Originally posted by svtcarboy:
The people unwilling to throw an intake on the car also aren't likely to be concerned about the power difference.



Wow...just, wow.

Guess those Mercedes Benz people don't care that their cars come with all the 18-way power seats, lighted cupholders and the finest of Nappa leather when they can just as easily buy a Ford Focus and throw in power seats, lighted cupholders and Nappa leather. Hell, they'll probably save money too!

Suppose the following conversation commenced at the Nissan dealer, between a sales associate and a customer interested in the Altima 3.5SL/SE here in Savannah, GA:

SA: The interiors of the Altima were completely redesigned for 2005 with upgraded materials and more logically placed controls.

Customer: That's pretty nice.

SA: This car also produces 250 horsepower in V6 guise. That's ten more than the Honda Accord. The Accord also doesn't even offer a manual in their sedan. Further, this car has thirty-one over the best engine you can get in the Mazda 6. That will enable you to squirt in and out of traffic with entertainment if you go with the 5-speed manual, but your fuel economy won't suffer if you're gentle with it. You can also get this car for the same relative price after (insert incentive).

Customer: Sounds like a good deal! I'll take it.

Meanwhile, over at the Mazda dealer...

SA: This is our mainstream sedan here, the Mazda 6. It competes with the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord, among other competitors. This car is also offered in five-door hatchback and station wagon bodystyles if you are not interested in the sedan.

Customer: I'll look at the sedan.

SA: Alright, this car has a pretty well laid out interior with some pretty sporty gauges. It's creased pretty sharp on the outside too.

Customer: Pretty nice looking! (See? I complimented it.)

SA: It comes with a 219 horsepower V6. You can get this with a six-speed automatic or a five-speed manual. The manual is good for little squirts of entertainment. This car is very nimble, however and handles very well due to it's smaller size. Those cars over at Nissan and Honda are bigger and don't fit through the little holes in traffic as well.

Customer: So the Mazda here offers some sharp looks and really great handling and a nice interior. But in return, I get a smaller, slower car for a little less money after (insert incentive)? Where am I going to be able to use the handling advantage around here on public roads?


No, I'm not biased. I've driven all three cars, and my moral here is that I basically don't see any substantial evidence in the Mazda 6 that elevates it to some spectacular level over the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord. Hell, Nissan has retooled the Altima for 2005 and added the vaunted SE-R, a 350Z with four doors and front drive so to speak. In the meantime, it'll blow the doors right off a Mazda 6, intake or not. And over at Honda, they've since introduced a car that's quicker than the 6, even in it's best performance iteriation, and thanks to the IMA, gets 37 mpg while not even polluting the air it leaves behind for the 6 to sniff on.

So, since our previous poster at the time I viewed this wasn't going to go into detailed explanation, I s'pose I did so for him.

Learn to live with it.

-SAV

Troll. 1997 VW Jetta MkIII GLS 5spd All hail my appearance on CEG!