AFTER 20 years in the Australian markets the Mazda 6 is a fixture in the medium-large category, offering a solid, well-built, sedan with plenty of room for four adults, and a refined presence on the road.
Having driven the first generation car as one of my first reviews back in 2003, the 20th anniversary was a neat way to celebrate a personal milestone.
While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, Mazda is firmly attached to the concept of vertical front grilles, and the 6 is no exception, with a recessed trapezoidal grille insert, given an extra dash of style by the chrome finish.
Taking advantage of the latest LED light technologies, Mazda uses wedge-shaped assemblies. angling back into the front guards, housing the daytime running lights, main beams and indicators.
Mazda designers are clearly big fans of the 'long nose, short tail' look, and the 6 is a classic example of this philosophy, giving the artists and sculptors plenty of scope to add body detail lines down the car's flanks.
History buffs might compare these to the chrome 'spears' so beloved of designers in the '50s and '60s, serving to draw the eye the length of the car and actually making the car look even bigger than it is, no mean feat for a car already more than 4.8 metres long.
Adding to the visual appeal are discreetly flared, integrated, wheel arches front and rear, just enough to be seen, but stopping well short of Torana A9X-style guard extensions, but gifting the 6 extra width in its track, making it even more stable and sure-footed.
The roofline is a single, continuous curve from the base of the A-pillar up and over the doors, before dropping down again at the rear, culminating in the truncated boot lid, where the rear falls away with virtually no overhang.
The result is a design that is not only pleasing to the eye but also practical, with good sized doors that open wide, combined with plenty of internal height, so even very tall (as in bigger than me!) occupants don't feel compressed.
And yes, it is a Mazda, so the expected build quality is there in spades, in conversation with a colleague, we both noted just how deep and lustrous the paint finish is on the 6, despite being a mass-production model.
Not so long ago, this quality of fit and finish was the preserve of $100k and above luxury cars, but Mazda has stepped up and created some outstanding colours in recent years, especially Red Sol and now Artisan Red, a real commitment to customers.
Our car was finished in the optional Rhodium White, while I am not always a fan of white cars, I have to say this combination looked good on the 6, the metallic sheen catching and reflecting light just enough to create colour shifts, going from white through to a faint purple.
This wide tan land
Mazda has used what it calls Takumi craftsmanship on the interior, focusing on creating a space that is both minimalist yet welcoming, designed to blend tradition with technology.
While that might sound like a lot to take in, it is a fair description of the passenger space in the 6.
Physically, it is a big space, I could fit four of me - or me and three of my sons - comfortably, across head, shoulders and legs, bearing in mind at 185cm, I am going to be the smallest once they all stop growing.
Despite, or perhaps because, of the big space, Mazda has gone all-out to make it welcoming, where you can enjoy the physical comforts of the car, but not feel crowded by sharing the car with others.
One of my favourite touches in a cabin brimming with nice touches is the strip of Leganu synthetic suede the full width of the dash panel, in place of the highly polished, and reflective, black lacquer piece used in many other cars.
While it looks great in the showroom, it shows up every fingerprint and smudge, and reflects light into the driver's eyes, making it a bit of a challenge to live with in the long run.
Not only does the Leganu look different, it adds a tactile quality to the cabin, it is literally something you can reach out and touch, and I actually found it soothing to be able to physically connect to the cabin, other than through the seat and steering wheel.
Admittedly, you have to be a fan of browns when you drive the 6, with a number of shades on show, from the deep, plush carpets, across the doors and roof, and of course the well padded seats, as well as the dash pads.
That said, I found it a welcoming and comfortable environment, where I was able to relax into my journey, whether it was 10 minutes to the shops or a couple of hundred kilometres for a mini-road trip.
The seats are wider than previously, and the upgraded urethane foam padding offers increased comfort levels, with the longer base scoring big points with me for reduced driver fatigue.
Add to that the inclusion, at long last, of seat cooling, as well as heating, as well as heating for the out-board rear seats, and the 6 is well on its way to scoring a place on my all-time favourites list.
That is not to say all is sweetness and light, unfortunately Mazda has stuck with its centre console-mounted controls for the main display unit, while it was groundbreaking when it was first launched, screen technology has come a long way in the intervening years.
While I won't call it clunky, it really hasn't changed much in more than 10 years, and trying to navigate three, four or five screens to find the selection you are chasing just feels antiquated compared to other systems available in the market.
I am a big fan of the Active Driving Display system, Mazda's version of a heads-up display, projecting key driving information like road speed, speed limit, cruise control and navigation updates onto the windscreen, so you don't have to look away from the road.
Yes, we survived well enough without this sort of technology for many decades, but apparently my forebears also eked a survivalist lifestyle living in caves and roasting their kills over an open fire, I just prefer my three bedroom brick and tile home with windows and doors...
Command and Control
Mazda's ability to match comfort, luxury (no they are not the same thing!) and dynamism is one reason I keep coming back to the brand, and there is no better example than the 6 sedan.
The driving position is just that, you settle in behind the height- and reach-adjustable steering wheel, slide your legs under the dash get the 10-way adjustable seat 'just right', drop your hand to the stubby gear selector, and let the games begin!
I love the thickly padded steering wheel, it just sits perfectly in my hands, and allows full control of the car, and adds to the overall feeling of being a well-built car.
There have been many cars over the years that have been otherwise great to drive, but I have always felt let down by thin-rimmed steering wheels, to me it cheapens the overall feeling of a car.
The dash is a 7" TFT LCD, which is shorthand for really clear display, with the ability to provide a number of different information screens to the driver, including navigation, trip and fuel consumption data, entertainment as well as the traditional tacho, speedo, temperature and fuel gauge .
Best of all, the 20th Anniversary gets the Active Driving Display (ADD) of the Atenza model, yes, it is a Heads Up Display, and it is a good one.
Regular readers know how much I love my HUDs, and this one is near the top of the pile.
In short, the ADD uses a projector at the rear of the instrument cluster to create a floating display that appears to sit above the bonnet.
This includes current speed, cruise control set speed, the posted speed limit for the road, using a mix of GPS data and traffic sign recognition from the windscreen-mounted cameras, it can also give 'next turn' navigation directions and details of what is playing on the entertainment system.
I know there are those who worry it is unnecessary complexity, but once they have tried it, most people agree it is a useful safety addition to the car, as well as being just a little 'Star Wars' cool...
For me, the big advantage is I can stay up to date with what is happening, without needing to take my eyes off the road. The system works well in day and night, as well as wet weather and overcast, the projector uses light sensors to adjust the brightness to suit prevailing conditions.
It doesn't try to replicate the whole dash, but it does give you what you need to remain in control without being a distraction, and if something changes, like high or low engine temperature, low oil pressure or other mechanical drama, the main instrument display will bring that to the driver's attention.
One annoyance is the infotainment screen interface, via the rotary 'shuttle' on the centre console, while this was once cutting edge technology, now it feels a little outmoded, almost as though Mazda decided 10 year ago it had reached the evolutionary peak, and decided to just leave it alone for years to come.
While this might seem a bit of a first-world problem, it becomes evident when you jump between cars and see what other manufacturers have done with similar systems and improved the user experience.
Yes, Mazda has added a touch-screen capability, but this is locked out as soon as the car starts moving, which means the driver has to start fiddling with a control system out of their sight to make even the slightest adjustment.
I still think the 6 is one of the best driving cars, certainly in the $45-90k medium-large segment, but it is little things like this that leave me wanting more, and frustrated that Mazda hasn't kept up with the competition.
Let's Drive It...
This is where a multitude of sins in packaging and ergonomics can be forgiven, firing the car up and easing out onto the road, whether it is a 500km road trip or a 5km jaunt to the shops for bread and milk.
Our test car was based on the range-topping Atenza, which includes 19" alloys wheels, sunroof and the delightful SKYACTIV-G 2.5T turbocharged 2.5-litre four cylinder, backed by a six-speed automatic transmission.
One downside to modern cars, in response to calls for reductions in NVH (Noise, Vibrations and Harshness) to reduce driver fatigue, is you struggle to hear the engine.
This is a disappointment when there is an otherwise delightful sounding engine that is being muted and isolated, depriving you of the aural delight of a hard working engine doing its thing.
While the Mazda falls short of an Alfa Romeo V6 for pure listening pleasure, it is certainly not one to be ignored.
I will confess at this point, 20 years on and off driving the Mazda 6 in various iterations set up a fair amount of expectation as to how the car would perform, and I was not disappointed.
From start up, the big turbo four is a throbbing presence, it pulses nicely from idle, producing a steady supply of torque to get the car moving, working its way through the gears with smooth shifts.
The six-speed SkyActiv auto is a traditional four-speed unit, running from a 3.55:1 first gear to 1:1 in fourth, with two overdrive ratios in fifth and sixth, offering a mix of rapid acceleration in the low gears with fuel efficient cruising once the car passes 80km/h.
The driver has a chioce of three modes, Economy, Normal and Sport, selected via a switch on the centre console.
Changing modes has no impact on engine outputs, unlike in some other cars, instead it is an instruction to the transmission on when it should be changing gears, basically, economy sees upshifts at the earliest possible opportunity, while the sport mode holds the shifts high up into the rev range.
Even under full acceleration, the gearshifts remain smooth, there is no clunking or jerking, the revs continuing to build under the driver's right foot, launching the 6 down the road with ever-increasing urgency.
Mazda's powertrain engineers showed a remarkable degree of restraint when developing the 2.5-litre four, delivering a very healthy 420Nm of torque at just 2,000rpm.
This contributes massively to the big Mazda's drivability, matched to the gear ratios in First to Fourth, there is a seemingly bottomless pit of power on tap, which just pushes the car down the road, but allows for early upshifts, especially in Economy, without penalising the car's performance.
Similarly, the peak power of 173kW comes at a relatively low 4,250rpm, allowing the driver to make the most of the available power, without needing to wring the car's neck.
The end result is a flexible, energetic driveline which is equally comfortable in stop-start traffic as it is powering through a series of twisting corners, with a flick of the selector switch changing drive modes in the blink of an eye.
I have long been a fan of the steering in the 6, I find it well-weighted and direct, delivering precise control, despite the car's size and mass.
The electrically-assisted rack and pinion system eliminates a lot of the vagueness that used to plague many hydraulic power steering units, with the input becoming progressively heavier as the road speed increases.
This is especially handy in car parks, the extra assistance allows you to turn into the miniaturised spaces beloved of building designers in the modern spaces, which then progressively reduces as you get up to highway speeds, reducing the tendency to wander within lanes.
The 6 has a significant suite of driver assists, too many to list here, suffice to say there is pretty much an assist for every occasion and event, while some of them are hidden, and only activate when you have done something REALLY dumb, there are others that make themselves known on a regular basis.
Traction and stability control, ABS brakes and lane keep assist have become pretty much the norm for modern cars, while some people regard them as the 'fun police', in the Mazda they have been programmed to allow you a certain degree of stupidity before they intervene.
Traction control especially is helpful when starting off on a wet road, with the front wheels both steering and driving, it is important to have full control, in the 6 they work to reduce wheelspin, but then disappear into the background, until the next time you overpower the fronts.
Traction and stability control can be turned down, but honestly, unless you are on a race track (yes, I do compete in front-wheel-drive hillclimb cars), you are better off leaving them on while driving, they are not that intrusive, and they might just save you from a major embarrassment.
My personal favourite is the Adaptive LED Headlights (ALH), which use a combination of sensors and cameras to detect light and dark areas, and adjust the lights to suit.
This means the left side lights can be at full illumination, lighting up the footpath and road shoulder, while the right side lights dip, to avoid blinding oncoming traffic, or even the driver if you are facing a reflective road sign.
Overall, the 6 is well-balanced and predictable, there is no hint of twitchiness or instability, you just line it up for the next corner, and away it goes, it gets on with the job, and you just roll on, enjoying the ride.
Not surprisingly, given the state of roads in Southeast Queensland, there is an amount of bashing and crashing going on under the car, and yes, you do feel the bigger bumps and potholes, but the car doesn't get unsettled, despite the underbody battering.
The steering also remained steady, with no sudden kickbacks or directional shifts, which is is a real credit to the design and manufacture of the car.
Summing Up
In short, I like the Mazda 6, and have done for some years, it offers a mix of practicality and luxury, ok, I do wonder about the logic of light tan interiors on a family car, but it is an improvement over the white leather interior of previous models, so maybe Mazda are getting there...
Setting aside the question of practical colour choices, there is more to like than not when you consider the 6.
Yes, I would like to see an upgrade to the user interfaces, it was good then, but technology has improved in the intervening years, and it is time for an overhaul.
If you are looking for a quality large-medium car capable of handling four adults and their luggage, or the demands of a modern family, then this is a car you should be looking at.
I won't say you must buy it, but I would put it on your shopping list, to compare with the other choices, this is a car that will still be doing the hard yards long after the new car smell has faded.
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