Saturday, March 2, 2013

2014 Mazda6 Grand Touring and Sport First Test

2014 Mazda6 Grand Touring and Sport First Test

Just today I drove a 2014 Mazda6 Sport Auto and 2013 Accord Sport Auto.

The Mazda6 has a simple but complete and nice quality interior, very easy to get right in and drive. Felt much more intimate inside than the Accord, even though there was plenty of room front and back. For a "base" model, it didn't feel low rent at ALL: very nice cloth seats, complete gauges, full compliment of steering wheel controls, nice plastics, etc... Was surprised it had a backup camera (with yellow/red zones to warn of impending contact) and decent telematics standard, but disappointed these are only for models with automatic trans. The exterior was expressive without being gratuitous (unlike several recent Ford offerings) and the 17" wheels looked just fine.

The Accord Sport felt enormous inside with great visibility, and it was nice to have the huge center screen giving out trip info (that was all shown in the Mazda, just not as nicely). Liked the power tilt adjustment for the seat bottom cushion (Mazda6 only goes up/down). The Accord felt very fast, not too CVT "slippy" (the paddle shifters are a fun extra), but it definitely clomped its 19" wheels/tires more than the Mazda6 on its 17s. I *hate* that Honda still hasn't seen fit to equip the Accord with a split folding rear seat.

The Accord Sport Auto is about 10% more expensive than a Mazda6 Sport Auto. Given its stellar resale it's tough to not choose the Accord, but the Mazda6 is a very pleasant, less expensive alternative!

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//PART 2