Honda or Mazda? 2020 Accord & 2019 Mazda 6 | Quick Look With Everyman Driver

I'm just finishing up my time with this 2020 Honda Accord and this is the top trim level. I've got a full review and test drive in the description below, but for midsize sedans this thing really punches above its weight class. It provides a whole bunch of features on the inside, it really drives nice, it does everything really well. So I just wrapped up my week-long drive review of this 2019 Mazda6, Mazda's flagship midsize sedan. What a gorgeous vehicle. Here are some of my highlights and takeaways. By the way, you'll be able to see and watch my full drive and review by clicking the link in the description below this video. Let's get started. I think my biggest takeaways and highlights revolve around what's under the hood. First of all, two engine options. There's a 2.5 liter turbo and a non-turbo, both made into a six-speed automatic transmission four-cylinder. This one, which is the turbo, which is nice, gets 250 horsepower with 93 octane fuel. Otherwise, it's 227 in terms of horsepower. If you're going for the non-turbo, you're looking at 287 horsepower. So what's missing and one of my takeaways is the fact that they got rid of the six-speed manual transmission this year. Kind of a bummer, right? I think so. I mean, because if you think driving matters, you want to have that zoom-zoom experience, you want to have a manual transmission. And Mazda said, nope, we're done with it. We're going to stick with the automatic. So six-speed automatic transmission. It shifts great. It holds the revs longer because some of these vehicles these days are going with eight and nine-speed transmissions. Some of the trucks, like my Ford F-150, has a 10-speed automatic transmission. But with the six-speed, you have fewer gears to go through, so it's holding the revs longer. So that's kind of fun in a way. You don't have that sound of it shifting. Another thing about this is that front-wheel drive only. I know I'm standing right here just next to the hood, but only front-wheel drive, no all-wheel drive option. It pulls strong. I mean, it's got great steering, but I wish it had that all-wheel drive option. So you have maybe those for people who live in harsher climates, you might want to opt for something like this. So I think that's a downside. By the way, fuel economy with ours is 26 miles per gallon mixed driving, 29 if you went with the non-turbo. The third big takeaway I have with this is no hybrid version. How many mid-sizes out there are adding a hybrid option? Because people are so interested, and it's in a good way, of being more economically, well, economically, but also eco-friendly with their vehicles. No hybrid, so you're not getting some of that fuel economy boost. You're not having a green vehicle per se. So three things, no manual transmission, front-wheel drive only, and the fact that there is no hybrid. Now, starting things off under the hood, this is quite impressive under here, and the specs and the numbers really don't do it justice, but we've got a two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that puts out 252 horsepower, 273 pound-feet of torque. And that torque comes out really early, and this is a really punchy car. That's one thing that I really like about it. You get on it, and it's responsive. It accelerates. You've got a 10-speed automatic, which you would think it would probably be like hunting for gears, trying to find the right one, but it locks in, and it kicks down, and it just goes. It's a very responsive 10-speed transmission. I can't complain. Miles per gallon is 22 city, 32 highway, not too bad for this kind of output, front-wheel drive only. That's my big complaint, I guess, is I wish that it could have all-wheel drive, but that's asking for quite a bit. Otherwise, I prefer a V6, naturally aspirated, but still, it's got a lot of power right here. And then when we take a look at the rest of the Accord, you've got full LED headlights right there, LED fog lights, glossy black grille right there. This paint is, I believe it's called like platinum. It's a platinum white, pretty stylish, just a pretty impressive looking vehicle. You got 19-inch wheels, pretty standard now with some of these midsize sedans. Now, moving over into the front seat, we have, well, first of all, one cool feature, reverse tilting mirrors. That's pretty nice when you're backing up, gonna tilt down, you can see next to your vehicle. You've got a smart key system right here, just a touch to lock it, sensor behind it. And one of my favorite things about this Accord is just how comfortable these seats are. I think I could really sit in them for a long time. I've got a lot of space. The leather is nice and soft. It's just impressive. I'm really comfortable in this car. I mean, I think I said that already, but 12-way power, four-way lumbar, that's impressive. Honda gives you push-button start as well. And we've got a nice information display up here. So first of all, you can kind of have it look pretty traditional with that. You've got some nice, easy to read gauges, or you can use your steering wheel and scroll through. Trip computer, audio, phone, navigation, driving features, all that good stuff. So lots of stuff that you can see on here. I just prefer a tachometer, but still, it's really nice. The steering wheel is leather-wrapped. You've got good bulky grips on here. You've got paddle shifters, all the controls that you could ever need for any of your features, really. We've got rain sensing windshield wipers as well. And over here on the door, we've got soft material here, soft material here, soft material here. So you can put your elbow anywhere you want and be comfortable, which is nice. So the interior is pretty well laid out. You have a tablet style, which is unique. I would honestly prefer to have this integrated a little more. I'm good with it being up high. I just think it looks kind of goofy, especially with it slanted back. I'd rather it be straight up and down. Maybe you're sitting on the dash a little better, but still, this eight-inch screen works well. We've got the premium audio system in here, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SiriusXM, HD radio, you name it, you've got it on here. Wi-Fi. It's easy to use. It's very clear. There's no troubles with it whatsoever. It's just maybe not as responsive as some of the other systems around. But you've got nice trim around here. You've got dual zone climate control, a couple of charging ports, and wireless charging. Unique shifter, which is, you know, some of you don't care for this, but it does free up some space. Typical brake hold and electronic parking brake. My big bottle fits in here, which is a big plus. And this armrest is just awesome. So you open that up, you've got a couple more charging ports in there. You've got a movable storage tray. So overall, just a lot of good stuff inside this car, including automatic dimming mirror and garage controls as well. This is a fun, fun vehicle. I mean, they know how to make a vehicle. Let me show you the inside. Look how gorgeous this is with the interior. They got Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Let me start it up. All right, push button start here on the dash. You've got this eight inch screen. Some people don't like how it protrudes up there. I'm getting used to it with Mazda. This is a touchscreen only when the vehicle is parked. Otherwise, everything is controlled with this dial down below. That's usual. That's par for the course because they've had that in the past. One thing that's different that I've noticed here is that they don't have the pop-up screen for the heads-up display. They had this little plastic thing that pops up, reflected onto the screen. They don't have that anymore. Kind of nice. I mean, more of a sleek, streamlined view there. Instrument cluster, just like last time. Usual suspects. We got paddle shifters up here to play with. Bluetooth on the left-hand side. Cruise control. Plenty of safety features with this. Climate controls. You have a sport mode if you want to play with that as well. Auto hold for braking. So all this is just what they had last year. So it's a beautiful cabin. Don't get me wrong. I love the way it looks. It's definitely not busy. You know, you don't have all these buttons and stuff right here. But I wish this was going to be a little bit bigger. They do have the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which I plugged in through here. There's a couple of USB ports there. Let me show you real quickly the back seat. Here's what it looks like sitting in the back seat. I am 5'11". That was my position as the driver up front. So look how much room I have between my knees and the back of the seat. For my size, I'm very happy with this. This is the largest sedan that Mazda makes. It's 192 inches long. So they give you plenty of legroom for that purpose. Headroom is respectable as well. They have a little bit of an indent here in the roof line to help you with headroom. Also four O-blank handles. Those are the handles right here that you grab. I usually like to say O-blank handles because people usually say a bad word when they go, Oh, and they hang on to those things. That's something I thought of. Anyways, you also have a beautiful fold down armrest and with it, you've got heated seats and then pop this up and two more USB ports right here. Now hopping into the back seat of the Accord, this is actually super spacious. So sitting behind myself where I would normally sit, this is how much space I have. That is a ton. This is amazing. So this is like crew cab, full-size truck type of space. So good foot space, really good knee space. I can totally lounge out and actually let the cushion support my thighs. We've got AC vents back here. There are no USBs or charging ports back here, which is kind of unusual. And then when we come to the middle, we've got this center folding armrest, good size square cup holders. Again, up above, we just get your regular incandescent bulbs. I'm surprised there's no LEDs back here. But one surprising feature that we have back here is heated seats on this top end touring trim, which is really nice. So those are three tier heated seats for these outboard passengers, which is really cool. And something I don't expect in this class, we even have nice soft trim here, soft trim here, and up here, we finally get the hard-touch plastic, which is different than it is in the front. But you've got the nice trim piece as well again. So overall, pretty spacious back seat. And I've got good enough headroom. Honda, aside from the numbers not being that great, it's a surprisingly good headroom back here. And the middle seat is definitely tough. My head does touch the ceiling, so that's something to think about. Now, the trunk and cargo space for the Accord is really pretty darn spacious. There's a little lift right up under, a little tab you can push on right up under there. You've got exposed hinges, which is one negative. I'd like to see that changed. But this trunk is huge, 16.7 cubic feet, super wide, hardly any bulk in there. It's just easy to put stuff. Now, let me give you a look with a carry-on suitcase. Slides back there quite a ways. It's got good depth. It's got good height. And as you can see, the big thing compared to other vehicles is just how much space there is in the corners. And it's nice to see a hook and a little something you can drape something on on both sides. So big, giant, spacious trunk. And the seats can also fold down. Back cargo area is 14.7 cubic feet of volume. One of the things that you should know is that you can pull these tabs here. It's a 60-40 split, so you can fold those seats down for more room. Pretty respectable in terms of space for cargo. I think you'll be happy with it. I know I am. The exterior color on ours is called Deep Crystal Blue. Got the 19-inch wheels, 17 comes standard. Now, there are five trim levels available. There's the Sport, Touring, Grand Touring, Grand Touring Reserve, and Signature. We have the Signature top trim level, so all the bells and whistles, all the safety features you can look for. MSRP range between $23,800 and around $35,000. So there you have it. The 2020 Honda Accord and some of the features that we've got with this car really impresses me. I'm seriously impressed with just how much they offer in here and for the price, especially compared to some of the competition and how it drives. It's just the perfect balance of features, driving, space, all of that good stuff. And it is absolutely worth a look and probably a buy if you're in the market for a midsize sedan.