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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 555
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Another 08 Mazda6 review
New Mazda 6: first drive
• New 6 mixes European and Japanese styles
• Car goes on sale in January in saloon form
• Four engines available - one is new 2.5 petrol
Mazda is turning Japanese with the latest version of the 6. The pursuit of a European look has been abandoned: future Mazdas will reflect their national identity and culture. They'll just feel European to drive.
The job sheet didn't stop at repatriating the design language, though. Mazda also set out to raise the perceived quality of the car (something everyone's trying to do), raise the high-tech feature content (ditto) and inject more refinement (ditto again).
Mazda 6 on a diet
Like the latest Mazda 2, the 6 has also been trying to shed weight and improve economy and emissions without sacrificing performance.
The new 6 is, on average, 35 kilos lighter than its predecessor, despite being bigger.
However, Mazda says that, if you factor in the things it has added for safety (anti-whiplash front headrests), sound deadening, body stiffening and comfort, the reduction is nearer 125 kilos.
Whatever. The outcome is that fuel economy has improved by between 6.7% and 11.7%, while the carbon dioxide emissions of the 2.0-litre diesel engine tumble from 165g/km to 149g/km - bringing its company car tax rating down six bands.
Something old, something new
Mazda describes the 6 as an all-new car, which is perhaps stretching a point.
The platform comes from the old car, although the front and rear wheels are 50mm further apart for more interior space, the suspension is modified, and fuel-saving electronic power steering is now fitted.
Three of the engines - the 120bhp 1.8, 147bhp 2.0 and 140bhp 2.0 diesel - are also carried over, with recalibrated management systems.
The four-cylinder 2.5 with 170bhp and 167lb ft of pull is the one new engine, replacing the 164bhp 2.3.
Bit of a looker
The new 6 is a good-looking car, and all three body styles are just as handsome, which isn't true of some rivals.
In profile, with its coupe-like roof, the saloon in our pictures could easily be mistaken for a Lexus, which is a compliment.
The front is definitely Mazda, with bulging wheelarches like those on the RX-8 coupe, and an exaggerated hump in the bonnet.
Inside, it isn't quite as glitzy and expensive-looking as the new Ford Mondeo, but it won't disappoint.
New features include lights on the dash and instrument panel that welcome you aboard, and a central control unit with steering wheel buttons for the stereo, trip computer, air-con and optional sat-nav.
The 6 doesn't feel as big and, to some people, intimidating as the Mondeo, even though it's only 53mm shorter and doesn't lack rear-seat space.
The driving position has been improved by altering the angle of the steering wheel and relocating the gearlever, and it's now quieter in the cabin thanks to reductions in wind noise (better aerodynamics) and road noise (improved suspension bushes).
Revvy, yet refined
The three petrol engines emit what Alfa Romeo would call a throaty rasp, but it's far from excessive. Ironically, the 1.8 that has to work hardest is the quietest.
So far we've only driven the petrol versions, and on a racetrack at that, but it was enough to get a pretty clear picture that Mazda has done a sound job.
The petrol engines are revvy and eager, and if the 1.8 feels as if it's been ballasted with concrete after the other two, which feel closer for performance, it's fine for what it has to do.
The biggest compliment we can pay the car is that it's totally consistent. Whatever you do with the accelerator or steering won't upset it.
With taut body control, strong, progressive brakes, minimal tendency to run wide in hard cornering and even the ability to tuck tighter into bends if you ease off the throttle, it's predictable, but enjoyable to drive.
As for the ride, you can't really tell on a flat racetrack, but the 6 seemed to have enough suppleness to make UK motorway trawls relaxing. The 2.0-litre petrol model with 17-inch wheels has the best balance of talents.
Prices and on-sale dates
Saloon models arrive in January, with hatchbacks and estates to follow in March, and there'll be five trim levels.
If the anticipated pricing of £15,500 upwards becomes reality, it will represent a significant increase on the £14,180 start point of the current car, but we're promised more equipment.
Even so, Mazda has given the rest plenty to think about. We suspect the new 6 will give the Mondeo a run for its money, and if the teams behind next year's new Honda Accord and Vauxhall Vectra aren't just a bit nervous, they ought to be.
Japanese style with European dynamics? It works.
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