Mazda Rx9 Pictures
Let's play a word association game. Category: family sedans. Honda Accord: refined, efficient, ubiquitous. Chevy Impala: boring, homely, competent. Toyota Camry: phlegmatic, reliable, comfortable. Nissan Altima: powerful, edgy, atypical. Ford Taurus: Hertz, Budget, Payless. Mazda 626: Uh, do they still make that?
They did until recently, in niche-like numbers for the segment -- Hyundai's Sonata outsold the 626 last year. When we searched our archives for words describing the most recent 626, we didn't find many flattering ones. In a December 1997 assessment, we damned it faintly saying, "Generally, this is a softly defined, softly suspended, softly powered four-door that makes a soft case for shopping your Mazda store." We also indicted its toad-in-a-hole seating and dearth of features. In our final swipe at that soap-bar sedan, a June 1998 comparo, just 14 words were allotted to summarizing the 626's virtues.
The rest of the prose we hurled at that unloved car was taken as constructive criticism by the Mazda engineers who apparently set about addressing our complaints as though tailoring this new Mazda 6 s to satisfy our every sports-sedan whim.
"Softly defined?" There's nothing soft about the new 6. From its sharp prow, angular grille, rising beltline, and muscular haunches, this car hollers, "Hot rod!" from halfway across the parking lot. Our screaming Speed Yellow test car accentuates that message with its Sport package -- available on the four-cylinder 6 i or the V-6 6 s for about $900 -- which adds an aero kit, low-profile 17-inch wheels and tires, Optitron instruments, a black interior, and headlamp-cluster fog lights.
"Softly suspended?" Nope. Mazda scrapped the 626's Stay-Puft marshmallow struts for a suspension design that more closely approximates the Millenia's. An upper control arm, a lateral link, and a diagonal link help keep each front wheel vertical while introducing less friction than do struts. In back, trailing arms connect to the body via narrow, highly compliant bushings that soak up bumps in a straight line, and two lateral links and a toe-control link on each side provide firm resistance to lateral loading in corners. Aside from minor differences in spring rates to account for the different curb weights of four- and six-cylinder cars, only one level of suspension tuning is offered. It's Euro taut. Sport models further increase the tire footprint.
Low-profile coil springs and angled shock absorbers make for a compact rear suspension. As a result, the trunk swallows an impressive 15.2 cubic feet of luggage through a wide, low-lift-over opening. The longer 626 and Millenia held just 14.2 and 13.0 cubic feet, respectively, and the new Accord carries 14. That low-profile rear suspension also allowed the rear seat to move back, improving legroom by almost two inches.
"Softly powered?" Not anymore. Our flagship 6 s's 3.0-liter V-6 was born in America as the Duratec but schooled in Japan, where Mazda ginned up new cylinder heads with continuously variable intake-valve timing and swirl-inducing vanes cast in the intake runners. The pistons compress air and regular unleaded down at a 10.0:1 ratio. The cam covers are magnesium, and all accessories bolt directly to the aluminum block to quell the vibes. Peak output is 220 horsepower at 6300 rpm and 192 pound-feet at 5000 rpm -- that's respectable in the middling-sedan class, but it's 20 horses off the pace set by V-6 Accords and Altimas.
Playing backup to our V-6 is a right decent five-speed manual transmission. Its short-throw lever moves much more accurately than the 626's vague shifter, although it falls somewhat short of the rifle-bolt action of Honda's latest six-speed for mechanical precision. Clutch takeup is authoritative yet easy to modulate smoothly over the relatively short pedal travel.
As for our other complaints about the 626, raising the roof 1.6 inches helped elevate all the seats to a comfortable height without achieving the quasi-SUV altitude of the Camry (it's 1.6 inches taller still). The firm rear bench supports adult thighs and accommodates six-footers comfortably, but it lacks headrests. In front, the tilting and telescoping steering wheel tailors the cockpit to fit most body types, and indeed, we found the pedals, dead pedal, shifter, and wheel to be a perfect fit for exuberant driving. The secondary controls are logically arrayed, but the climate and audio displays share a narrow band at the top of the console and the buttons and knobs reside well below, forcing the driver's eye to trace a triangle from the road down to the button, up to the display, and back to the road. Not good. At least the major radio functions can be accessed from the steering wheel on all 6 models.
And finally, our whining about the 626's lack of trinkets and gizmos has been answered with a barrage of safety and convenience features, such as standard front-seatbelt pretensioners, available side and curtain airbags, optional thermostatically controlled seat heaters, and a standard six-speaker CD player.
Twist the key and blip the throttle to transform a quiet idle (at 40 dBA, it's 5 dBA more hushed than the new Honda Accord V-6) into a feral snarl. Under way with the hammer down, there's 76 dBA of baritone roar, the timbre of which suggests it originates in Yankee cubes rather than high-tech cams. It sounds so fast that one's emotional side might be surprised to learn that its 6.8-second blast to 60 mph and 15.4-second, 93-mph quarter-mile run are about a half-second off the pace of the more powerful Nissan Altima 3.5SE. If we were sending the 6 back for alteration, we'd request another 30 or so horses. Of course, with 54 fewer pound-feet of torque on tap than an Altima, hard launches in this car are met with far less jerking and pulling from the steering wheel.
Bend the 6 into a turn, and the quick steering (just 2.5 turns lock-to-lock) points the car intuitively. There's enough weight just off center to keep the car from feeling nervous in a straight line, but enough eagerness to goad the driver into dishing out more of the same. Steering effort builds nicely in corners, and when leaning hard on the Michelin Pilots, they hang on for 0.84 g with little squealing and minimal body roll. Throw some bumps into the turns, and the steering wheel starts to kick back a bit and the suspension loses composure, admitting some muffled bumps and thumps into the structure. Big dips and humps can bottom or top out the suspension travel with a bang, too. Negotiate the same course at the same speed in a quieter Accord V-6, and you'll swear some of the bumps have been filled in or the car was going 10 mph slower.
In several days of hard running, nobody reported so much as a whiff of brake fade, and brake-pedal feel is a paragon of firmness and linearity, thanks to reinforced calipers and lines and a more rigid brake-booster diaphragm. Stopping from 70 mph required a curt 183 feet.
There's just something about the total Mazda 6 s package that makes us want to go for the redline, even when we can clearly see that the next traffic light has turned red. Maybe if it were painted dark gray, without the wing, and with gospel music playing loud enough to drown out the engine, we could bring ourselves to drive like a Baptist.
In purely objective terms, the Mazda 6 may not quite qualify as a bargain BMW -- the wrong wheels are spinning for starters, and the chassis just isn't as adroitly tuned as a BMW's. Then again, this car starts at about $21,600 with a V-6, and our fully loaded tester is expected to ring the bell at $25,000. That's right on top of similar Accords and Altimas, and we think Mazda's holistic approach offers the enthusiast more overall driving satisfaction than either of those worthy rivals. Add to this the fact that the Mazda 6 will never blanket the byways with the ubiquity of Accords or even Altimas, and you have the added attraction of (relative) rarity.
STEVE SPENCE
It was tough finding this car in our parking lot. That's because I was foolishly looking for something faintly resembling the handsome sedan it has replaced, the Mazda 626. In fact, I had to ask for help. Markus yelled, "It's that bright yellow thing over there!" I'd seen that car but thought it was a four-door Mustang somebody air-dammed and spoilered and painted nuclear banana yellow. Well, it has better seats than the Mustang, passengers will fit in back, and it would run neck and neck with a Stang. But is this zoom-zoom thing getting out of hand? Do people want their sedans all overexcited and youthed out? We'll see.
RON KIINO
When I drove a preproduction four-cylinder, five-speed Mazda 6 i, last fall, I came away impressed, yearning only for another 25 horsepower and a slicker gearbox. Yearn, and you shall receive. Instead of a couple dozen more ponies, Mazda added 60, courtesy of a 3.0-liter V-6. It has variable valve timing, and smooth and quiet power delivery reminiscent of a BMW in-line six's. Although the gearbox still isn't as slick as, say, a Honda's, it does not impede spirited driving. Add a nicely crafted interior wrapped in sexy sheetmetal — sans the tacky wing and side-sill extensions, please — and this is a sports sedan I could easily live with.
LARRY WEBSTER
Here's what you need to know about the Mazda 6 s. It's nearly as comfortable and practical as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry, it'll probably be as reliable, and it's priced right on top of the family-sedan sales leaders. But with the 6, you get zip. You get some style, too, and it's loads more fun than the other two. For sure there are some practical aspects — such as rear-seat comfort — where the Mazda loses, but in my view the sportiness here far outweighs its minuscule functional shortcomings. And when I say sportiness, I don't mean appearance items such as chrome gauge rings or shocking yellow paint. The 6 s feels as fun as it looks.
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Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15135470/mazda-6-s-road-test/
