Well said coldcase.
"No bias" I have driven both - the initial review posted here had enough to recommend that I thought it worth checking out. Suffice it to say that I could not disagree with you more. Straight up, price independent, I prefer the Speed 6:
1) The Sube looks and feels bigger. I like a sports sedan that casts a smaller shadow and takes up less acreage.
2) The Speed 6 gives you a unique, top performing motor to distinguish it from the more pedestrian versions of the car. The Spec B gives you the same engine and more or less the same performance as lesser Legacies. There is less to distiguish it from its less costly bretheren.
3) Contrary to your suggestion, the Speed 6 is available with unique interior appointments not available on the regular 6 - a two-tone black and white leather package that is quite striking.
4) The clutch in the 6 is a bit touchy, but I WAY prefered its shift feel to that of the Sube. You get used to the clutch you drive, but sloppy, rubbery shift feel is with you for good.
5) Seat of the pants, both cars felt equally fast. And their test numbers bear that out.
6) Seat of the pants, I give a slight handling edge to the 6. But again, it's pretty close.
7) Purely subjective, but I find the Subaru pretty boring in appearance. The long-in-the-tooth design of the Mazda still looks a bit more crisp to me.
8 I found both 4wd systems largely transparent behind the wheel. Suburu may indeed have the better design, but it's not a design benefit that I could see or feel.
9) I flat out forgot to ask whether the Sube came with HIDs, because I flat out cannot believe that a $46k car wouldn't.
Again - I can't for the life of me see where the HUGE price differential between the Sube and the Speed6 is remotely justified.
And if you actually think the Sube is worth its money, I invite you to take an extended drive in a similarly priced Infiniti G35 X and tell me - honestly - how the Sube can possibly compare to THAT vehicle for the money. Unless, of course, you are simply going to fall bak on that mantra of the Subaru faithful: "Subaru has the best AWD system in the world."
Jaeger