The 626's modest makeover carries into the cabin with a better grade of upholstery.
Although it's functional and elegantly simple, the 626 interior--like the exterior--is a
little low on pizzazz. The color scheme in our test car was a bit drab, although the
quality of the materials and assembly was as good as the best.
There are, however, a couple of elements that could stand improvement. The audio and
climate controls, for example, are set a trifle low in the center of the dashboard and
the various pushbuttons involved in both could be a little bigger.
Adjustment controls for the power-operated side mirrors are combined in a single
switch that's set low in the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. The function
of the switch is fine, but it's eclipsed by the wheel and it's not easy to use when
the car is moving.
Although the major instruments--speedo, tach, fuel and temp gauges--are easy to see
through the wheel, they could be a tad larger. And rear seat legroom isn't what you'd
call plentiful, although there's a little more of it here than there is in an Accord.
Call it average for a car in the smaller end of the midsize class.
The seats, however, are very good, particularly up front. These are nicely bolstered,
well-padded buckets designed to keep the driver and front seat passenger firmly
anchored during hard cornering.
Hard cornering is something this car does very well--better, in fact, than most in its
class.
The 626 chassis is shared by Mazda's MX-6 sport coupe as well as the Ford Probe and
it's got the kind of rigidity that makes it easy for the suspension engineers to
create the "right" kind of ride and handling traits.
For the 626 sedan, this translates as slightly softer than the coupes, but still firm
and responsive. If your priority is cushy ride quality, this probably isn't the car
for you. Camry intenders need not apply.
But if you like exceptionally quick, precise steering combined with minimal body roll
and right-now responses to your commands, the 626 LX V6 has few equals in its
competitive realm. About the only one that comes readily to mind at this end of the
size spectrum is the Ford Contour SE.
If you've got more money to spend--say $2500 or so--the slightly larger and
substantially more potent Nissan Maxima SE is a good bet. But $2500 is a pretty
good-sized jump.