Lorne Miller

...hey gang, we have some friends who needed a bit more passenger space for the duration of this week, so they swapped us their Mazda6 for my wife's Odyssey, consequently we now have two very similar four door sedans gracing our driveway. I decided to drive the Mazda6 for the day and let my wife take my car to work, wanted to see what it was like as I had not tested one out before. Let me say one thing right off the bat, the TSX is not alone in the miscellaneous or mysterious rattle department, this Mazda has a headliner buzz that would drive anyone nuts after a day of tolerating it. It also has a squeak coming from the rear seat area, and when the stereo is on both doors buzz and rattle with the bass notes. The drive train is not as smooth as the TSX, and the brakes are "grabby" as opposed to the TSX feeling much more linear, the steering is alright but feels a bit on the numb side, this car has the auto 5 sport shift, very similar to the TSX in operation. The TSX has much more comfortable seats, at least for my back, this car has velour instead of leather so that might have something to do with how they feel. The overall way the car handles and feels, from the way the keys work, controls, dash layout with the blood red lighting, the center dash controls, are in my opinion very second rate, the TSX doesn't have to worry about the Mazda6 stealing any of its thunder.
...tomorrow I will get my first look at the new TL, as I promised, I will give you my opinions, thoughts, and reactions on Thursday morning...

Lorne Miller

wawa

Just wanna know if you were driving the V6 version? How's the powertrain compare to the TSX?

ecsw

You must be driving a M6 that has problem altogether.

My ex-Mazda6 does not sound anything like you described and I had a I4 only. :P True the interior quality on Mazda6 is probably 2nd grade compares to TSX, but the overall feeling I had is nothing like u described. Especially the breaking, I found M6 much shaper and easier than my TSX. As for the leather, both car are "leather trimmed" interior (only the seating surface is leather) but ture, TSX's leather surface is a bit better.
Just my 2 cents.

If u r driving a 5 sp AT, u must be talking about V6 Mazda6 then. How do u feel about acceration on it compare to TSX?

fdl

I agree with alot of what you said .....but the m6 brakes are much much better than the TSX, and also the steering has alot moe feedback than the TSX. In fact "numb steering" has been a complaint of the TSX in one review (c&d i think).

jcg878

A lot of your comments were dead on as I remember from my test drive (no rattles or sqeaks in that brand new car though), but I don't think you'd be complaining about the brakes if you weren't used to the TSX. They're definitely stronger - if you went M6 to TSX you'd probably be upset for the opposite reason.

oh, i just read ecsw's comment ... indeed.

But, I'm happy to read your comments. They reinforce that I made a good decision with the TSX.

majormojo

I agree that the Mazda 6 has better brakes, at least stronger and more solid feeling. But I also concur with Lorne that they can feel "grabby" or "touchy" especially in oridnary around-town driving. They need a really light touch to avoid overly hard braking. The way I'd describe it is that the Mazda brakes do a better job of slowing the car, but the TSX has superior pedal feel and modulation. I haven't seen 60-0 braking distance comparisons but I'd be very surprised if the 6 didn't have significantly shorter distances. But like the torque issue, the numbers don't tell the whole story.

Lorne, thanks for posting your comments. Your impressions echo mine for the most part. I think a lot of the reason I prefer the TSX interior (aside from better materials and colours) is that it has a Honda familiarity that I'm used to. Both my wife and I immediately felt at home in the TSX and a bit lost in the Mazda. Of course that would probably go away with time, I'll be interested to know if your impression of the 6 interior improves with time.

gilboman

i agree...but the numb steering plagues the whole honda/acura lineup.no car is spared..even the S2k . ..the NSX i'm not sure though. the brakes also plague the whole lineup execpt s2k and i'm guessing NSX...maybe the new TL with brembo's would be a pleasant surprise...but the car is one heavy mofo.

Junkster

I don't remember my Integra having numb steering, but rather had too much road feedback. I think Honda does have some issues with their power steering works.

Junkster, who liked the looks of the M6.

gilboman

the ludes, civics, accords, s2k all did though..nvr driven a non ITR teg before though.

Lorne Miller

...let me jump in here and answer a few questions, the M6 I've been driving for the past few days has the V6 with 5 speed auto, I don't know what "package" it is, no leather or moonroof but it has the alloy wheels, TCS, and most of the other toys. One thing that has become quite apparent is the amount of vibration, jolting and bumping that gets transferred to you from the road surface, all of my Honda products provide a much more comfortable ride...to prove this I drove them back to back over the same road and got opinions from others and they agree on this issue...the M6 has a rougher, more jiggly ride than the TSX. As for the steering thing, to me, and this is my viewpoint, Honda's steering provides more "road feel" than the M6, in all of the Honda and Acura cars I've driven this seems to be the case, it is one of the reasons I like Honda products, that and the smooth ride they provide...the only Honda product I've driven recently that goes against this is the current Civic/EL that went from the double wishbone suspension to Macpherson struts.
The other thing I really notice on a continuous basis is how much more naturally the interior layout is on a Honda product, you don't have to figure anything out, its very easy to see how and what everything does...I had to take a bit of time with my son when we first got into the M6 to figure out how/what everthing did. There is no question about the power from the V6 in the M6, it definitely has more go juice, but it should as it is a V6 with a larger displacement, more torque and power.
The brakes make for quick stops, but I still think they feel "grabby", if you're not careful you could put passengers into the dash if they weren't wearing their seat belts.
As for how the two look, that is a duscussion that will go on for as long as people want to compare them and talk about it...myself, I don't care that much for the M6, I think it looks to contrived and is a mixup of styling lines. To me the TSX is exceptionally clean and the smooth linearity of the design will keep it looking stylish for years to come, something Honda has been good at doing throughout their history, I think much of their older products still look good today. The M6 will look a bit old to me in several years time, as my son put it without any prompting, "...the Mazda looks to ordinary, its just another car on the road." Most of my sons friends, 18-21 years old, think the TSX is "pretty nice" and say that appearance wise the TSX has it hands down.
Just a few more observations, not sure how much longer we'll have it, the Odyssey might be back tomorrow, my wife wants her van back, its been an interesting opportunity to check the M6 out for a bit, IMHO the TSX still comes out on top, again MY OPINION, "your mileage may vary"...

Lorne Miller

dom

You were lucky to have such a great oppurtunity to compare both cars Lorne. Not many people will get that kind of oppurtunity.

Although you may be slightly biased towards the TSX ( I know I would be) I think your feedback on the two cars is pretty valubale considering you've driven them back to back and over the same roads.

Lets just hope those friends of yours are'nt memebers here or you'll never get a to ride in let alone drive that M6 again.

TinkySD

I don't know about all the hondas but the tsx in fact has an extra valve in the steering housing called an "anti kick back" valve which might be the main reason for the numbed feeling.

ecsw

I am personally a Honda fan too. But once I drove both Accord and Mazda6 7 months ago, I bought Mazda6 right away. I love both of my rides, too bad I can no longer go back to my M6 (it's totaled). But for my comparsion, I had 10,000km on my M6 in 4.5 months and 4000km on my TSX in 1.5 month.

IMO, a lot of road handling feeling are similar between TSX and Mazda6 because they are both using EXACTLY the same tire. (MICHELIN Pliot MXM4 215/50R17 93V)

keylay

which one is faster, or has more pickup, i know the hp specs but which one feels like it has more kick?