New Car Review: 2014 Mazda 6 Grand Touring Sedan (Updated)

Boring.

Bland.

Beige.

Those are some of the one-word labels that get stuck on mid-size family sedans...especially the Toyota Camry, and, until the new one, the Honda Accord.  Well, even if you're not moved by the all-around goodness of the Accord, we dare you to be unmoved by the new Mazda 6.

Even when the midsizers (a group that also includes the Dodge Avenger, Chevrolet Malibu, Nissan Altima, Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima) were at their blandest, the Mazda 6 has always been more of a driver's car.  Good to see they stepped up their game at the same time (some of)  the other guys did.

New Car Review: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL



The 2013 Nissan Altima.

This is, by all accounts, a watershed year for the family sedan. There's a new Ford Fusion, a new Chevy Malibu, a new Honda Accord, and a new Mazda 6.

Haven't driven any of them yet (Malibu and Accord are due at TireKicker World Headquarters soon).

Sure hope they brought their A game, though. Because there's also a new Nissan Altima. And.......damn (let Will Smith sue).

Now, regular TireKicker readers will recall that we've always thought the Altima was a better car than its sales figures (which aren't bad) indicated.

But this.....

New Car Review: 2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 S Sedan

The 2012 Nissan Versa.

Sometimes my fellow automotive journalists are just the biggest whiners in the world. Reading their reviews of the new for 2012 Nissan Versa, I was braced for a new miserable experience, one lending new meaning to the words "ugly", "uncomfortable" and "cheap".

Did all of them have Porsche 911s the week before or something?

Now, I know I have a somewhat higher tolerance for basic transportation than some folks in this profession...but that doesn't mean that the car doesn't deserve to be judged on its merits. And frankly, the 2012 Nissan Versa 1.6 S Sedan surprised me.