Mazda’s 6 Grand Touring model

Mazda 6 Grand Touring offers smooth shifting and more
By Marv Berg
Insights
Published June 10, 2009

If I had a choice, I would generally prefer to drive vehicles with automatic transmissions, except for manual gearboxes in high performance sports cars which give you the true sense of what exciting driving is all about. But, if I do receive a stick shift, having a gearbox as good as in this week’s Mazda’s 6 Grand Touring model, I can be very content.

This 6-speed manual transmission is a gem and shifts as smoothly and as positively as anything I have ever driven and it’s linked to an equally smooth and responsive 2.5 liter, 170 horsepower dohc inline 4-cylinder.

It’s also a very attractive 4-door sedan with an interior that makes you feel very much at home. The dashboard with its black plastic covering, logically placed and easy to read gauges and controls make the Mazda 6 a very appealing package with added passenger space. Mazda no longer offers the wagon and hatchback body styles, but the sloping,racey look got a lot of favorable comments.

The dashboard of Mazda’s 6 Grand Touring

We had the Grand Touring model, which is the top of the line and starts at $24,910. Another $2,900 was added for the navigation system and $1760 for the moon roof and Bose package. Lesser models include a base SV, Sport and Touring with the base starting as low as $18,550. Standard equipment covers most of your important features, adding more convenience and cosmetic stuff as you go up. The seats in our Grand Touring were trimmed in leather and were very comfortable with the second row giving adequate headroom and legroom with wide opening doors. The trunk is wide mouthed and easily handled two large garbage cans.

There’s a larger engine available; a 3.7 liter, 272 horsepower dohc V6 but our smaller 4-banger was perfectly adequate for most of your driving needs. The car handled very well, with responsive steering and brakes that deliver strong,steady stopping power.

The new styling, along with gas mileage of  20/29 makes the Mazda 6 an attractive selection.  

On the Web:

• Mazda USA's Web site for the Mazda 6