[theoreticaljerk]

The '18's have cylinder deactivation? I don't remember reading this, anywhere before. I can honestly say that if they do and I'd have known, I wouldn't have bought the car.

Only the NA version has cyl deactivation. The Turbo does not.

 

[ocramida]

That's great to hear. Thanks so much for the reply. I will definitely be interested to know if the resonance comes back for your in the winter. I kept my Falkens to switch back and was just weighing the decision of the Advans. The Falkens were really good in my opinion. I really have nothing bad to say about them - again, I'm a lazy driver and rarely put the car to any kind of limits, so the Falkens are good for me. But those Advans sure did sound nice when I researched them.

I also like the sidewall design on the Falkens. They used a very big "cup" that makes the sidewall look more like a 40 series as opposed to a 45 series, and in my opinion, actually makes the wheels look slightly bigger at a distance - probably just me though.

No rush on the pics. I appreciate the help. Additionally, if you want the door pockets disconnected, just let me know. I can probably knock it inside of an hour for you. Not sure how close you are to the Westford, MA area, but I'm around there.

Hi Chazzy, to be clear, the resonance is actually with the Yokos which I will put back on in the spring. The Falkens I am currently running are the Eurowinters on 2016 iGT wheels. So far I've been liking the Falken winters. They are good cold weather tires. Good grip, quiet and comfortable. However, as you know, MA hasn't seen much snow. SO I don't know how they will be in the white stuff.

Thanks for the offer. I'm fine leaving the LED alone. I'll get used to it. Rather put up with it than risk pulling the panel off for a minor reason. Car is so tight, that I'd hate to compromise it.

 

[ocramida]

Steering wheel thickness is quite subjective but I would probably be happier with a slightly thicker wheel. I'd also imagine that with ten different people you'd get ten different responses, preferences.

Yeah, agreed, and Mazda actually goes through a lot of human-factors testing to get those points optimized. I have huge hands, so I'm no doubt an outlier.

 

[maigre]

Yeah, I don't necessarily see it as bad corner-cutting. The lighter sheet metal is related to weight management. As it is the car put on quite a few pounds with the added NVH countermeasures (e.g. sound insulation thicker sheet metal in specific spots like the floorpan and suspension towers), so I can understand why some body panels and handles feel a bit thin. Some of it is also due to the 3rd gen architecture, which uses steel and not aluminum. I'm guessing Mazda may improve these area on the 4th gen. FWIW I have colleagues who are complaining that their newer German cars don't feel as "solid" as older samples. I personally found the newer Audis I drove to have cheaper feeling door handles (lighter) and not as satisfying a "thunk" when closing the doors. Funny I found my 2013 VW Golf R more solid than any Audi or current BMW 3 or 4 series. Even the latest VW Golf R feels more solid. Go figure. Also got to consider Mazda doesn't want the car to be overweight for handling and "feel" sake.

I drove different cars and obsessed for a long time. Nothing ever hit me as being something I HAD to buy, though the A4 came close. I'd have bought a CPO loaner but didn't want to pay the $8500 more than it would have cost me for the 6, not to speak of the added insurance costs. No regrets there. But while the A4 Premium Plus has less features than my GTR does, I felt like they did better overall with what they do provide. Of course that should be the case since the car's MSRP is $15K higher. I'm not a big shopper/consumer. But when I'm buying things, I lean toward getting 3 really nice items than 10 lesser ones for the same overall price. In that sense, I'd trade some of the 6 GTR's big feature set for better execution of what's left. But there are pros and cons both ways.

Same here. I drove a lot of cars- some like the Stinger and Alfa Guilia several times, and even those cars had their share of negatives. Although the Kia looks sexy, I found it's construction quality to be lackluster for a 52K car. Interior rattles and some less than impressive plastic parts put me off. Leather quality was also a bit questionable. It's also a first gen product so no doubt it will improve. Still 52K (4 cylinder was 40K) was a bit steep in my opinion. Also found the 6 drove "better" than the Stinger as a daily. The 6 does have a weaknesses, but it's overall execution and engineering for the PRICE more than compensates for those few foibles. IMO.

Tradeoffs. Ultimately, the 6 was the car I kept coming back to where others lost me for this reason and that. Except for the A4. But as mentioned above, I'd rather have the $8500 and the 6 than the A4.

How did you get VLC working with AA? I downloaded it and AA did not load it as a music player option? Yeah although I think Google Maps map display is pretty classy and clean. It doesn't hold a candle to Waze capability. I just wish I could figure out how I lost the option of a McClaren car icon. :-( I selected it a few weeks back and all of a sudden it defaulted back to that ugly triangle. Went back into preferences to select the McClaren icon and it was gone!

Videolan pulled the plug on AA in VLC at one point. You have to go to their website and download a nightly build to get a more recent version that supports AA. That said, I'd been running Oreo on my phone until yesterday when I finally upgraded to Pie. I wiped my phone and started over again when I did this. Now, VLC no longer works in AA. I'm not sure why. So I downloaded Musicolet, which works. But I've barely used it, so I don't know how well, yet. I've been using Spotify in the car, mostly, which has been great. And a podcast app.

Yeah HUD is nice. Also wish it would enable Waze directions though. And yes, it is the entire PACKAGE, the sum of the 6's parts that makes it a winner for me. Mazda has done a great job engineering the car with compromises that aren't devastating. In some instance annoying, but not to the point of hating. I actually look forward to driving it.

Then again I'm still in the honeymoon phase. So only time will tell if my impressions stick. I think they will though.

Exactly on all counts. I'm hopeful I'll stay mostly pleased, too. One of the reasons I was willing to buy this car was that so many people seem to have had good long term experiences with Mazda cars.