Toyota Camry and Mazda 6 showdown

Toyota Camry

Mazda 6

The intent of this showdown is not to choose a winner, but to highlight some of the key specifications that might change your mind in deciding between the two executive sedans. However, I will not highlight common features like rack & pinion steering wheel type, leather seat, electronically adjusted side lamps and so on.

In the end, an informed decision is always the better decision, isn’t it?

Results

Parameters	Toyota Camry	Mazda 6
1. Price	MYR174,990.00	MYR173,877.00
2. Displacement	2362 cc	2488 cc
3. Length	4825 mm	4735 mm
4. Engine	2AZ-FE 4-Cylinder, In-line, 16-Valve, DOHC with VVT-i	MZR 2.5 4-cylinder, In-line, 16 Valve, DOHC with VVT and S-VT
5. Engine rating (max)	Power: 164.8HP at 6000 RPM Torque: 224Nm at 4000 RPM	Power: 172.0HP at 6000 RPM Torque: 228Nm at 4000 RPM
6. Transmission	5-AT sequential with Super ECT & gated shifter	5-AT Activematic & gated shifter
7. Suspension (front)	McPherson strut with stabilizer	High mount double wishbone
8. Suspension (rear)	Dual link independent strut with stabilizer	E-type multilink
9. Tyres	215/55R17, Alloy	225, 45R18, Aluminium

sources: toyota.com.my & mazda.com.my

Discussion
Despite being 100mm shorter, which is normally insignificant to huge sedans, everything else shows that Mazda 6 is better than Toyota Camry by a small margin. Mazda’s price is lower for a higher displacement. It comes with slightly more powerful engine and somewhat better suspension. Toyota’s McPherson strut is less performing but simpler to work with, whereas Mazda’s double wishbone is better performing but a bit more complex so watch out for longer service time.

Mazda’s Aluminium rims are supposedly lighter, but depending on your preference, Camry’s heavier Allow rims give you the advantage on durability and stability. Certainly, somebody with more knowledge and experience can share and add to the above.

Conclusion
Just by looking at the main specs, Mazda 6 is a clear contender and Toyota Camry is certainly not far behind.

However, there are also other important considerations than just plain specs. I can further improve the comparison with the research on:

• average resale value
• weight (to get power-to-weight ratio and predict fuel efficiency)
• carbon-emission rating
• average service duration and cost
• and safety features

I will post an update later if this happens. Nevertheless, my final recommendation is similar to my formal advice to newer engineers – there is nothing better than a site visit. Arrange for your test drive today. See and drive the cars for yourselves. Perhaps you could drive and feel difference with the above comparison in mind.

PowerBook G4 display

My extremely reliable Titanium PowerBook G4’s screen is beginning to flicker. The 6.5-year old veteran is still very much a major component in my digital life. Hold on, buddy. Don’t die on me yet.

6.5 laptop years = 65 human years ?

Photography of safety

I was browsing through the pictures entries of photography-for-safety competition. If you know me, I’d normally point to some defects instead of acknowledging that the sky is blue and that the birds are singing…

I’m not sure why this even qualifies at all. What is the danger for turning off the light? Killing the lights might kill you? How likely is that? Please tell me what is the risk associated with the above activity.

In fact, I think opening the circuit (turning the light off) is much safer than closing it (turning the light on). If there was a short somewhere along the line awaiting for the switch, closing or completing the circuit would just cause that zap, too high of current flowing and that’s your chance of fire.

Whoever thinks there is a risk of fire by using cellphone at gas station is an idiot. Well, maybe not an idiot but very gullible. Oh, hey, everyone seems to be avoiding it, I’ll do that too.

There has never been a confirmed incident involving cellphone fire at gas station anywhere on earth. The cases of fire at gas stations were due to static electricity instead, not cell phones. Basic science. If you’re outside the car, stay outside. If you’re inside the car, please stay inside. The rubbing of your clothing with the seat’s fabric causes electrostatic charges to build up. There is a diminutive possibility that dislodged battery might cause a spark but I doubt that the energy level is high enough to ignite a fire.

Let me give you a scenario. Workers in coal mines have used wire runs connected to battery since ages. They short together the parallel cables that go in deep into the mines that complete the circuit and light up the lamp. Why hasn’t that caused explosion for almost 30 years? (until one day somebody decided to change the battery and that caused 400-odd people almost instantaneously combusted when the circuit was closed.)

Total Oil fell for the hoax.
Exxon at one time was gullible too.
Shell was circulating it in the E-mail.

The learning here is – before you forward any reminders to your families, friends, or colleagues – think about how true the claim is first. Reach out to your senses.

Real depth versus news from afar

Started early like 3 o’clock. Traveled to helibase via Firefly. As soon as I was on-board and I went on immediately to dig around for answers and figures.

In my honest opinion, the intricacy of the inner-working with the operations offshore simply cannot be supplemented by paperworks, KPI, telephone calls from afar, or pounding on a keyboard.

You have to be with the team in the field to understand the issues.

Read with discretion: Some engineers may find the above unfair or offending – but it’s the actual observation and I invite you to prove me wrong. Please provide proof to me that a supplementary document in the office can single-handedly pin-point the issues, unite the team to common ground, and lock the gear to spin and get going again. It might temporarily but it wouldn’t work in a long term.

Contracting and challenging the facts

I began the work for the day with contracting matters. Apparently a contract had almost ran out the approved value so it is my duty to identify, justify, and get ratification for a new contract value. Yes indeed, I am a qualified Contracting engineer. But I lack the depth of the laws and procurement part of the contracting. I’m just good at the surface. Those two roles are integral for a contract to be in place, but it’s not like I’ll jump over to the supply chain or the legal band soon, right?

***

The energy-saving initiative at work posted this on the board the other day:

If you turn off the PC overnight, you’ll save enough the carbon emission equivalent to power up 2 televisions for a year.

If 10,000 PCs are turned off overnight, between us, we’ll save enough carbon emission equivalent to drive to the moon and back 4 times!

I looked at the first and pondered, OK, that’s fine. 1 PC consumption for 12 standby hours could be the same electricity generation required for 2 TV set for a year. The PC must have been the power-hungriest Pentium 4, one of the most inefficient of the sorts with the cooling vent partially blocked or something. And the TV set must have been the most energy-efficient, award-winning Energy star compliant LED type, the ones about an inch thick, endorsed by by both WHO and the United Nation.

But when I looked at the second – I found that a little hard to swallow. Maybe it’s just me.

So I did a little fact-finding.

Check your facts!

According to Sightline institute (non-profit), CO₂ emission for an average sedan is 1.10 lbs/ passenger-mile. Assume this is one passenger going to the moon and back so the emission equivalent is 1.10lbs/mile.

Earth’s radius is 6367.5km. Moon’s radius is 1737.5km. The mean distance between center earth to center moon is 384,403km. So the distance between earth surface and moon surface is:

D_moon-earth = 384,403 km – 6367.5km – 1737.5 km = 376,298 km

= 233,821 miles#

So driving to the moon and back four times equals

8 . D_moon-earth = 8 x 233,821 miles      = 1,870,565 miles

The carbon emission equivalent is then

1.10lbs/mile x 1,870,565 miles                  = 2,057,621 lbs

A Dell Optiplex GX620 on the other hand consumes 220W power at max, at about 88% efficiency (per Dell’s published technical book, Energy Star compliance). Assuming that without much activity by leaving the PC to standby overnight (fan, HD and minimum power to motherboard), the PC still operates at about half of 220W on the high side (a factor of 0.5)

The estimated actual power rating is then:

0.5 x 220W    = 110W

According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, on average, electricity sources emit 1.297 lbs CO₂ per kWh (0.0005883 metric tons CO₂ per kWh). State CO₂ emissions per kWh may vary greatly in accordance with the amount of clean energy in the energy supply (Vermont, Idaho: .03 lbs/kWh; North Dakota: 2.24 lbs/kWh).

So if 10,000 of you turn off the PC for 12 hours until the morning, the resultant power consumption during that period would be:

10,000 x 110W x 12 h                 = 13,200,000 Wh         = 13,200 kWh

1.297lbs CO₂ /kWh x 13,200    = 17,120 lbs!

Even by using more conservative numbers, the result is

10,000 x 0.220kW x 12 h x 2.24 lbs/kWh = 59,136 lbs!

I ran through the above with a friend next door in case I missed out anything and submitted it to the energy-saving initiative team. In my e-mail, I asked, “So what are your sources for the figures? What is your basis?”