How well do you like your 6??

[J dragon]

Yeah I know it's a copy topic for many reasons...

one of them being, the volume here compared to the 3, and the protege forums are Poor. no one bothers to post about the 6....is it that inferior to the 3? I happen to like it

[Mikey444]

Here is my honest down to earth opinion. I have a 6s MTX with leather and ACC. I love absolutely everything about the car except for the rattles which I got used to and is not soo bad no more. Could be fixed with a bit of insolation I guess. The brakes are strong but think the front rotors should be bigger given the fact that the curbweight is 1540kg's. But for every day use they are more than fine. Other than that, I have taken exceptionally good care of my leather seats and after 1 year the leather still looks in amazing shape.

EDIT: fuel consumption is average. I have done 600 kilometers on a gas tank highway driving once in winter and the fuel light was not even on. I was rolling with 15" steelies, i think that might have helped.

One more thing, I find that the clutch is a tad on the heavy side.

[J dragon]

Cool Mikey....I'm sure the positives outweigh the negative. When you talk about a heavy clutch, I wonder if they have any clutch modifications like the Protege's..stage 1, 2 etc. Still I feel the 6 representation isn't as good here as it should be.

[seanmcsean]

welp, I see the main problem is that the 6 is targeting a shall we say, older audience. most of the forum dwellers are 18-24 and a protege is usually within their means and fits their modification desires.. The 6 on the other hand is what you graduate to after having a pro!! (2thumbs) It's rare to see a young enthusiastic 6 owner. Even so, we do our best here to try and recruit a lot of posters for the 6 section, sometimes it is just very difficult.

edit: mikey, clutch is heavy on the 6?? really? I've found it to be just right.. I find honda and audi/vw clutches to be on the (too) light side.

[crossbow]

Honestly the reason the 6 population isn't represented here, is there are two major 6 ONLY forums that are on the web, with over 30,000 combined members...so this site is more of a secondary handout, stopby point, and doesn't really compete to dedicated only sites.

There are stage 1 through stage 5 clutches available, as well as lightened, findanza, and mazdaspeed flywheels.

Stock flywheel weight for the v6 6s is 25 lbs, lightened is 15, findanza is 8, unknown on the mazdaspeed, but I'm guessing 18-20.

[J dragon]

http://www.edmunds.com/used/2004/mazda/mazda6/100339514/ratings_jdpower.html

JD Power and associates think this car is poor...

[crossbow]

And the Mazda3 has 3x the TSB/MRI's and has been out one year less...yet you don't see as many people trolling those forums.

[Killer]

Very happy with our 2005 6i. I would change one thing...the Plastic Fuse Box cover never stays on. Other than that, GREAT CAR!

[Mikey444]

I have the V6 btw when I say I find it a bit heavy I mean it's just a tiny small tad heavy, not even close to moderately heavy. Just my opinion.

I dont plan to do any modifications to the 6 since I have the RX-8 to toss around when I am in the mood and non the less I would still like to trade the 6 in for a autobox, but would prefer a base legacy.

[Da 6]

truthfully...

*Love the car
*Hate the ATX

I'm not gonna list all the lil things that are wrong with it due to the fact it's not a $89K car. All cars are gonna have minor things that you may feel are major than they may be. I'm not saying it's a cheap car but on the same note remember how much you paid for it.

[MrTea]

i'd have to say, i've only driven the MTX on the V6 and not the 4cyl....but i hate the stock MTX! though i know it can be swapped out for better pieces so can mine.

And like he said, look how much the car cost. though it aint cheap, i've totally gotten my money's worth, though i know some have had the misfortune of getting into crappy 6's out of the box. i think i lucked out with mine.

[Killer]

I wonder why PAUL gave me bad rep on this thread.

[m6speed]

my 6 is a great daily driver, just wish it got better gas mileage.

[seanmcsean]

my 6 is a great daily driver, just wish it got better gas mileage.


sounds like someone has v6-itis (laugh)

[m6speed]

sounds like someone has v6-itis (laugh)


well it's kinda bad when your garage queen gets better mileage than your daily driver, highly modded 98 camaro z28 that gets about 25-30 mpg...gotta love 6th gear.

[Da 6]

sounds like someone has v6-itis (laugh)But I get the same mpg as a V6 atx

[Puckpimp71]

The 05 ATX gets better mileage than the MTX...

[Da 6]

6speed yes... (yippy)

4 and 5 speed....not really
(monkey2)

[J dragon]

Damn makes me wish I woulda got an 05i if i was gonna get an Automatic >_<....oh well I needed a car asap

[Puckpimp71]

6speed yes... (yippy)

4 and 5 speed....not really
(monkey2)
Yeah, I meant to add that applies to the V6...

[Da 6]

Yeah, I meant to add that applies to the V6...
Yes! the euro got a new tranny for I4 where as the currents just got whatever the current wds updates where...

[rvtrob]

My wife and I are looking at a midsize sport/coupe car at the moment. We have so far driven the 2005/06 Pontiac G6, the 2006 Hyundai Sonata (very impressive for a 24K car) and the 2005 Mazda 6. While I strongly prefer the styling of the M6, I noticed one issue with the auto V6 that just absolutely turns me away from this car. Being a fuel injected V6, I expected the throttle response to be just off the wall. We drove both the sport wagon and the 4 door. Keep in mind I am used to driving a 2005 Ford PowerStroke Turbo Diesel 4x4 (8000lbs GVW with a 6 litre turbo diesel). When it came to off the light performance, the M6 seemed to want to wind up to about 2400 RPM before the motor came to life. I tried both just foot to the floor and a gradual acceleration. It was like I was driving my truck waiting for the turbo to kick in. While I disliked the Pontiac G6 and really was impressed by the Sonata (for the money), the engine performance of this M6 off the line just totally turns me away from this car. I was totally expecting sedan comfort with sport car performance. The V6 Sonata chirped the tires with no effort. Is this a 2005 issue or something that is just common with this car and engine? My wife and I both love the styling of the M6, but this engine issue just makes me want to buy the Sonata even more. I told the dealer about my concerns and he really offered no explanation other than maybe they fixed it in '06. We are waiting for an '06 to arrive on the lot so we can do another test drive. If this car doesn't bark the tires off the line, I'm going to walk away. A fuel injected V6 should not have any psuedo turbo lag.

Please help?

[crossbow]

Your comparing a diesel to a v6. There isn't a comparison. Diesels make all their power down low, and make an incrediable amount of low end torque.

If your looking for off the line power, your not going to find it in an engine designed to rev to 6500 rpm. The 6 doesn't even BEGIN to make power till 3,000, and really isn't zippy till over 4k rpm.

If you aren't willing to drive the car that way, then skip it, and look for a vehicle thats either a diesel, supercharged, or a v8. (Both giving alot of low end umf). No amount of mods for the 6 will forever solve the "off the line" problem. Its by engine design that its power is made at the upper rev's. You'd basically need cam work, engine retuning, or forced induction to solve that problem...Its just not worth it!

There is a computer update to address "off the line hesitation" in the v6 ATX's in the 6s, but thats not going to make it match a car thats been tuned to jump off the line.

Either get a manual, or go with the hyndai, or one of the above choices.

[rvtrob]

Your comparing a diesel to a v6. There isn't a comparison. Diesels make all their power down low, and make an incrediable amount of low end torque.

If your looking for off the line power, your not going to find it in an engine designed to rev to 6500 rpm. The 6 doesn't even BEGIN to make power till 3,000, and really isn't zippy till over 4k rpm.

If you aren't willing to drive the car that way, then skip it, and look for a vehicle thats either a diesel, supercharged, or a v8. (Both giving alot of low end umf). No amount of mods for the 6 will forever solve the "off the line" problem. Its by engine design that its power is made at the upper rev's. You'd basically need cam work, engine retuning, or forced induction to solve that problem...Its just not worth it!

There is a computer update to address "off the line hesitation" in the v6 ATX's in the 6s, but thats not going to make it match a car thats been tuned to jump off the line.

Either get a manual, or go with the hyndai, or one of the above choices.

I wasn't necessarily comparing the diesel to the V6, but using it as an example to describe what I felt was a performance issue. I'm not expecting it to pull 5.4 second 0-60's, but it feels very very sluggish say from a stand still at a stop light. I mean it won't even chirp the tires... It's a fuel injected motor and while I understand its optimum power band is around 3k, it shouldn't feel like the rubber band needs to wind up before it'll come to life. Maybe the car is just too "family" car oriented and I'm expecting it to be somewhat a sport/touring type car. Still, the Sonata is definately not sport touring and it's engine performance was peppy throughout the entire RPM range.

If there IS a fix for the V6 ATX hesitation, I will wait for an '06 to arrive at the dealer and give it another shot. Hopefully it is addressed in '06 cars and it'll be a bit peppier. My wife and I both really like the 6's.

[Puckpimp71]

I'd wait for th 06 anyways. There's a loss in rebate cash, I think, but the interior is much more classy than the '05 and the 06's V6 loses 5hp in exchange for 9lb/ft of torque down low, which will really help the "off the line" acceleration. We just got a few 4cyl 06's in stock. It's nicer looking car all around.

[Da 6]

I hated the internet pictues of it...I'll eventualy swing down san pedro ave to see it and the new tails.

[crossbow]

The test drives from the 06 are indicating suspension changes. (softer, looser, more luxury based) I also disagree with the interior changes. The previous design was consistent and flowed...the new design looks like they threw a bunch of random pieces together and ended up with a bunch of odd color schemes. I mean honestly, the stupid atx shifting plate is just stupid. Whoever designed the new interior needs some design 101 lessons.

And the fix doesn't fix the fact the car has no power below 3k. Just being honest man. If you want pull off the line, pick another car!!!
http://forum.mazda6tech.com/about3578.html

[Puckpimp71]

I like the center console in the new one much more and while the cloth in the 05 was rough, the 06 feels much nicer, though a bit cheaper. The center console and the cloth seats were the main objections my customers have had in the 6 and it looks like Mazda is trying to fix them. We'll have to wait and see what the market dictates.

[Da 6]

ATX shifter console...Oh yeah thats now a shift boot on my car now. 1 problem solved.

I drove past the san padro one and they had the 06's next to the 05 sports and I'll say they look 100 times better than the internet pictures. I didn't get out of the truck to look at them super up close cause I didn't wanna hear the sales pitch. Side profile gives off a difrent light over 06. The rear side profile reminds me alot of the tsx. Tail lights are a plus compared to the stock and chrome sets. I'll go back later when I'm feeling better.

[crossbow]

Allan,

Sabrinia is having a sale on the 06 taillights. You know where to look, I'm not allowed to post links =/. I'm picking up a set for myself, they're around 190 for all 4 rear lights.

[Da 6]

Thanx!

I'll see if we can convince a vender or two to get registered here since this is a mazda in general community and isn't "just a 6" site ;)

[Da 6]

Update...
She's already here but not as showcase.

Part Numbers are:
GP7B-51-150
GP7B-51-160
GP7B-51-3F0
GP7B-51-3G0