Of the many trims of the Mazda 6, the MazdaSpeed shares only two: Sport and Grand Touring. Common to both are all hardware, six airbags, traction and stability control, 6-disc Bose stereo, and HID headlights. The Sport goes for $28,555 while the extra $1,930 of the Grand Touring ($30,485) pays for leather, front seat heaters, heated mirrors, power driver's seat, and Advanced Keyless Entry. The only options on either are the nav system ($2,000), Sirius radio ($430), and auto-dimming mirror with compass ($175), plus the Grand Touring option of the $700 moonroof.
That would have it starting right under the nose of Subaru's $29,420 Legacy 2.5 GT Limited (which has leather standard). Down in the Evo-vs-WRX field, there's a little separation going on due to the diverging personalities (the Evo is much rawer), but in this arena, both Subaru and Mazda were shooting for the same target. Pros for the Mazda include a bit more power (274 vs. 250) and interior room and a firmer suspension. The Legacy fights back with 224 fewer pounds to carry (3,365 vs. 3,589), faster tested acceleration, more bottom-end torque, a supposedly better clutch pedal, and a more flexible all-wheel-drive system. The Legacy stands out by offering an automatic transmission, but otherwise everything's too close to call on paper.
On another note, the MazdaSpeed 6 is easily a more-than-fair deal if we use the smaller cars as a base standard. Leaping up a segment in size usually costs several thousand in the real world, yet the $28,555 MazdaSpeed 6 ran several thousand in the other direction from the $32,024 Evo!
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