Just test drove this today. Wifey is trading in her 98 Accord v6 for this one.
Originally, the concept of a sports wagon had me in question. there have been three wagons over the years that i have liked in terms of appearance and performance, the 5th gen accord wagon, the Impreza wagon and recently the Mazda Protege 5.
Due to a recent addition to our family the realization for more space was realized. While the 6th gen accord is nice, the transmissions in the v6 models are prone to failure above 100K. While thinking of what our next car should be, my wife saw a Protege 5 on the road, lowered, turboed, rims etc... However, she is first and foremost a "tuner" then a realist, so the idea of downgrading to a paltry 4 cylinder was simply not an option. She wanted a wagon that would look good, drive nice, not be too "family-ish" and basically something she could lower, paint and run minor mods on while either maintaing or increasing current stock HP levels. Enter the 2004-2005 Mazda 6, the flagship of Mazda's most recent offerings to the import sedan world.
The Mazda 6 wagon is a beautiful car, with stylings that i would have to agree with IGN.com on (they said that the Mazda 6 was more stylish than the RX-8) With a 220 hp 3.0 v6 on tap and a Sportronic transmission, hauling the family around has never been so much fun. Gripes are minor but include: MAJOR lack of aftermarket stereo ease, by which i mean, its gonna be a bitch to change the stock HU. Only Metra offers a new panel with a DIN opening, but since it must retain so many factory buttons and knobs, the price is set at $235. Steep if you consider that BEFORE you spend another couple hundred on a new HU. Wheels sizing is offered only in a 17" alloy, which is not bad, but upgrading to an 18" will run you some skinny tires in the rear. The cloth interior is ok, but the leather is really what you want. BASE MSRP is around 16 -18 depending on engine options and a fully decked out wagon will run you just shy of the 30 mark. For the one we are looking at the MSRP is right under $26K. Interior space is ample, as is trunk space, and options are abundant from mazda including a rear wing, chrome accents, gas door cover, roof racks etc..... all basically crap you can really live without. One cool feature is an option for a trunk mounted 20G hardrive that can hold over 500 cd's worth of music. All speakers are Bose, and the stereo comes Sirius ready.
Driving is fun, and while shes missing that "on-rails" feeling you get with the Mazda 3, the handling is still superb. Ours is on order in Lapis blue, and will be the recipient of a set of Tein Luxury spec springs and a CAI from the guys over at EC-i, as well as powdercoating the stock alloys white and running lower profile tires. With their CAI they include a pre-tuned MAF sensor that will increase the subpar 20-27 MPG that comes stock on this wagon.
I am very impressed with Mazdas recent offerings and if any of you fathers (or mothers) are looking for a sporty solution to the daily kid-carrier, i highly recommend giving this one a look.
Originally, the concept of a sports wagon had me in question. there have been three wagons over the years that i have liked in terms of appearance and performance, the 5th gen accord wagon, the Impreza wagon and recently the Mazda Protege 5.
Due to a recent addition to our family the realization for more space was realized. While the 6th gen accord is nice, the transmissions in the v6 models are prone to failure above 100K. While thinking of what our next car should be, my wife saw a Protege 5 on the road, lowered, turboed, rims etc... However, she is first and foremost a "tuner" then a realist, so the idea of downgrading to a paltry 4 cylinder was simply not an option. She wanted a wagon that would look good, drive nice, not be too "family-ish" and basically something she could lower, paint and run minor mods on while either maintaing or increasing current stock HP levels. Enter the 2004-2005 Mazda 6, the flagship of Mazda's most recent offerings to the import sedan world.
The Mazda 6 wagon is a beautiful car, with stylings that i would have to agree with IGN.com on (they said that the Mazda 6 was more stylish than the RX-8) With a 220 hp 3.0 v6 on tap and a Sportronic transmission, hauling the family around has never been so much fun. Gripes are minor but include: MAJOR lack of aftermarket stereo ease, by which i mean, its gonna be a bitch to change the stock HU. Only Metra offers a new panel with a DIN opening, but since it must retain so many factory buttons and knobs, the price is set at $235. Steep if you consider that BEFORE you spend another couple hundred on a new HU. Wheels sizing is offered only in a 17" alloy, which is not bad, but upgrading to an 18" will run you some skinny tires in the rear. The cloth interior is ok, but the leather is really what you want. BASE MSRP is around 16 -18 depending on engine options and a fully decked out wagon will run you just shy of the 30 mark. For the one we are looking at the MSRP is right under $26K. Interior space is ample, as is trunk space, and options are abundant from mazda including a rear wing, chrome accents, gas door cover, roof racks etc..... all basically crap you can really live without. One cool feature is an option for a trunk mounted 20G hardrive that can hold over 500 cd's worth of music. All speakers are Bose, and the stereo comes Sirius ready.
Driving is fun, and while shes missing that "on-rails" feeling you get with the Mazda 3, the handling is still superb. Ours is on order in Lapis blue, and will be the recipient of a set of Tein Luxury spec springs and a CAI from the guys over at EC-i, as well as powdercoating the stock alloys white and running lower profile tires. With their CAI they include a pre-tuned MAF sensor that will increase the subpar 20-27 MPG that comes stock on this wagon.
I am very impressed with Mazdas recent offerings and if any of you fathers (or mothers) are looking for a sporty solution to the daily kid-carrier, i highly recommend giving this one a look.
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