Automotive journalists, yours truly included, have shouted ourselves hoarse over the years about the merits of the Mazda 6...without much influence on the sales charts. It's not a stiff, but it's not any threat to Accords, Camrys or even Altimas when they total up units sold at the end of each month.
The new Mazda 6 is every bit as good as the last one...and manages to pull off that trick (difficult because so much of what we like in the 6 is its sporting character) while getting quite a bit larger (in an effort to attract Accord, Camry and Altima cross-shoppers).
$24,910 buys a 2.5 liter 16-valve four-cylinder with 170 horsepower. Doesn't sound like much, but it drives like a 250-horsepower six. There's a six-speed manual transmission...17-inch alloy wheels, rain-sensing wipers, leather-trimmed seats (the driver's is an 8-way power adjustable and both front seats are heated) and a bunch more. Standard. For $24,910. And that's the Grand Touring model. There are less expensive trim lines.
Even swallowing the nav system, the bottom line is a reasonable $29,440. Drop the nav and it's $27,440, which is a strong value proposition for a car with great performance, five-star crash ratings in every category and an EPA estimated 20 city/29 highway miles per gallon.
I'm getting hoarse again. Please, just drive one.
