0-liter V6 in the Mazda 6s greatly increases the fun.
Like the four-cylinder, it has continuously variable valve
timing (VVT) for its intake camshaft; but on the V6, this
feature seems to be used more effectively, providing better
low-down torque along with a willingness to rev, good gas
mileage, and a nice set of sounds from the air intake and
the dual exhausts. The Mazda V6 doesn't feel like it has
as much low-rpm torque as the Toyota and Honda V6 engines,
but it loves to rev and it's a lot of fun to drive. Both
engines are made of aluminum to keep the Mazda 6 from getting
too heavy, which it isn't, at 3309 pounds for the V6 automatic.
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The five-speed automatic transmission is a very good
companion for the flexible V6 engine. Electronic controls
automatically interrupt torque delivery on both upshifts
and downshifts for smooth, positive gear changes without
that secondary, rubbery bump that some front-drive transaxles
generate. Both automatic transmissions offer a manual mode
called Sport Shift: Pull back on the stick to upshift, push
forward to downshift.
