Mazda6 review
by David Finlay (18 May 2010)
The latest Mazda6 isn't entirely new, being largely a refreshed version of the second-generation model which arrived in the UK in late 2007, but quite a lot of work has been put into it: certainly more than a mere facelift, though the new front-end treatment and rear light clusters have made an already good-looking car considerably sharper than it used to be.
There has been some tinkering with the interior, too - silver-ringed dials, softer plastics and so on - and that works well too. More important, though, are the changes under the bonnet, where all five of the existing engines (118bhp 1.8 and 168bhp 2.5 petrol, plus 127bhp, 161bhp and 178bhp versions of the 2.2-litre diesel) have been tuned for better fuel economy, and have been joined by a new 153bhp 2.0 petrol.
In terms of running costs, the diesels make more sense, and their greatly superior low-speed urge make them far more relaxing to drive. My personal favourite is the 127bhp diesel, which has as much power as the 6 really needs, and outgunned all the petrol models on some alarming gradients during the car's press launch in north-west Scotland.
But if I were in the market for a Mazda6 I'd be inclined to go for one of the petrol versions instead, at least so long as I didn't have many steep hills to climb on a regular basis. The diesels are significantly noisier, the clutch action is very sharp (making kangaroo starts all too likely) and the steering is quite heavy.
Another reason for choosing petrol relates to the work Mazda has done on the suspension. It did a fantastic job with the first-generation 6, which was one of the best-handling medium-sized hatchbacks you could buy in the early years of the 21st century, but with only a few exceptions the cars built between 2007 and 2009 felt like four-wheeled bowls of porridge by comparison.
Mazda seems to have been conscious of this, and has revised the steering assistance, the shock absorber settings and quite a number of other bits and bobs which are very interesting if you like that sort of thing. As a result, the new 6 is outstandingly better to drive than its immediate predecessor - but only if it has a petrol engine. Somehow Mazda has failed to take into adequate account the extra weight of the diesel units, and the versions fitted with those feel much more clumsy.
The 6 comes in two body styles - hatchback and estate, the latter having surprisingly little extra luggage space over the former - and four trim levels, called S, TS, TS2 and Sport. As a general rule, the higher the specification of the car, the more likely it is to have a powerful engine, and that also applies if the car in question is an estate.
There isn't much change to the amount of equipment on offer compared with the pre-2010 models, but all versions now have an Emergency Stop Signal and "smart" indicators as standard, the TS2 and Sport get front and rear parking sensors and Hill Hold Assist, while the Sport comes with active bi-xenon headlights.
All versions from TS upwards also get a rear spoiler, which undoubtedly help the looks but which also, in the case of the hatchbacks, block out a significant part of the rear view. Personally I'd rather do without.
Prices start at £16,995 for the 1.8 S hatch, but this is something of a headline figure and doesn't give much indication of what most 6s cost, since the second cheapest variant is the 1.8 TS hatch at £18,045. The most expensive hatch is the 178bhp diesel Sport at £22,795. Estates are £650 more expensive, model for model.
For the lowest annual VED payments you'll want the 129bhp diesel, which has a CO2 rating of 138g/km, but you'll have to make to do with the hatchback body style since that engine is not available in the estate.
Add new comment