Since Mazda launched the
6 , its competitors have gone under the knife for some pretty major plastic surgery. If you follow the visual lineage of the
Accord , Altima and Camry, you might agree that it was only after the latest face-lift that any of them really pushed the styling envelope. For a long while, affordable Japanese sedans were about as exciting to look at as your unshoveled driveway after a snowstorm. You might agree that the fun and energetic styling of the Mazda 6 sort of paved the way for Japanese sedan coolness when it came out for 2003.
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| The 6 Sport is one of the worthiest contenders for your buck in the looks department. |
Stylin' "Man, I love those!" one friend told me after laying eyes on the black 6 Sport test car. I never ask this, but this time I did. "Why's that?""They just look awesome. Those wheels are great, they have dual exhaust, nice lines, it's just a great looking car."Fair enough.The tester came with fog lamps, 17" wheels, and a spoiler as standard- putting sporty looking accessories into the sort of machine where they're usually optional, if available at all. The chrome-ringed, multi-lens projector headlamps work towards an exciting look, and protruding black-masked tail-lamps suggest the sneaky mischievousness of a baby raccoon. Add in the hatchback's sculpted lines, and you'll find that the 6 Sport is one of the worthiest contenders for your buck in the looks department.
Top notch interior- but just a touch too small Inside, it's much the same story. In places where vinyl and plastic usually suffice, 6 offers a well-trimmed textural tour-de-farce. The leather steering wheel and chrome-accented leather shifter put a premium feel where your fintertips will spend most of their time, and the all-soft-touch dashboard completes Mazda's efforts to make sure that the 6 has the right materials in all of the right places. Three complaints inside, though. First, the entire selection of interior lighting is garish bright orange- numbering, indicators and all. It's an orange overload after dark, and you've got to be a real fan of the color to appreciate it. Second, the doors don't open quite as far as some will like, and I always found the aperture was just a touch too small. Taller rear seat passengers complained of inadequate headroom as well.
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| The all-soft-touch dashboard completes Mazda's efforts. |