2015 Mazda6 GT - new owner

Falcon73

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Mazda6 GT
I just picked up a 2015 Mazda6 GT. I traded in a 2012 Kia Optima SX. The Optima was an OK car, just not a great driver. Shouldn't have purchased the Kia. Only have about 200 miles on the 6, and I'm loving it! This is my 4th Mazda - loved everyone of them.
 

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Congrats on your new purchase!

Feel free to share the pluses and minuses compared to the Optima, which is also a well liked car.
 
I've only had the Mazda for 3 days, so it's a little hard to directly compare. There is no getting around the fact that the 6 is slower than the Kia. The Kia does have about 100hp more, so it should be. The big difference is in steering feel and suspension calibration. Mazda just feels better.


My issues with the Kia is that it seemed to be ageing faster than other cars I've owned.

The seat design mixes leather and fabric, where the fabric meets the leather was starting to wear. It looks like the seat would be torn before the car was 5 years old. The Mazda does seem to have better interior materials.

The top of the steering wheel was starting to get weather damaged - seems to be a common issue with the Optimas.
The Kia had a driver's door rattle - another common issue with the Optima. The Mazda does seem to have a more solid door sound when closing.

The Optima required constant steering inputs when driving on the highway - which is also a common issue with the Optima. My Optima also had the pull to the left under power that some others had. The alignment spec of the Kia must be set for fuel economy instead of steering feel.

The front suspension was soft and the dampening didn't seem well sorted. The front of the car would almost bottom out and bounce on moderate dips.

The power of the Kia also didn't seem to be consistent. Sometimes the car would seem very fast, other times it would seem like the car was down on power. Could have been the ECU dialing back timing or the waste gate. I always ran 93 octane gas, so I don't know what the issue was.

I had a Snow White Pearl paint on the Kia. The rear bumper paint did not match the body. This was only noticeable in certain light conditions. If I would have noticed this before, I would have chosen a different color or a different car.

Other little differences I've noticed is things like the front doors on the Mazda seems a little shorter than the Kia. I'm 6'4", so the seat is far back. My shoulder in the Mazda is even with the B pillar. In the Kia, I was sitting a little ahead of the B pillar. Not a real issue, just something to get used to . The Kia's trunk is bigger and the back seat may have more leg and headroom. My kids are young so that doesn't matter much.
 
I've only had the Mazda for 3 days, so it's a little hard to directly compare. There is no getting around the fact that the 6 is slower than the Kia. The Kia does have about 100hp more, so it should be. The big difference is in steering feel and suspension calibration. Mazda just feels better.


My issues with the Kia is that it seemed to be ageing faster than other cars I've owned.

The seat design mixes leather and fabric, where the fabric meets the leather was starting to wear. It looks like the seat would be torn before the car was 5 years old. The Mazda does seem to have better interior materials.

The top of the steering wheel was starting to get weather damaged - seems to be a common issue with the Optimas.
The Kia had a driver's door rattle - another common issue with the Optima. The Mazda does seem to have a more solid door sound when closing.

The Optima required constant steering inputs when driving on the highway - which is also a common issue with the Optima. My Optima also had the pull to the left under power that some others had. The alignment spec of the Kia must be set for fuel economy instead of steering feel.

The front suspension was soft and the dampening didn't seem well sorted. The front of the car would almost bottom out and bounce on moderate dips.

The power of the Kia also didn't seem to be consistent. Sometimes the car would seem very fast, other times it would seem like the car was down on power. Could have been the ECU dialing back timing or the waste gate. I always ran 93 octane gas, so I don't know what the issue was.

I had a Snow White Pearl paint on the Kia. The rear bumper paint did not match the body. This was only noticeable in certain light conditions. If I would have noticed this before, I would have chosen a different color or a different car.

Other little differences I've noticed is things like the front doors on the Mazda seems a little shorter than the Kia. I'm 6'4", so the seat is far back. My shoulder in the Mazda is even with the B pillar. In the Kia, I was sitting a little ahead of the B pillar. Not a real issue, just something to get used to . The Kia's trunk is bigger and the back seat may have more leg and headroom. My kids are young so that doesn't matter much.

I've rented Optimas and Sonatas numerous times over the last several years. I've only had the turbo version a couple of times (and only in the Sonata). I actually liked the Optima (especially in upper-level EX trim) but I wasn't crazy about the Sonata. One of the turbocharged Sonatas had VERY inconsistent power delivery and/or responsiveness. I had it for a full week and several times when merging or passing, I expected the power to be there and it wasn't! It actually felt like the throttle response was lagging, the transmission was lagging and the turbocharger didn't really kick in until several seconds after I needed it! Perhaps the 25k+ miles it had already served as a rental in Los Angeles had taken a toll? But I wasn't impressed....

I was impressed with how comfortable the Optima the was, even in the basic 'LX' trim level that I usually got. The interior design was also nice, but the quality of materials wasn't impressive and it showed on higher-mileage rentals. If they were still in service at 30k miles, the fabric seats often started looking nappy, squeaks and rattles were common and switchgear started feeling loose in comparison to a Mazda or Honda. The standard non-turbo engine was also nothing special (but at least I set my expectations accordingly).

Your comment about the Optima and Mazda6 varying in certain dimensions made me curious, so I compared the two. The Mazda6 has 3.3" less front legroom, but 4.0" more legroom, 2.6" less front headroom, and 1.4-1.6" more front/rear hiproom than the Optima. All other dimensions (rear headroom, front/rear shoulder room and trunk volume) is virtually identical between the two cars. The Optima has 2 cubic feet more overall passenger volume at 102 vs. 100 for the Mazda6.

At 6.2" and 240#, it took me a little while to find the perfect seat position in my 2014 Mazda6. I was so accustomed to the seating position in my 2012 CX-9 that it just took some time to settle in. I went thru the same thing (to a much greater degree) when I got the CX-9 two years ago. I had a 2008 Explorer before the CX-9 (I never knew how much I could possibly hate a vehicle until that thing!) and the driver's seat was awful....I debated whether to trade-it or take a loss on it and enjoy burning it to the ground myself! =)

Anyway, love the new Mazda6.....gorgeous color, too!
 
Falcon,
Congrats. I picked mine up three days ago. GT in deep crystal blue with black interior. I have to ask. When on the the highway and the music cranked up does your driver side mirror shake to the beat of the sound. I was playing some good blues pretty loud but my mirror was bouncing right along with it which I found pretty annoying. I suspect it is the bass from the in door speaker.
 
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