Hey guys. Having a spirited debate with a friend. He says his mazda 6 is in the same "class" as our car. He says that the TL is only minimally faster than that car as well (MT-MT or AT-AT). He ALSO says that the TL is routinely compaired to the altima, not a maxima.

Is there any grounds for this? I like the mazda 6 for my future wife or something but I think the TL is WORLDS above where that car is.

Can someone post quarter mile times for both cars please? Also, whp and 0-60 times.

 

I think the Speed6 has like 270hp,maybe thats how they are trying to compare them..........otherwise the TL is way better car of course

 

Which aspect are you comparing between these 2 cars? just the 1/4 mile?

Per this comparison by R&T, Mazda 6 1/4 time is around 16.3 @ 87.1mph.

Per this road test by R&T, TL's 1/4 time is around 14.8 @ 96.6mph

Mazdaspeed 6 is a different story, per this article, Mazdaspeed 6 is around 14.3 @ 95.7mph.

There are a lot of car that gets better 1/4 times than the TL for even less money. We chose TL over other cars because we look at the whole package and found TL to be an unbelieveable value.

Another comparison, Mustang GT gets 13.9 @ 101.4 for cheaper than both cars.

Would you choose the mustang over the TL?

 

i think he is living in denial(sp?), thats like saying a mitsubishi galant is the same as the lexus is350 or tl, there is no comparison, he may have the same power but power is not everything i can put a 200 shot of nitro on a civic and out run the tl but that does not put them in the same class

 

Short anwser: No

 

car and driver said the TL ran a 14.4 a 99mph. That 14.8 is an 5AT time? A few people have run 14.2 stock ....

 

Also, when I sad in his car the interior is nowhere near the quality of the TL. He also argued this and actualy got ANGRY. I told him his seats were hard and uncomfortable and that his dash was plasticy and cheap looking. The bose sound system was also lacking.

I appologized for hurting his feelings. Then gave him the url to this thread

 

nope, looks like they tested a 6MT.

either R&T can't drive or temperature is tad high.

edit: yeah... C&D got 14.4 @ 99

http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtest...-tl-page3.html

 

I drove the Mazdaspeed6 and the TL on the same day about an hour apart. The Speed6 was more "fun" but the TL was far more refined. I wanted power but I also wanted a touch of luxury and class. I slept on it overnight and got the TL the next day. It was hard to justify the extra money...well not really. We never rationalize better than with ourselves do we? I'm 3 months into my TL and never looked back.

 

I wasnt even talking about the mazda speed6. I meant the regular ol v6!

 

Mazda 6 is gear towards Subaru Leagcy GT or Audi A4.

 

I have a 2003 mazda6 and the 2006 TL. I thought the 6 was real nice until I got the TL. When i get in the 6 its just not the same. Cheap and weak in quality.
The big bitch I have with the 6 is that the visor's don't slide on the shaft so with sun from the driver's side you cant even use the visor. The arm rest on the door is hard. Just has no padding and on long drives my elbow gets sore.
The triptronic shift is not smooth at all. Althought I must add that I blew the transmission at 5k and it has never really shifted right sense then.
One nice thing about the 6 is that the suspension is tight but a little stiff. I can say that it corners much better then a non Aspec TL.
I have also had all the seat covers replaced do to poor wear and stitching coming loose. The dealer did it with no complaint.
The nice thing about mazda is when the car is in for service they rent you a car so there is no waiting for a loaner to free up.

Its not a bad car for the price but in no way is in the same class as a TL. Just go open and close the door on a 6 and then go do the same with a TL and you will see what I mean.

Hope this helps

 

Take your friend for a spin around town.. show him the Navi, voice commands, bluetooth, HID lights, the DVD-Audio demo disc, automatic window down from key fob..

then see what he says

 

I like the Mazda 6.

I did not drive the Speed6, but I was impressed with the 6 5spd.

It is smaller inside, and feature content vs. the TL is obvious. Some styling cues seem similar to me with the TL (external). I liked the ride, engine was nice, but not as powerful. Small details like struts on the trunklid impressed me, but not what makes my decision to buy a car.

If I had kept my budget to 25K, I would have been seriously tempted. But in retrospect, I am glad I did not. More than one owner of Mazda 6s that I know have issues with service, mechanical problems and durability making me wonder how reliable they are overall. One associate has a 6 I have admired the last 2 years. Initially I thought it was a steal and a nice package. But even with his equally meticulous care, it has not worn well. It is in the shop for repairs regularly and always a hassel. The interior seems to come unglued in less than a year. His problems makes our gripes with the TL seem petty. He comments my TL seems "ironclad" and he wished he went for the Accord instead of the 6.

Again, I liked his car when it was new...but the 4 people I know who have them are not happy with the long term reliability. They often mention Honda or Toyota as the next new car...

 

Funny conversations like that will never go anywhere, and it's best to avoid them. Your friend is obviously trying to convince you and himself that he made the right choice (maybe he did for him), and you're obviously happy with your choice. The problem is nobody ever wins in a conversation like that, and it's best to avoid them. My

 

I let him drve my car ...

 

it all started by me telling him I "destroyed" some guy at a game of "keep up" He was highly offended stating the TL only runs a 15.0 in the quarter mile.

 

Anyone that gets that "offended" when presented with facts like you beating someone, you probably shouldn't be having those type of discussions with. Those type of people are so opinionated and sure that they are right even when faced with overwhelming facts or evidence to the contrary, they're just going to become even more offended and react poorly, you can't win this type of argument with someone like this even if you have a ton of evidence in your favor!


I have a similar friend who was 100% CONVINCED that the GM Envoy is just the best car ever invented, and was also 100% convinced that I should go buy one when we bought our Acuras. Nothing I could say or do would sway him. I'm like, it's a glorified POS Chevy, sorry, rather have a quality Acura for the $$ I've owned those before, no thanks, go read Consumer Reports or any of the other magazines, but efforts otherwise on my part were completely futile. Rather than offend him I would just say, well, that's why you can buy whatever you like with your money, and I'll do something different, but hey, that's what keeps all of the different car companies in business. (Don't you just scratch your head sometimes when you see someone driving certain cars and wonder what on earth they were thinking? LOL)

 

Oops, I meant to say the Mazdaspeed 6 is gear towards Legacy GT and A4.

The Mazda 6 itself is not close when you compared to the TL other than both cars are made in the US.

 

He also said they compair the TL to the altima, not the maxima

 

One word: Resale.(sp?) or would that be 2 words? or now 12

 

If I were looking to buy a mid-size SUV I'd choose the MDX way before the Trailblazer. The only vehicle I'd ever consider purchasing from the Big 3 would be if I were in the market for a full size truck, and I'd probably take the Tundra or Titan over any of those unless I wanted a HD truck like a F-250/350 or 2500/2500 series and it would be a diesel at that.

Kind of funny if you watched 60min that past Sunday. They had some GM bigwig on, and he made a comment that GM was trying to improve their interiors from the past in what he said the seats were made of "rat fur." That comment made me laugh.

 

mazda 6 >>>> FORD 3.0Liter v6 ......... with whatever tec they got....220hp
TL >>>>>>>> HONDA 3.2 liter v6 >>>>> with V-tec !!!!! >>>>> 270hp !!!!

not to be disrespectful but .... is ur friend on drug ?? or he knows nothing about cars ????


if he wants to compare the mazdaspeed 6 ......... it's in the evo/STi class..... can't even compete with the legacy GT ........ so ..... comparing mazda with acura/honda is just not right... mazda is not THERE yet..... or will it ever get to where honda is today... ???? who knows .... who cares .......

 

Your friend is a jealous moron.

 

lol ya ur friend is just jealous lol
oo ya ppl compare maxima with tl not altima lol altima is in accord, camry's level lol not a bad car but tl is way nicer lol

u can compare maxima and tl but to be honest TL is a better car THO maxima has a quieter engine and a lil more powerfull

haha and yes just tell ur friend to open tl's door , altima's door and maxima';s door he'll realizde that maxima and tl are kinda alike but altima is NOT lol

 

Trust me .... MAZDA sucks ... owned 1 and now my wife owns one ... everything is okay until you replace the timing belt ... after that then oil leaks from hell ... dealer did the work on both cars and still can't fix the oil leaks. They replace the lower crank shaft seals when they replace the timing belts and they just cant seem to do the seals right. but no ... TL is much better

 

Your friend is a frickin jealous moron.

 

Well I would not call him jealous NOR a moron ... just misguided

 

My history...
1999 Chevy Malibu (wrecked)
2000 Chevy Impala (mom's car now; she still likes it)
2004 Nissan Altima (got rid of it when I get the TL; what a piece!)
2004 Mazda6 (stolen; I want it baaaaack)
2006 Acura TL (I'm in loooooove)

The Mazda6 is not at all like the TL.... I liked my Mazda, it was a fun car. I would buy another.

And an Altima is not like the TL, far! The Altima was a boat-load of problems since the day I bought it. Little by little, the problems with the Altima were left unresolved because the dealer kept playing dumb. Nissan corporate was never helpful either. I'll never buy another Nissan... and will probably never consider an Infiniti. Especially after having had an Acura

 

The only people who seriously believe that that Mazda 6 compares to the TL are the people from Mazda and your friend. The interior alone should end that conversation..

 

Would you at least say that he is frickin misguided?

 

The Mazda styling is nice, but there is an overall quality difference between the two. I would compare it to the Accord, and would still buy an Accord. Mazda does not have Honda's resale value for a reason.

 

My guess is their relationship with FORD! Shame though, Mazda has some great designs, good marketing and that 'god-help-me-get-it-out-of-my-head" ZOOM ZOOM jingle.

BTW, the new Ford Fusion / Mercury Milan / Lincoln Zephyr are based on the Mazda 6 platform and use a version of the Duratec V6. Does that make THEM better than a TL???

<ducking behind the desk>

 

When I started shopping for a new car, I had decided I wanted to get back into a sedan with a nice mix of luxury and performance (I had previously owned a Bonneville SSEi which I enjoyed tremendously). The Mazda Speed6 caught my eye, but was quickly dismissed due to, shall we say "lack of amenities" when compared to others. I looked at the Cadillac CTS (just made me want the CTS-V which was just too expensive). I also took out a 2006 Lincoln Zephyr (based on the Mazda 6). I liked it quite a bit, but the AWD and 3.5L engine upgrade slated for next year is needed before I would ever consider it. Once I got in the TL, there was just no turning back. The mixture of performance, quality of materials, features and technology just blew me away.

 

My cousin believes a Mazda 3 compares with an Acura TSX in every way imaginable. And, he feels that there is no justification for paying the extra cash for the TSX because of it.

Yeah, if it makes you feel better cuz! I don't even waste my time debating with him over it.

 

People always try to justify their decisions. I would be willing to bet there are guys on the Mazda forum right now talking about how much better their 6's are than TL's. LOL. It is all perspective. Remember when you can afford and justify spending 35K on a car your perspective is much different than those who can not.

 

I liked the looks of the Mazda 6 sport hatch back enough to test a stick version of it in March 05. Sure it was less than the TL but even so it seemed too cheap inside for the price. The stick drove well but had a pretty long throw. The dash seemed really cheap. I really hated the round metal vents. Way too but-ugly for me. Everything I liked about the outside was negated by the inside. Once great thing about the 6 is that it came in a real red! Bright and fiery like red should be.

Then I drove the 6MT TL. Everything about the TL seemed more impressive than the difference in price between it and the Mazda would suggest. The outside looks had always blown me away. The inside was IMHO tasteful and the 6MT was just what the doctor ordered.

In reality I drove the "6" to help convince me to get the TL. You know, to justify the higher price of the TL. I really didn't expect the "6" to lie down and die so easy. I mean seriously the 6 and the TL as "same class", no way. Perhaps the "6" and the TSX.

 

I had a Mazda 6 as a rental after I wrecked my RSX Type-S. It wasn't even in the same class as the RSX, forget about the same class as a TL!