Accord vs Mazda6

[lokets]

I am contemplating getting an automatic Accord Euro or Mazda6. Has anyone here considered these two cars & compared them before - and perhaps decided on Accord Euro. If so, what are your compelling reason(s)? And are you happy with it?

I've read through a number of reviews (wheels magazine, drive, ABC, etc.) and could not decide definitely one car or the other. Mazda6 appears better value, has communicative steering, has wagon/hatchback style, better handling/dynamics (perhaps). But Euro has better quality, fit & finish, comfortable, quieter somewhat, more power, beautiful drive chain, and a more premium look/feel/aura.

Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

[blueoval]

It comes down to your personal preference, and I have also read all the reviews of the 2, they have their pros going about them.

I havent bought either yet, but i plan to get a euro based on my personal preferences of power, refinement and quality as I want the car to be a long term choice. The mazda will always appeal to those out there, but to me they dont look as classy as the euro.

I have driven both and cant really tell the subtle differences on the road, but I did notice the euro had the extra go which appealed to me.

You need to ask yourself, what you are you expecting out of the car and choose from there.

[Miss_GTI]

Wow I would have thought this was a question that would have been raised ages ago... :eek:

I actually test drove the Mazda6 when it came out coz I really liked it, but my mum didn't! So then we went to look at the Euro and test drove that, and my mum was won over. Altho, we test drove manual ones so the gear change and clutch feel was important for us.

IMO now, the mazda6 has no appeal, unless u are looking at the MPS, but even then, i'd tell u to get the mazda3 MPS! I say go the Euro having experienced driving both! The mazda6 was great when it made its debut, but i dont think it has much going for it anymore.

[Kiwi]

I think you answered your own question... and its depends on whats important to you. To me the Euro won because it was more powerful and has that special something ... Mazda is a nice car, but looks a bit more 'boy racer' with the clear tail lights and interior design.

Both nice cars... but Euro for me anyday.. plus it had a 5 year Warranty.

[aaronng]

Simple. Both use premium fuel. Both are mdium sized sedans with similar handling. You just need to choose based on these criteria:

Do you need a wagon/hatch?
Do you want more power?
Do you want better boot loading space (Mazda6)?
Do you want a Mazda/Honda?
Which model of the 6/Euro meets your budget?

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3910

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6278

[chunkyspew]

I might get flamed for this but what about the Subaru Liberty?
Has anyone chosen this over the Euro?

[aaronng]

I might get flamed for this but what about the Subaru Liberty?
Has anyone chosen this over the Euro?

Why would you get flamed?
Liberty 2.5L's a similar size (slightly smaller), worse fuel economy, less power to the wheels and expensive. Upside is that it comes in a wagon and the interior is pretty good.

[TypeG]

also Honda resale value is very good

[aaronng]

also Honda resale value is very good

Not as good as a Subaru and you still lose about 6000 in the first year.

[TypeG]

Not as good as a Subaru and you still lose about 6000 in the first year.

Every brand new car does lot fair a lot in the first few years but after that, Honda hold the value quite well.

[vti_ek9]

go the liberty tt...:):):) b different!!

[blueoval]

The subaru's are very good in their own right. They have the AWD system on all their latest models and drive and handle very well.

The main issue as has already been stated is a large loss in power to wheels, which means it is a big sluggish off the lights, moving that extra weight of the AWD will chew thru some fuel, and also the added initial cost of the purchase outright, but they do seem to hold their value very well. Fit and finish is very good, reliability is excellent.

[040501912]

LIBERTY!!!!... friend of mind did a test drive few years back, coz we were looking for first car. DAMN those liberty just hold on to the road, as if there is a sticky tape on the tyre.. but eventually he got him self a EURO .. ahahhaha..

still HONDA the power of dreams ... FTW !!!

[aaronng]

When cornering without applying throttle, the Euro can corner at a higher speed than the Liberty. But when cornering and accelerating at the same time, the Euro loses traction before the Liberty.

[aday]

I considered and drove all three (Euro, Mazda6 Classic, Liberty 2.5i) in early 2005 before settling on a Euro. My thoughts:

Mazda: Felt reasonably nippy, and had very communicative steering (this was the best part of the car IMO). Unfortunately, the interior felt quite cheap in places (low-rent trim, hard plastics, some resonation in the cabin), I think the exterior has dated since it was launched, and I didn't perceive the value to be wonderful.

Subaru: The weight, and the build-quality, really stood out. Despite the grip, the car felt quite big and less chuckable than the Mazda, but that didn't detract from the enjoyment. The engine felt a bit breathless and laboured when pushed, and I wasn't mad keen on the dashboard layout.

Honda: The Euro felt quite solid like the Liberty, but somehow had more character. The ergonomics were spot on, the engine was far more eager (and better-sounding) than either of the others, it had the nicest gearbox, was by far the best equipped, and came across as the best value-for-money compromise. And I'm a Honda person, so that made the decision a little easier.

If you're in the market for something in the $40k-50k range, you might also want to consider the Liberty 3.0 R spec B and VW Jetta TFSI.

[tron07]

I was looking at Mazda 6, Liberty and Euro before deciding on Euro. Not looking for hatch or wagonds.

Mazda 6, the MPS looks nice but beyond budget. Normal one looks dated, its been around for sometime, Mazda should facelift the lights to make it more like mazda3. Euro still looks ok. Liberty cost more and i really like the GT version which also beyong budget.

So boils down to Euro, with the std and lux spec, which is the same to me in term of engine and performace.... looks also the nicest (to me) so euro it is...

[tony1234]

I might get flamed for this but what about the Subaru Liberty?
Has anyone chosen this over the Euro?
I had 2 Libertys(00 and 02)both man.Great cars in their time.There was no Euro at the time i bought them but as aaron said average fuel economy, no VVT,5sp instead of 6 sp.drivetrain not as refined,gearshift notchy in ALL Subarus,auto 4 sp.(FFS)!!!Eoro 5 sp.AWD is good esp.in wet but it is overrated.FWD cars with good tyres have bridged the gap bet.FWD and AWD considerably.All the Euro needs is LSD.:)

[CIGXM]

I test drove the Mazda6. If I was going a manual, I think the choice would have been a little harder. My wife finds manuals hard going with knee troubles, so auto was the way to go. And the Mazda6 auto just wasn't inspiring at all.

Otherwise for me the choice I had to make was whether I wanted HID headlights (Euro Lux), or driver seat memory (Mazda6 Lux). That was a hard choice to make because I am about 30cm taller than my wife. If only the Euro had the TSX's driver seat memory function. That's the only thing the Euro lacks in my opinion.

[EuroDude]

Test drive both of them, then come back and tell us ur opinion ;)

imo the mazda 6 looks a bit long in the tooth now, it just looks like another riced up japanese car now (mainly due to the clear taillights).

The Sube Libby is a better alternative to the Mazda6 in my view

[MiSloVic]

my take on the 3:
Mazda 6: nice cabin, good rear legroom, feels much more powerful than the 120+bhp suggests.. however, i think which i don't like, is the engine vibrations, which can be felt through the steering... i supposed, it is the price to pay for the communicative steering..

subaru liberty: nice grippy handling, nice ride, but stock sound system not as good as the honda, very cramped rear legroom.. smaller than a 7th gen civic actually. you can seat 2 6-footers behind each other comfortable. and, spending more time in the liberty, it is not difficult to spot where the corners are cut.. the cabin, dash, console is made up of a mix of plastics.. while the parts frequently touched by the driver has that luxury feel, the less touched parts are a mix of smooth, rough, hard, and even some rather filmsy plastics.

accord euro: quality throughout.. of the stock sound systems, the ones from the euro has got to be the best. the plastics and texture are quite consistant, nice dash.. but.. the low end torque is not as good as the 6/liberty..

[BiLL|z0r]

We drive the Maz 6 when looking at a new car and hated it. It was noisy, gutless, cheap interior and found the handling worse than the Euro.
When we got in the Euro we instantly knew it was the car to buy. The power and auto gearbox was light years ahead of the Mazda.
We considered the 2.5L Liberty as well but it didn't have split fold rear seats so we didn't even bother driving it.

[aaronng]

Drove the Mazda6, the engine was lacking throughout. Drove it at normal 1500-3000rpm, and it was normal, floored it up to redline, it was also ho-hum..... An engine that feels like the old torqueless Honda engines.

That was the main reason why I bought the Euro instead.

[euro77]

test drove the mazda6 & euro back in 2003, handling wise I found both are similar. Mazda6 does have a better feedback on the steering wheel, but not by much. Interior wise, i prefer euro. exterior wise, I prefer euro as well, especially not with the altezza light that the mazda6 had (back then it was altezza, now it's black, looks better). Performance wise, euro wins. In the end, I choose euro because there are more pluses to me than the mazda6.

[blueoval]

test drove the mazda6 & euro back in 2003, handling wise I found both are similar. Mazda6 does have a better feedback on the steering wheel, but not by much. Interior wise, i prefer euro. exterior wise, I prefer euro as well, especially not with the altezza light that the mazda6 had (back then it was altezza, now it's black, looks better). Performance wise, euro wins. In the end, I choose euro because there are more pluses to me than the mazda6.

my sentiments exactly

[040501912]

1 thing that lack on AU HONDA they don't even bring the EURO R ...
we missed out K20A, LSD, RECAROS, and all other goodies that are much better then here -_-" ... Therefore Asian market are much better ROFL.

Sometimes wonder .. why AU HONDA doesnt even bring all the Type R back here Australia, i reckon it would SPIKE the selling.

though Comparing Mazda6 and Euro .. I would bet .. every body here love the mean looking of the EURO. Sexy tail, Aggressive Front, Very sporty body. and never the less is powered by HONDA I-Vtec .. Who can resist that...

PS: we are on Ozhonda forum LOL

[Pumped]

When looking for my new car initially it was between the Liberty, Mazda 6, Euro & Maxima.

Maxima got scrapped for shocking resale! The Liberty felt like it needed more power but i wasnt willing to spend the extra in order to jump to the 3.0rb or GT, Mazda 6 interior trim wasnt near as nice as the Honda IMO and it lacked the build quality and extra power of the honda.

Ended up with the euro, very happy with it although id LOVE more torque! :(

[tony1234]

When looking for my new car initially it was between the Liberty, Mazda 6, Euro & Maxima.

Maxima got scrapped for shocking resale! The Liberty felt like it needed more power but i wasnt willing to spend the extra in order to jump to the 3.0rb or GT, Mazda 6 interior trim wasnt near as nice as the Honda IMO and it lacked the build quality and extra power of the honda.

Ended up with the euro, very happy with it although id LOVE more torque! :(
Agreed.My thoughts exactly.:honda:

[Kiwi]

I was also looking at the VW Jetta TFSI... great car, just $5k too expensive for me :(. But am still over the moon with the Euro :)

[blueoval]

All in all, it would be hard for Mazda fans to dispute the features of the Honda in comparison. But in the end its a personal choice, and in a forum like this, the consensus would be typically one sided.

All the best with your choice.

[Tobster]

Like most of the car comparison reviews say, none of the Liberty, Euro or Mazda6 are bad cars -- it comes down to a personal preference.

When I was shopping, my thoughts were these (plus, bear in mind, I'm a manual driver):

I was coming from a manual 3 litre TF Magna -- and was a little concerned about feeling a loss of power/torque.

I wanted leather. The Liberty didn't come in a manual with leather (unless you went to the GT which was out of my price range). Plus, my wife didn't like the look of the Liberty, and I was little disappointed when I sat in one at a motor show considering how much the reviews hype Subarus as being well built: it felt a little cheap, dark and nasty to me.

We drove an updated Mazda6 with the 6 speed manual. Great gearbox. Really precise steering. More oomph than I anticipated. However, it bugged me that the 2.3 litre used premium and still only delivered 122 kW. The fit and finish wasn't as nice as the Accord Euro. Reviews I read also said the Mazda6 was the slowest and thirstiest of the three. Since I was looking at the sports luxury, reviews also said the hatches are a bit boomy.

The Euro won on power-economy compromise, build quality and the features that I wanted/liked; it just felt like a nicer car to me.

I have no regrets about my purchase.

[aaronng]

1 thing that lack on AU HONDA they don't even bring the EURO R ...
we missed out K20A, LSD, RECAROS, and all other goodies that are much better then here -_-" ... Therefore Asian market are much better ROFL.

Sometimes wonder .. why AU HONDA doesnt even bring all the Type R back here Australia, i reckon it would SPIKE the selling.

though Comparing Mazda6 and Euro .. I would bet .. every body here love the mean looking of the EURO. Sexy tail, Aggressive Front, Very sporty body. and never the less is powered by HONDA I-Vtec .. Who can resist that...

PS: we are on Ozhonda forum LOL

Not enough people were buying DC5R, NSX and S2000s. That's why Honda Au removed the sporty line and is concentrating on passenger and semi-luxury cars. Even if they brought the EuroR here, the only people who would buy it would be us. And even then, we make up less than 500 owners, less than what is required to justify the business model. Normal people would go for the Euro Lux instead.

[IAMVTEC]

The Mazda is overrated in Australia. I think all Mazdas look terrible. Accord>Camry>6. OK?

[Type R Positive]

My choice was easy. I wanted an integra DC5 type R and the missus said no.
The Euro was the closest thing to the type R so that got put in the 'yes' pile.
My missus said no F'ing way to the mazda 6 (too many models make them seem cheap like commodores). I couldn't afford the $50k at the time for a liberty GT turbo, and the missus hates subaru for some reason, so the Honda got a big tick.

We went and test drove the Euro and we knew from then that we didn't have to look any further for a car.

[Silver-Arrowz]

I never liked the steering feedback of the 6. It was so too light for my liking.

[80057]

my bro has a mazda6 and i do like them, but i choose the euro. biggest things for me are:

1. i didnt like the orange interior display.
2. more power in euro, im thinking 2 kids and a boot full, the euro is better
3. fit and finish, door panels and leather in the euro i like so much more then the 6

[energizer]

G'day :)

After just going through the Euro/Mazda 6 Classic/Subaru 2.5 choice & driving all three, here are my thoughts;

PS (First post here, so I guess you know which one I ended up going with)

Subaru - was ruled out very early in the selection process - too gutless, thirsty & the stereo was just crap.

Which bought it back to the Mazda 6 vs Euro for us,

to be honest, I would of been happy with the 6 as a second choice if the trade in price was ridiculously lower than the Euro, but the negatives of the 6 versus the Euro were enough to sway me to pay a little more for the Euro, the Mazda just seemed way too cheap (try winding the windows down & shutting the door in both, the Euro sounds solid, the Mazda feels like it will fall apart) when compared with the Euro, the quality, fit & finish of the 6 just doesn't cut it in my opinion.
the Euro is just a better built car,
Its quieter, yet still sounds good when worked hard, uses less fuel than the Mazda & resale will hopefully beat the 6 hands down considering where the 6 is built (noticed how cheap the mazda 6 is becoming new? this may hurt resale in years to come). dual zone climate control & 5 yr warranty were also big sellers for us too.

Soo, we went for the Euro, and after 6500 Kms in the first month (Holidays) we are more than happy with our decision. :)

PS, there is one thing you may like to check out in the comparison which hasn't been mentioned yet & in my opinion is the only negative for the Euro, if repair costs are a factor compare this on the NRMA site. the mazda 6 is the cheapest, the Euro is the most expensive to repair, which will probably effect insurance costs.

[EuroAccord13]

For those who have driven the Mazda 6 before, don't you find the gearstick on the manual abit sloppy? The car is is a great drive but the tranny stick lets it down...

[pepper]

no I think the gearshift is fine in the mazda6

If and its a big if the quality of any mazda car is dropping I would blame
the Ford influence:thumbdwn:

[aaronng]

no I think the gearshift is fine in the mazda6

If and its a big if the quality of any mazda car is dropping I would blame
the Ford influence:thumbdwn:
That's because he owns an Euro. Once you own a manual Euro, the only car with a gearshift better than that is the S2000's.

[Tobster]

That's because he owns an Euro. Once you own a manual Euro, the only car with a gearshift better than that is the S2000's.

I disagree. Not that I spent a great deal of time in one, but from memory, I thought the Mazda6's gearshift was better than the Euro -- a really tight little short shifting racing unit, not unlike the MX-5. (Bear in mind I drove the updated 6 speeder, not the older 5 speed.)

I haven't driven an S2000 (but that's not for want of desire...)

But, I'd have to drive a Mazda6 again to remind myself, now that I'm used to my Euro...

[tony1234]

I disagree. Not that I spent a great deal of time in one, but from memory, I thought the Mazda6's gearshift was better than the Euro -- a really tight little short shifting racing unit, not unlike the MX-5. (Bear in mind I drove the updated 6 speeder, not the older 5 speed.)

I haven't driven an S2000 (but that's not for want of desire...)

But, I'd have to drive a Mazda6 again to remind myself, now that I'm used to my Euro...
The 6s gearshift is good,but the Euros is better.Approx.10mths ago i drove both back to back and that was 1 of the things that made me favour the Euro and the fact that IMO the Euro looks "classier".Just my opinion.:)

[aaronng]

I disagree. Not that I spent a great deal of time in one, but from memory, I thought the Mazda6's gearshift was better than the Euro -- a really tight little short shifting racing unit, not unlike the MX-5. (Bear in mind I drove the updated 6 speeder, not the older 5 speed.)

I haven't driven an S2000 (but that's not for want of desire...)

But, I'd have to drive a Mazda6 again to remind myself, now that I'm used to my Euro...

I've driven the Mazda6 5-speed and the NB 6spd MX-5. Not the 6spd Mazda6 though, so it could be that the new 6speed shifter is better than the Euro's. But with the NB MX-5, the Euro's shifter is still better with similar throw length. When you add a short shifter to the MX-5, it becomes very short but the shift quality is too notchy and it drops down low on my ranking.

Find someone with an S2000 to try it out. It's short, and tight. A little notchy but not as notchy as the other cars with a short shifter kit.

[[SDCTVE]]

the euro does look alot classier then the mazda6... honda's just more classier in general

[blueoval]

;1073974']the euro does look alot classier then the mazda6... honda's just more classier in general

agreed :thumbsup: