Archive for the ‘MAZDA6’ Category

A couple of months ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted fender-bender tests on a handful of minicars and subcompacts. The results weren't encouraging, with most scoring poorly, and only a few landing in the "acceptable" range. Now, the IIHS has conducted a second battery of tests -- this time on midsize sedans -- and unfortunately, the majority of those underperformed expectations, too.

Models tested included the 2009 Honda Accord, the 2009 Hyundai Sonata, the 2009 Mazda 6, and 2009 Nissan Maxima. According to the IIHS, each of those models showed improvement over its 2007 version, but none earned a rating of "good",...

A couple of months ago, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted fender-bender tests on a handful of minicars and subcompacts. The results weren't encouraging, with most scoring poorly, and only a few landing in the "acceptable" range. Now, the IIHS has conducted a second battery of tests -- this time on midsize sedans -- and unfortunately, the majority of those underperformed expectations, too. Models tested included the 2009 Honda Accord, the 2009 Hyundai Sonata, the 2009 Mazda 6, and 2009 Nissan Maxima. According to the IIHS, each of those models showed improvement over its 2007 version, but none earned a rating of "good",... Read More

With the complete redesign of the 2009 Mazda6, Mazda blew up their mid-size sedan so that it was closer in size to the top-selling Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. We liked the car when we reviewed it last summer and wrote the original bottom line.

However, sometimes things change when you spend a full week behind the wheel.  Would they this time?

The Mazda we had was in the Detroit fleet was the base 6 with the high-mileage combination 2.5-liter four-cylinder matched to a six-speed manual. The all-aluminum engine puts out 170 horsepower, and it's happy to let you use every one of them. The gearbox uses triple-cone synchros in first and...

With the complete redesign of the 2009 Mazda6, Mazda blew up their mid-size sedan so that it was closer in size to the top-selling Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. We liked the car when we reviewed it last summer and wrote the original bottom line. However, sometimes things change when you spend a full week behind the wheel.  Would they this time? The Mazda we had was in the Detroit fleet was the base 6 with the high-mileage combination 2.5-liter four-cylinder matched to a six-speed manual. The all-aluminum engine puts out 170 horsepower, and it's happy to let you use every one of them. The gearbox uses triple-cone synchros in first and... Read More

Mazda's joining the stop-start club with a new system that uses a trick approach to give its application better fuel economy and usability. Mazda's Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) astounds engineers by throwing out the starter motor. In concert with Mazda's Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) technology, and some brainiac engine management and sensing technology, Mazda engineers seem to have rendereed Charles Kettering's solution to the hand-crank obsolete. When the driver of a SISS-equipped Mazda comes to a halt, the engine shuts itself down while arranging pistons strategically within their four cycles. When said driver asks for... Mazda's joining the stop-start club with a new system that uses a trick approach to give its application better fuel economy and usability. Mazda's Smart Idle Stop System (SISS) astounds engineers by throwing out the starter motor. In concert with Mazda's Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) technology, and some brainiac engine management and sensing technology, Mazda engineers seem to have rendereed Charles Kettering's solution to the hand-crank obsolete. When the driver of a SISS-equipped Mazda comes to a halt, the engine shuts itself down while arranging pistons strategically within their four cycles. When said driver asks for... Read More