Alright so first off, let me say this car is big... way bigger than the older car. Its bigger than the new camry, and altima, just a little bit smaller than the new accord.....

The trunk room is HUGE!!! 16.5 cubic feet of space... good for travel...

There now is room for people to sit in the rear with people that are tall in the front seat. I was driving (6'3) and someone who's 5'10 was behind me, and he probably weighs 250 was behind me then we switched and either time there was plenty of leg room, and i was extremly confortable.

Fit and finish is good. NO bid gaps, the body fits together well, overall very well done.

Mazda also addressed a lot of the road noise that the old car had. Maybe the new one isn't quite as quiet as the cx-9 but a major improvement over the old car.

Power....
Lets just say this thing has plenty of power in v6 form. We didn't have a 4cly to drive, but this V6 with 272hp and 269 ft tq gets up and moves. Great power and its quiet to.
They also used the same Aisan Transmission from the Cx-9 so its very smooth in its power.

The car drives very well, espically with what mazda is shooting for with this car. I think the steering feels very good at low speeds, but there is to much assist as you start to go faster, and the stearing feels a little bit light. The car handles very well, which is nothing new for a Mazda, but just a little bit to light in the stearing dept.

This car will turn circles around the old one. Mazda addressed something that really needed to be fixed and got it right as this car Turns very well, almost 5 feet better than the old car.

In person the front end... well... .i doono i just really dont know about it. Silver doesn't do this car justice I dont think. I'll have to wait to see it once I get to see the other colors to really know how i feel about it. I like the back, and the interior styling and finish is what i would expect now of mazda..(since the realase of the cx-9) so its a ton better than the old car.

Anyways, here are some pics I took today, not a lot but hey, something...


















overall its a lot better car than the old, and should do very well. Now if i could get a manual in the v6, and awd, or just the speed version....

hmmm.. Im still not to happy of the the major changes they did to the car,, but I do have to admit,, it is slowly starting to grow on me more and more each time i see it..

Neat to see pics of the car that aren't just dolled up magazine shots! Is that a production car? How far away from being on lots are they? How many miles were on that example? CA tags, huh...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Memphis @ Jul 24 2008, 10:21 PM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=58180]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

hmmm.. Im still not to happy of the the major changes they did to the car,, but I do have to admit,, it is slowly starting to grow on me more and more each time i see it..[/b]

The front and sides of the car look a little bland to me now, but other than that its growing on me too. I bet the new v6 feels nice, along with being able to make a U turn with ease. But hey Memphis with the new design people are gonna be more confused than ever about what we drive

Thanks, Josh! Glad they fixed the turning radius, but I still don't like the styling as much as the old one. Still, that CX-9 tranny is NICE. My wife's 9 shifts VERY smoothly and VERY quickly in manual mode.

that car is a production model. Mazda has about 20 of them out on the road being quality tested right now making sure things are right. I think nation release date is toward the end of august like the 19th. That one had about 3300 miles on it. They have loged about a million miles on there other cars all together.

The front end I'm still not sure about. I really like the rest of the car. I would like to see what starts to come out in the aftermarket. Maybe body kits will improve the front look.

that is a big f*n car!!!! and no chrome garnish on the hood....yea!

compared to the other gigantic cars cars out there Accord, Camry, Altima, this looks the best...

Can you get any pics of it next to an old 6 so we can see the dif.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (6i_guy @ Jul 25 2008, 10:10 AM) [url=index.php?act=findpost&pid=58235]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/url]</div>

that is a big f*n car!!!! and no chrome garnish on the hood....yea!

compared to the other gigantic cars cars out there Accord, Camry, Altima, this looks the best...[/b]

No chrome is a ++++!!!!!!

Chris,
I wont be able to do that until it hits ground.. that car was only here for the day... sorry, I didn't think about it.