OK, so my lease is up on my 02 Accord EX in a few more months and I'm starting to eye up some of the more recent cars out there that have caught my eye. And...uh, I'm actually going to buy this time, so that I can actually do something with my car without getting my wallet slapped.

I've been looking at the Mazda 6s (V6), I've owned previous rebadged Mazdas (i.e. Ford Probes) and found them to be fairly reliable. I'm not too keen on the looks of the 7th gen Accord, but the 240hp V6 is tempting. Sounds like the Mazda has a stiffer suspension and is more sporting than the Accord + I like the look of it better. The price is right too - about $26k with all the goodies.

If you were to choose between the two, what would you go with? Just out of curiousity.

I'm also considering the Acura TSX - which is a bit pricer than I was looking to go, but still a consideration. Although I'm not sure that I want another 4-cylinder. I'm really more interested with something that has a little more torque.

Thoughts? Opinions? Anyone ever had occasion to mod or work on one?

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to mention, I have a kid, so 2 doors are out of the question, otherwise we'd be talking '05 Mustang GT