Mazda6 I4 Sport ATX review

[Explaced]

I recently bought a 6i Sport ATX. I went from a Mustang GT to it, so some of what I will say is going to make sense with that kept in mind.

The 6 has great quality on the interior, at least as far as road noise and the 'thump' the doors make when you shut them. That alone made me feel like the car was better in quality. I do feel however that the interior plastics don't hold up to well. I only get this impression from used ones I drove, not mine. So far mine seems ok, but as stated I only have 6k miles on it at this point. I'm easy on my cars, so hopefully this will not be the case with mine. A used 6s I drove had many nasty scratches on the ATX shifter plastic, and I'm not really sure how they could've gotten there.

I have 2 things that make me not like the car. They are:

*Crappy shifts when using the Manual mode.
*NO power at all under 3k RPM.

I realize I went from a V8 with 260hp/302tq to a car with a 4i 160hp torque-less engine. I have also had two other 4 cylinder cars in the past, one with more hp and one with less, and both had more power than the 6i ATX Mazda6 has. The car is much better after 3k rpm, but that's now where most driving is done for me. It should be since the car only has power there, but then it would be a gas guzzler if I were leaving it over 3k RPM all the time. Plus that wouldn't be good for the life of the engine I feel, even though it's much more fun and normal that way.

The Manual mode with the ATX is a joke. It shifts sometimes 2500rpm later than I tell it to, especially at low throttle. Owning this car and driving it in manual mode has basically solidified that the next car I get will have an actual Manual transmission with a clutch involved. I had the latest model Prelude, and it's Manual mode shifted immediately like one is supposed to, no matter my RPM. The Mazda's slips horribly on 1st-2nd shifts as well as 2nd-3rd sometimes. I have even had the PCM-TCM upgrade performed, and although that seemed to have helped at first, after driving it about a week after that I noticed it really didn't.

Handling is great. That's one of the main reasons I got the 6. It feels glued to the road. I lowered my Mustang GT and it didn't grip quite like the Mazda does. Granted the car was much more firm than the 6, but the 6 seems to absorb curves better overall. Very nice work done there by Mazda I would say.

The car looks great. Nice front end, way better than anything else in its class. Everyone I've ever spoken with about that subject agrees. The Mazda6 hands down beats anything in its class in the looks department.

Interior room is really nice, especially in the back. The seats are nice also, although the microfiber idea I think was a bad one. The edges of the seats from getting in and out look like I've had it for 50k miles already instead of 6k. The used one I drove that had 30k miles on it looked the same as mine with 6k on the seat edges. I realize it's just the way the fiber switches direction and changes shade (darker/lighter), but still. It looks frizzy now, and it will stay that way and only get worse from now on. The rest of the seat seems great though.

All in all because of no power, torque and horrible manual mode shifting, I am looking for another car (hopefully another mustang GT if I can afford it at some point). As others have mentioned, resale is horrendous with this car, as it has already dropped 8-9k in value since I bought it not even 3 months ago. Stickered for $24k, already down to $15k. It's absolutely ridiculous. That is of course if I were to trade it with a dealer. I would probably get somewhere around $18,5 out of it if I were very lucky in a straight out purchase.

Also, modding this car is horribly expensive. Cat-back systems cost 200-300 dollars more than ones for an '03-'04 Mustang GT, not to mention the CPE intake. It's crazy. I'm not spending that to get maximum 20 more HP.

My plans are to trade it for something else, or try to sell it before that if possible. Selling will be a pain, but more worth it. I will only trade if I can make enough payments to get caught up (which will take some time).

Overall the car is great, but it just isn't a good match for me at this point in my life. I'm single and my girlfriend goes with me everywhere. I could have a 350z if I wanted, not a 4 seater 4 door car. Unfortunately I didn't drive the car like I normally would on the test drive because of it being new, therefore I didn't notice these problems until after the purchase.

It's not a bad car, just not what I should've gotten. I need something that will bring a smile to my face, and the 6i just doesn't do that very much.

Hope that review isn't too negative. Just thought I'd share my experience so far.

[J Dragon]

....I like my 6i, just the darn thing is waaaaay too slow.

6i ATX doesn't cut it although I had no choice I needed a Car at the time I brought mine.

Your review was honest and true. harsh but true

[Crash11]

Why'd you buy an automatic if you wanted to drive a manual?

[VroomZoom6MZR]

The CP-E is well worth it. Try it, and you will think twice about selling the car. I took CP-E off because I am selling the car for other reasons (I love the car, but need a wagon for the kid and for trips). Drove to work the next day (all back roads) and the smile was instantly gone from my face. That much of a difference. The CP-E intake/MAFci gives you very noticable tq down low, were it is needed.

[Dans6]

Just my opinion, but when you are spending thousands of $$, a more thorough test drive and research should have been done, consider it one of life's lessons learned. I have an '05 6i, and I enjoy driving it, yeah I know there is no get up and go at low RPMs, and my seats look 3 years old on the side as opposed to 1 year old, (I am planning on addressing this issue at the dealer real soon), but I still love driving it and staring at it especially when it is all shined up!!! I always get compliments on how cool the 6 looks

Yours is an honest and true opinion, I just wish you the best of luck selling or trading it, and next time make sure the $ you spend is on what you really wanted, or if what you want is too much $, find it used for a little less $.

[zomer]

I have 6s mtx..... I love keeping it above 3k.... mazda6 (both 6i and 6s) is made to be driven at high revs.... you could experience it yourself only if you had mtx

[stevem62005]

I have 6s mtx..... I love keeping it above 3k.... mazda6 (both 6i and 6s) is made to be driven at high revs.... you could experience it yourself only if you had mtx
[/b]

My thoughts exactly, to appreciate the 6i it needs to be a manual.

[J Dragon]

To appreciate a 6i, It needs to be driven Highway...

[freakta]

hey not to bust your bubble but i went from a powerful rwd car to this also and have had a few 4cyl fwd cars

i had a 96 prelude si lats year before your body style. that car didnt have anything below 4krpms either, my civic had nothing anywhere.

my sentra ser had balls all over the place

my mr2 turbo was a joke until it got boost

i havent owned too many cars that actually impress me below 3k rpms that were 4 cyl (nissan being the only ecception)

anyways
why not try a good cai if they get such great reviews and see if you can live with the car.
have a shift kit put in the tranny, then watch the shifter do its thing....
think of how much you did to your gt to get it where you wanted it, and think of how much you havnt done to this that could be done

just some food for thought

[Explaced]

....I like my 6i, just the darn thing is waaaaay too slow.

6i ATX doesn't cut it although I had no choice I needed a Car at the time I brought mine.

Your review was honest and true. harsh but true
[/b]

Thanks man. It's hard to talk about something you own like that, but I just don't see any way around the things I said being true. The looks and handling of the car are great, but aside from that most other "performance" is lacking. I can't be too harsh on it as it's a 4 door sedan, not a sporty coupe. Still though, the 6i ATX is severly lacking in power/torque.

I'll agree with most of you (to a point) that the 6i needs to me a manual to fully enjoy it. True, but, I don't think a car should have to be kept above 3k rpm to enjoy it. That was the awesome thing about a Mustang GT - torque all over the place.

Crash11 - "Why'd you buy an automatic if you wanted to drive a manual?" I thought with the Manual mode I could have the best of both worlds. Turns out, nope. M mode in my 6 is very, very bad. From 3rd up, it's good. 1-2 and 2-3 aren't great at all - major slippage.

I agree completely with Dans6. I should've driven it much more before I bought it. I drove a Mazda3 and a Mazda6 V6. Both drove great with the Manual mode, so I assumed the 6i would too. Unfortunately I was wrong. I honestly think if I had a 6s with a Bosal catback, I'd be a lot happier. I'd have great sound and great handling with 220hp (right? Or is it 210?). Put that in a manual and I'd be even better. I haven't ruled that out as a possibility either. I haven't test driven a Speed6, but I'm afraid it won't have any power below 3k either because of the 4 cylinder. I'm sure it's a monster up top, but I like having my head shoved back when I first push the gas, not 3k to 5k rpm later.

I could've left my GT stock and been completely happy with it. The mods I did to it were more for fun and experimenting than that it needed them. If I get a new '06 GT, I will more than likely leave it stock as it sounds good from the factory, looks good, and is plenty powerful with 300hp/320 torque. It will ride rougher than the Mazda6, but for me that's a small price to pay. Plus it's not really a downside for me as I like feeling the road. I worry about it for my passengers (when I have them), not for myself.

Thanks for your posts.