My 3 is currently in for its 22,500 mile service. The dealership always gives me a nice new loaner from thier stock pile, I seem to always get the same little red 6. I watched that thing go from 320 miles to now 12500. The trans feels like it is about to die but still will pull as long as you put it over into manual. However as a direct comparison to my 3. I miss my 3. It handles so much better. If you have never driven a 6 the best comparison i can give it think "drunken donkey on ice skates" Unless Mazda did something about the handling on the MazdaSpeed 6 then i would recommend a 3.

 

I just purchased a 2006 Mazda S 2.3L. I really like it. It's pretty quick and has great potential. The only problem was at the deal I got to drive the Mazda Speed 6 and that was awesome! (Made me feel like my new car was a slug). Good luck on the shopping!

 

Yea I just got my 06 Mazda 3 s GT 4dr and I love it. The 6 is a good car to but it just feels all around heavy to me. You can pretty much get a fully loaded 3GT for about as much or a little more than a plain 6. The 3 is a really smooth ride, great gas mileage, pretty good acceleration. You can't go wrong with a 3 I highly recommend it especially the GT.