2006 Grand Sport MTX wagon review

[garrick]

I honestly don't know where to begin, except to say I've had a 2006 Grand Sport wagon, MTX, silver w/black interior, for two weeks now.

I had driven my SVT Contour for so long and was so happy with her, I was king of worried that leaving her would be tough. I couldn't have been more wrong. The 'Tour's soul got transplanted straight into my '6, and it's as though my baby never left.

Not sure what I can say in praise of this car that hasn't already been said. Descending Coal Creek Canyon last week, I quickly found that piloting the '6 was effortless, the steering spot-on. I was also carrying all of my field-inspection gear at the time, and it all fit in the boot, whereas previously I'd have to stash much of it in the back seat.

I've lurked this site for a long, long time seeing what faults people are finding with the '6. Now that I have one, I see that just about all the complaints I've seen here are about niggling details that are easily overlooked once you have a hand on the wheel and the other on the shifter. Don't like the red displays? There are other cars out there that use other colors. Not enough low-end torque? Use more revs. There's more to life than launching, anyhow. Learn how to shift for yourself, and drive the car the way you want to.

One thing I found particularly interesting was my perception of the throttle response. I had test-driven the '04 and '05 '6 on exactly 3 occasions before buying my '06, and each time I did notice a slight delay in throttle response that made for some poorly-timed shifts on my part (e.g., revs increasing when I depressed the clutch to shift). Each time, I was able to adjust quickly, but then had to re-adjust my timing when I got back in my old car. That certainly hasn't been the case with the 2006 model. I don't know if the electronic throttle has been genuinely re-tuned or if my expectations of a delay were set going in, but from the first drive home the throttle-by-wire has been transparent to me. I'm impressed. That was really my only reservation about buying the car, but it hasn't amounted to anything.

Some minor, random thoughts:

• I had to special-order this car (and wait 3 months) to get it without a roof rack, but I'm glad I did. If I really, really need to carry something up there, I'll put the Yak rack on (got the proper Q-clips yesterday).
• The switchblade key is way, way cool. I didn't think it would make a difference to me, but it does.
• The stereo actually turns off when you turn the key to off. Yay! I've gotten sick of all the (GM) rent cars that play the stereo until you open the door. I don't need entertainment while I'm taking off my seat belt. Off is OFF.
• Along the same lines, I'm thrilled the car doesn't have automatic headlights. Let me decide when I want my freakin' lights on.

Just two weeks in, I'm sure I'll be enjoying many fun years with my '6.

[ZoomZoom Diva]

As another one who went from an SVT Contour to the Mazda6, and owning them both concurrently for a few months, I honestly didn't feel much adjustment hopping between the two cars, mostly for minor switchgear changes and the lack of mods (something I am correcting on the Mazda).

[a10rplyr]

I was also carrying all of my field-inspection gear at the time, and it all fit in the boot, whereas previously I'd have to stash much of it in the back seat.

Just two weeks in, I'm sure I'll be enjoying many fun years with my '6.

[/b]

I am happy that you love your car! I have always loved driving mine and can't say enough about how much better the driving experience in the 6 is compared to almost all of the other cars in the price range. It is amazing but I bought my 6 in August of 2003 and fell in love with my car, and still love it just as much (if not more!) now than the day I bought it. Of course, I did recently add the 17" alloy wheels and clear side markers ( ) but I just love the way it drives and looks!

Congrats on the purchase!

BTW, what kind of field inspecting do you do? Survey work? Bridge inspections? Just curious!

[garrick]

BTW, what kind of field inspecting do you do? Survey work? Bridge inspections? Just curious!
[/b]

I'm a forensic engineer, so I look at a little bit of everything, from water heaters to tractor-trailers. Depending on what I'm doing, I may have to lug a lot of gear (and lug some evidence back with me). I love having a large, contiguous storage area (with cargo tie-downs, no less!).

[gdspc]

Congrats on your 6 Wagon. I hardly ever see them around here...but yesterday on my way home, I saw 2 steel gray '04/05's within a mile of each other. They look fantastic.

A good friend of mine had 2 Contour SE-V6's (95 & 98)...and has now replaced the '98 with an '05 6s Sedan. He says the same thing regarding ease of adjustability.

I was kind of one the fence regarding the wheels on the '06 GS...but they look great on your silver wagon.

[msumlin]

Nothing like a 6 wagon!!

[Tarik]

The GS manual wagon is on my short list (Saab 93 SportCombi is also there). However, there is no such a car on the whole east coast. The closest one is in Chicago area!? I will probably check the Hatch GS next weekend. Can you please post more pics or send me some via the e-mail?

Thanks

[Spidy]

Sweet looking wagon, looks nice and clean!

Maybe its a Canadian thing,but I seen a ton o wagons up here in Canada. They outnumber (from what I've observed anyways) the sedans and hatches I see at least 3 to 1.

[pobody]

congrats and welcome to the club, and welcome to the "secret" wagon club as well

[garrick]

congrats and welcome to the club, and welcome to the "secret" wagon club as well
[/b]

The secret's safe with me.

Tarik, as I've mentioned in other threads, I had to order this one directly from the factory to get it the way I wanted it. You're running out of time to do that for this model year, but if you're on the fence you can test drive a GS 5-door with a stick to get the driving feel (weight and balance are essentially the same as the wagon), and look at any old Mazda6 wagon to check out the cargo space. If that's enough to push you over the edge, have your dealer locate a wagon somewhere else and have it brought to you. That would no doubt be faster than the 3-month factory order!