Is there some conspiracy to eradicate any trace of sportiness from the Japanese mid-size sedan class? "Bigger and softer" seems to be the design mantra of each new offering - Accord, TSX and now the Mazda 6 - all vehicles in respect of which I found much to admire in their previous renditions, and decidedly less so in their new, comparatively super-sized offerings.
At least the 6 offers some appealing lines to delight the eye - but even there the North American version looks like not-quite-as-attractive cousin to the Hotsy-Totsy Euro line-up.
And no stick for the V6 postively sucks (at least for me and the 2 or 3 other guys that apparently still want one).
Jaeger
In North America the "bigger is better" mentality still holds, because people down in the US are bigger!
The Accord, Camry and Altima are the current top 3 Japanese mid sizers.
The Mazda6 went with the smaller more nimble "Zoom Zoom" approach 5 years ago, what happened? slow, slow sales.
This generation is going to be "Zoom Zoom" super sized.
Having 2 versions of the mid-size is not a new thing.
JDM/NA Accord, Altima/Teina, Camry/Avensis.
And the norm is JDM/Euro versions are small and more refined, N/A versions are bigger and more powerful.
Personal I prefer the JDM/Euro versions, quality over quantity.
We will see if this trend continues with the 2010 Subaru Legacy, my guess is, it will.