First of all: I admit it, there are no pics! The weather was shit yesterday evening when I got to the dealer; all dark and cloudy like it was going to rain any minute. Decided to forget the camera and just enjoy the drive. After all, I knew I’d be coming back for another drive with my wife along for the trip; will be plenty of time for photos then.

So I went on down to the local Mazda dealer yesterday after work. It’s the only Mazda dealer in town, so after all the shit I’ve gotten shoved up my ass from GM in the last few years (with the notable exception of the last warranty repair I had done on my Trans Am), here I am crossing my fingers that this dealer isn’t going to hose me down too. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the sales staff, at least the ones I met. They were really friendly and helpful. I do have some reservations about the guy who is apparently assigned to me as “my” salesman, but more on that later.

There was basically nobody at the dealer when I got there, and there were a lot of Mazda6’s out there on the lot, so I asked to take one for a spin. One of the sales staff came along. At first, we got in a Steel Gray Metallic 5-door that was fully loaded, but the fuel tank was reading below “E”, so we decided to try another one. Finally I got behind the wheel of an absolutely beautiful Volcanic Red (think “Arrest Me” Red) 5-door V6 and fired ‘er up.

“Fire” may be a poor choice of words, as I could barely even tell that the car had turned over. It is so quiet! This particular vehicle had a gray leather interior (exclusive component of the outrageously overpriced “luxury package” which also includes heated seats and mirrors, which as you can imagine are incredibly useful items in south Florida). It had the fully automatic climate control (standard on the 5-door), sport package with the aggressive body kit, deck spoiler and bodycolored grille and mirrors (also standard on the 5-door), power moonroof, and the 200-watt Bose 7-speaker audio system with 6-disc CD changer. We’re talking loaded down. I’m not going to be able to afford most of these options, but all of the cars on the lot were similarly equipped, so I went with it.

The car feels like something produced in Europe. In fact, I felt so weird sitting behind that wheel, like the car was way too expensive and nice for me to possibly be looking at, and I should get out immediately because obviously I was in over my head. Yes, I was sitting on leather seats that I won’t be enjoying if I buy one of these cars, but everything else I could see around me was standard equipment. It’s baffling how much Mazda throws in on these cars. So, after adjusting the seat and mirrors, off we went.

The throttle-tip in is very, very different from anything I’m used to. You really have to get your foot in it before it moves at all, which is a very strange feeling for someone whose foot barely has to flirt with the gas pedal in his Trans Am before the engine opens up screaming like a banshee. Acceleration was smooth and very quiet, but had a laggy feel to it, almost like I would hit the gas and then maybe a second later would get a matching response from the throttle. The throttle in the 6 is completely electronic, something else I’m not used to, and I hear it’s actually adaptive in its programming, so as you plant boot more often, it learns to respond quicker. The other thing was that since I was nervous as hell and there was a sales rep in the passenger seat, I didn’t really want to get my foot into it. But the power is definitely there—once I got up to speed, it was readily available, and came to me easily when I requested it.

For sure, I’ve been in more powerful V6s—the prior generation Grand Prix GTP comes to mind; wow was that car a leadfoot’s dream—but the Mazda’s six is so incredibly smooth and refined, you feel like you’re driving a Lexus. (Not that I’d even know what that feels like, heh.) But it has a nice exhaust note to it when you get on the gas; it’s sophisticated-sounding, unlike the underpowered V6 they inexplicably stuff in the Chevy Tracker or similar vehicles. And it sure was pleasant to finally not have to hear the four-cylinder whine anymore, and not feel like the engine was killing itself just to get you up to speed before the guy behind you gets bored and goes into a flat-out passing maneuver.

But let me tell you what I loved the most about the Mazda6. The handling. In the corners, there is virtually no body roll, and there is such an overwhelming feeling of being glued to the road, it’s quite confidence-inspiring. The road noise is incredibly miniscule, and bumps—what bumps?—go by beneath you like you’re driving in a freshly-laid Wal-Mart parking lot. The variable speed-sensitive steering gets mega props here, as turning the wheel even at very slow speeds is effortless and requires next to no muscle.

When I went into the test drive, I felt like Steel Gray Metallic was gonna be my color. But I don’t know…as I was driving that Cherry Bomb Red car with a scant 2 miles on the clock, I thought to myself, wow…this feels really good. Seeing the bright red cowl looming up beyond the dash, the searing crimson spoiler swooping past the rear deck and the similarly-adorned sport mirrors…well, it has a way of empowering you. Something about red cars I guess; I’ve never owned one before, but I think we’re about to buy our first. Even my wife loved the red color, and that’s just from the pictures in the catalog. Volcanic Red is exclusive to the Mazda6 5-door; on that model, it replaces the more svelte Redfire Metallic that’s available on the sedan and wagon. Mazda is touting the 5-door as the 6’s sportiest model, and I’d have to agree with them. It has the sleekest lines and best stance of all three.

And about that expensive Euro feeling…it was in everything. The chrome door handles, the titanium-finished center stack and trim plates, the faux-carbon fiber panelling (where GM would have installed some bland plastic crap, no doubt)…there are just so many little touches everywhere, it’s hard not to notice. The car I drove is equipped with a 5-speed automatic transmission with triptronic “manumatic” functionality, which is fun if not entirely useful, but the nicest touch is the digital readout right between the tach and speedo that tells you what gear you’re in—even when the tranny is operating in full-auto (ATX) mode! Super cool! Other than that I did not like the automatic tranny too much, as it felt somewhat too relaxed and slushy, but then again, I never hammered the accelerator to see what it would really dish up. It is nice to be able to kick the shifter over to “M” and downshift manually when you want to get around some slowpoke—if the auto slushbox logic is too relaxed for your taste, you can give your own orders instead. Next best thing to owning a real manual.

I only got to spend about ten minutes driving the car, so I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. The good news is that on Saturday morning, my wife and I will be going back to the dealer to pick up a Mazda6—for an overnight test drive. Yes, I guess it’s not just GM that offers these—they’ll just make a copy of our licenses and insurance info, and let us keep the car overnight. (Frankly, I hope they let us take the red one home.) Yes, this dealer’s sales department is actually open seven days a week, and their service department has hours on Saturday as well. One thing I must remember to do tomorrow is check out the car with the cloth seats. They only had one, and it was a 6 i with the four-cylinder, so I don’t want to drive it. But I would like to try the cloth interior. I’ve heard some people speak very negatively of the cloth seats, particularly the quality of the fabric, but I have no choice in taking it so I might as well give it a try.

Happily, I think I found the exact car that we want. Assuming my wife doesn’t change her mind about the red color when she sees it in person (or decides she likes another color better), there’s a Mazda6 at a dealer in Tampa which is absolutely perfect. It’s Volcanic Red with a black cloth interior, has the automatic transmission, Bose audio package (with 6-disc changer), wheel locks and the autodim electronic rearview mirror with compass display. Everything I want (and can afford), nothing I don’t. I’ve already given the dealer the VIN and asked if they can negotiate with the other dealer to perform a swap. The salesman said he’d try. Granted, I think they don’t have to be terribly concerned about my needs if I can’t find a car on their lot, since I’m going in asking for lower than S-plan price and it’s actually going to wind up being a push sale for them at this point. But I want that damn car.

Speaking of the salesman, I’m not too keen on the guy yet. I haven’t met him in person, so I’ll remain open-minded, but he seems to give me the impression—whether correct or not—that I should not try to ask for too much. Plus he did not keep an appointment I set with him for my test drive last night. When I got there, he had already left for the day. By contrast, the salesman I chatted with all during my visit yesterday was very nice, pretty well informed, and very willing to tell me how much they appreciate my business even if I am an S-plan customer, and how it would be no problem to do anything I requested. (He even offered to give me a free set of wheel locks if none came on the car I ended up choosing.) This other guy I talked to on the phone has not made any such gestures, but like I said, I haven’t met him in person yet. Perhaps we’ll get a better feel tomorrow.

I’ve run the numbers over and over and they come out pretty good. I worked up a whole sheet last night and just today realized I forgot to factor in the destination charge, so that was a “d’oh” maneuver…but to offset that, I realized that the S-plan price of the car is going to end up being $500-$800 lower than I figured, so it’ll all come out even. I’m still trying to figure out where to get a loan from. A friend of mine from the office recommended a Capital One auto loan at 4.9%, but then today I see that Mazda is offering a 3.39% to 4% rate for people with good credit (and that’s a non-promotional rate). I guess I need to keep looking for other alternatives, such as from my local bank. God knows there are enough banks around here. The good news is that my credit rating should make getting a decent rate pretty easy.

Meanwhile, the insurance company continues to work on getting the Vibe totaled out and paid off, and my attempts to get a ballpark date on when that would be finished were met with what amounted to an “I don’t know” when I called today. But they’re currently “waiting for the vehicle’s value to come back,” as in come back from the people researching it I suppose, and then before they can call me and get it all settled, they need to get a fax from GMAC with some info. So I’m just waiting on that stuff right now. But I’m hoping the case will be closed by the end of next week—we’re hoping to be able to buy the Mazda next Saturday, presuming we like it. As that’ll be the last day of the month, I’m sure the sales staff will give us no trouble.

Fingers…tired. Signing off now and heading home. This work week—as much as it’s felt like a year—is finally done.

And tomorrow I’ll have those pictures, I promise.