Mazda 6 / Atenza vs Altezza

[snwtoy]

Just tossing around ideas at the moment for a new car to replace our charade.

Around the same money you can get a pre 2000 altezza , or a post 2000 mazda 6.

How do they stack up?

Fuel economy? Reliability? Power? etc?

[Lloyd]

Drive them and see, very different feel to each car which could quite easily throw you either way. The Mazda are actually quite a nice car, though that still have that kinda softness in the drivetrain like you expect from early FWD stuff. But maybe thats just me

[AE82 FXGT]

The Mazda 6's vary a lot depending on what year and spec level iMO

I've driven ones that I thought were mint and good fun to drive, qand I've driven some that were absolute dogs (I work at a Mazda dealer).

You can get some nice aftermarket bits and bobs aswell.

I personally still prefer Mazda 3's to them though.

Or just get anything MPS; the 4wd 6 is a bit different

[snwtoy]

The Mazda 6's vary a lot depending on what year and spec level iMO

I've driven ones that I thought were mint and good fun to drive, qand I've driven some that were absolute dogs (I work at a Mazda dealer).

You can get some nice aftermarket bits and bobs aswell.

I personally still prefer Mazda 3's to them though.

Or just get anything MPS; the 4wd 6 is a bit different

Not familiar with the spec levels? This one's at a good price:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 985716.htm

or this one says 'sport' but I don't know what difference that makes
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 720010.htm

[Dell'Orto]

My fiance has a 06ish Mazda 6 as a work car, and its a really nice car to drive. Heaps more low end torque than any Altezza I've been in, and quite comfortable too.

[Lith]

I've driven a Mazdaspeed 6, 2.3litre turbo thing - that had some awesome torque and was quite a nice car

[xsspeed]

Driven my flatmates mazda 6 company car.
Pretty sure its low end spec, and its farken rubbish. No torque, and little variation in brakes, very on/off, even a slight tap launches you into your seatbelt.

[Cahuna]

I bought a 2003 Mazda 6 manual wagon last year, so it is one of the first ones produced.

Things I like:
* Nice and comfortable to drive. Very relaxing on the motorways etc and the interior is a nice place to be after a long day at work.
* The ride is comfortable but not soft and wafty
* The handling is sure-footed and it goes around corners very nicely, albeit not quite as much fun as my old Sentra (then again this is heavier, has bigger tyres and a longer wheelbase).
* Versatile, goodly amounts of space for me and my missus, tows the rally car relatively happily.
* Nice gearbox/engine combination. The feel of all the controls is very, very nice (ie: clutch isn't soft and muchy, the accelerator has feel, the brakes aren't over-sensitive but are nice and strong)

Things I dislike:
* The steering is fairly heavy (which I like) but the feeling is just kinds strange when I'm turning the wheel. I can't be as precise with it as I was in the Sentra. Not a major and I don't think about it 99.9% of the time. It feels like it is just the pump acting in strange ways
* The motor lacks a little zing compared to what I was used to (again this will be from me stepping out of a sports model small car into a family wagon). You just need to give it a little more throttle than you'd expect and then it goes very nicely. It isn't overpowered but it isn't underpowered either.
* Stereo is factory-integrated which makes it harder to upgrade or integrate iPod etc into. Later models had stereos which were more expandable.

I would avoid the 2 litre models (base models) and go for the 2.3 litre which I have (all NZ wagons came with the 2.3). They also have the bigger alloy wheels, better spec etc... mine has a 6 stack CD, cruise control, climate control a/c etc.

The pre-facelift model 2.3 motors have a tendency for their timing to slip due to the bottom pulley not being keyed against the crankshaft - mum's partner (head Mazda mechanic at the Albany dealership) said he had only ever seen it happen on the Jap imports until it happened on my car. Also, the pre-facelift model has a smaller oil capacity and piston design that allows it to consume oil, no problem as long as you monitor its level. Then again, what do you expect from a motor with FoMoCo castings on it! Other than that one problem the car has been 100% reliable with no problems.

Fuel economy ranges between 7.0l/100km on long trips to around 9.0l/100km on motorway crawls (measured on the dash readout). I usually end up closer to 10l/100km in mine because a lot of my trips are from home to the bus station and the car never gets to warm up.

One thing to note with the imports is that they don't have the factory immobiliser that the NZ new cars do (the key really is just a key). On the NZ ones the immobiliser is synched with the chip in the key head - wrong key, no car start.

I love my Mazda and wouldn't go back to the old Sentra for love or money. I drove so many different small and medium sized cars when I was looking to replace the Sentra and I was trying to avoid getting a 6 because it was really beyond my budget but it was far and away (for me) the nicest car I tried.

[summin]

Ive got an SP23 company car, prefer it to any of the 6's Ive driven..

If you're getting a 6 stay clear or glx and gsx models, if you can afford the sport ltd thats the one I'd go for. A decent one will still run you close to $20k, but is well worth it

Keep in mind that if you're buying a car at the moment that the import market has fallen completely flat, so while its cheaper to buy an atenza at the moment, it'll depreciate a lot faster than NZ new 6.

I think the atenza version of what you're looking for is called a 23S, essentially the same thing...

Depending on what you're looking to spend Ive seen some cheap 6spd Altezza lately for $9-11k, 6's are still a bit more than that ,especially if you're going for a higher spec version.

[barryogen]

Disclaimer:I have an Altezza so I'm a bit biased.

Depends on the usage.
For me, married, no kids, no plans for kids, mrs has a practical car(albeit small), so I could go get a "sports oriented car" so I got an altezza.

If she was carless, and we needed something practical, I'd grab the 2.3L Mazda 6/Attenza as the ones I've driven have been superb.

The 2L one just seemed to be lacking any sort of excitement.
The SP20 and SP3 Mazda 3 are great in FWD, but the 4wd models seem boring, I guess it is the additional weight?
The Mazda 3 MPS is phenominal... big black lines are left on the pavement whenever I drive the work one.

[AE82 FXGT]

The 2L one just seemed to be lacking any sort of excitement.
The SP20 and SP3 Mazda 3 are great in FWD, but the 4wd models seem boring, I guess it is the additional weight?
The Mazda 3 MPS is phenominal... big black lines are left on the pavement whenever I drive the work one.

-Agreed, 2.0l ones are useless, get a 2.3.
-Mazda3 never came in 4wd, only Mazda6
-Yes the 3 MPS is an awesome drive, but some say the clutch is a bit heavy, I say harden up, I think I could live with one

And out of the trademe ads that have been posted the grey one is better.
That blue one has a gauge cluster that I've never come across though, looks very XR5

[snwtoy]

The 2L one just seemed to be lacking any sort of excitement.
The SP20 and SP3 Mazda 3 are great in FWD, but the 4wd models seem boring, I guess it is the additional weight?
The Mazda 3 MPS is phenominal... big black lines are left on the pavement whenever I drive the work one.

-Agreed, 2.0l ones are useless, get a 2.3.
-Mazda3 never came in 4wd, only Mazda6
-Yes the 3 MPS is an awesome drive, but some say the clutch is a bit heavy, I say harden up, I think I could live with one

And out of the trademe ads that have been posted the grey one is better.
That blue one has a gauge cluster that I've never come across though, looks very XR5

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. What makes the grey one better? simply the lower k's?

[AE82 FXGT]

Newer, lower km's, same price.

But at the end of the day, it's an import and it's hard to get a service history.

NZ new ones you know will be serviced regularly to around 3 years old, because it's free.

[fuel]

I just found a 2003 NZ-new Mazda 6 for my parents, granted it's only the base model GSX Hatch but it seemed well equiped for a bottom of the range car - factory alloys, 8 air bags, 6cd stacker (looks to be a mission if you want to upgrade the stereo), onboard trip computer etc.

I got it from a RMVD but not an actual dealership, was an ex-company car with 130k on the clock but had a full service history. Ended up getting it for $10,500 which I thought was a damn good deal considering what the competition had on offer. They wanted a Mitsubishi originally but it was clear very early on in the search that Mitsubishis were rubbish and had nothing good to offer.

The only issue that I'm aware of is the fuel tank is plastic, and there was a recall issued on them a little while ago as there was a fault with it. I don't think it was major though.

[nite b]

I would def go with barryogen's opinion on this one..

For the $$ mark you have outlined, I think that would prob get you alot of Altezza though compared to Atenza?

If you were looking at spending $16-17k for a fun balance, I know of a stock looking family Altezza with the whole running gear from a JZX100 stuffed up into it(400hp VVti 1JZGTE,5peed,LSD,axles,etc)