MAZDA6 Review

We've been inside the Mazda6 for quite a few hours now, but this is a crucial moment. The road on the left provides a five-minute drive to a mediocre restaurant. The one on the right goes to a rather fine place, but is considerably longer. Mazda’s 6 doesn’t make such choices too difficult - the last one it shall be.

We know that, on the way, the seats, which didn't look too comfortable at first, will provide a pain-free experience. And if you get in the back, you'll have enough room in all areas, despite that sexy swooping roof above your head.

The driver also gets a height and depth adjustable steering wheel column that can be moved to an incredible extent, so you can easily find a good position. And when you have to operate the various controls of the car, you’ll be just fine with the soft-touch plastics. Many carmakers avoid using these due to the fact that they wear more easily, but we’ll have to let time show us what happens in the case of Mazda’s 6.

Going beyond the comfort elements that are the closest to you, we find a diesel engine that spares your of the usual "rat-tat-tat", replacing it with much more decent sounds.

Speaking of aural experiences, the soundproofing does its job well, but it does seem to have a weak spot when it comes to wind noise. Once the speed goes past 60 mph (100 km/h), you’ll start to feel this problem. It never becomes extreme, but it shouldn’t have been there.

Another reason for which the Mazda6 didn’t get more points for this chapter is the ride on the 19-inch wheels. Whenever you get to a larger pothole, for example, the car seems to overreact a bit and this can become tiring.

Apart from that, the Mazda6 treats you with a well-balanced attitude that knows how to mix dynamic ambitions with comfort. Let’s zoom in on the greenhouse, if we may - the side windows come with a low profile that accentuate the hidden coupe flavor of this sedan, but they still offer enough visibility to please.

The Mazda6 also has a secret ingredient that gives you peace of mind. The vehicle comes with a ground clearance of 6.4 or 6.7 inches (162.5 or 170 mm). We can’t help but clap our hands for the crossover-like ride height.

Body and Chassis

When the day came for the engineers to redesign the body and chassis of the Mazda6, they were sent home, with the entire team being replaced by a magician with an enormous hat. In came the old model and the fresh one was pulled out by its mirrors, which have been moved to the doors.

The result was a weight saving of over 300 lbs (150 kg), despite a torsional rigidity boost of 30 percent, and, just as important, an increase in size. The Mazda6 is now 5.3 inches (13.4 cm) longer, 1.7 inches (4.3 cm) wider and 0.4 inches (1 cm) higher.

As for the final act, this is represented by a drag coefficient of 0.26, the best in the class.

Powertrain

The big news for the engine bay of the 2014 Mazda6 is a 2,191 cc, four-cylinder oil burner. However, only saying that the unit delivers 175 hp at 4,500 rpm and a peak torque of 310 lb-ft (420 Nm) at 2,000 rpm is like describing a cake by listing its ingredients.

This is a diesel that learns tricks from gasoline units. For starters, while the average oil burner ignites fuel by compressing it at a ratio of 18:1, Mazda’s engine only uses a ratio of 14:1. This reduces the loads and temperatures generated by the blast. Thus, there’s no need for a heavy iron block, an aluminum one handles the job just fine.

What’s more, the engine’s internals are lighter, which makes it more efficient and eager to be revved (read: 5,200 rpm).

In addition, the smaller combustion temperatures result in less NOx being generated. Together with the variable lift for the exhaust valves, this allows the unit to make due without using the NOx-cutting exhaust gas treatment, making the hardware simpler and, once again, lighter.

Road Connection

The Mazda6 comes with a longer wheelbase of 111.4 inches (283 cm), which is aimed at improving stability. In addition, the configuration of the multi-link rear suspension was tweaked with the aim to improve the ride.

As for the power steering, this has moved from a hydraulic to an electric setup, with the system being tweaked to deliver linearity.

Stopping power

One of practical jokes that the 2014 Mazda6 plays on the fuel pump is its i-ELOOP (Intelligent Energy Loop) brake energy regeneration system. Lift off the throttle and the vehicle starts harvesting deceleration energy via a capacitor. The system doesn’t want to hear about the car’s battery, with the capacitor using a parallel circuit to power the auxiliaries. The 22-lbs (10 kg) hardware can provide electrical current to the car’s sub-systems for up to one minute.

It’s pretty simple to choose the various features you want on your Mazda6, as most of these are set from the very beginning. The various trim levels offered in both America and Europe, contain many of the goodies available.

Sure, there are optional being offered separately, but these are quite few, so you’d better pay attention when making the initial selection. By the way, the name of the fabulous finish you can see in the image gallery goes by the name of Soul Red.

We’ll skip right to the most important features of the Mazda6, which offers a fair degree of convenience items. Opting for the top equipment level will bring you goodies like an 8-way power driver’s seat and a 4-way adjustable passenger seat, ventilation for the rear seats and a keyless entry system with an engine start button.

The 2014 Mazda6 excels when it comes to safety features, but, unfortunately, these are also spread across the various grades. Thus, if you want to have stuff like Smart City Brake Support and LED daytime running lights, you’ll have to opt for the aforementioned top grade.

In terms of infotainment, the best equipment level will bring you a Bose audio system that talks to you via 11 speakers and is ready to accept your audio files in various formats. This also comes with a 4 GB storage capacity for your music.

Alas, when it comes to displays, the Mazda6 leaves certain things to be desired. The vehicles splits the various information between a 3.5-inch low-res screen placed on the right of the instrument cluster and a touch-screen 5-inch display found at the center of the dash.

The latter is used for the optional TomTom navigation system. While the navigation itself works just fine, the display’s size and graphics fall short of your expectations.

For the on-the-road report, a car like the Mazda6, which belongs to a mainstream segment, but comes with a bit of a sporty flavor, gets quite a few extra safety points.

That’s because the nature of the car doesn’t push you to step on the throttle, so you’ll be keeping the speed at a moderate level, but you’re constantly receiving feedback. This keeps you aware at all times. And when you do need to perform a quick evasive maneuver, the Mazda6 has what it takes to serve you.

The Mazda6 is also pretty passionate about active safety systems with hard to pronounce acronyms. The first line of defense comes from the Mazda Radar Cruise Control (MRCC) and Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS). This works with the Forward Obstruction Warning, which prompts the driver. Should the wheel bearer take no action, the Smart Brake Support (SBS) takes over. And if you’re in the urban areas, traveling at moderate speeds, this automatic deceleration is handled by the Smart City Brake Support (SCBS).

You back is covered by the Rear Vehicle Monitoring (RVM) system - Mazda’s blind spot assistant, while for the sides you can rely on the Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS)

Now that we’ve talked about the main systems, which rely on radars, cameras and lasers, we can switch to the rest of the nannies. Up front there’s the Adaptive Front Lighting (AFS) and High Beam Control (HBC), while the Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) will awaken the hazard lights when your foot is heavy on the brakes.

When things get a bit more serious than in the aforementioned paragraphs, it’s time to turn to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. This has gifted the Mazda6 with a Top Safety Pick + rating.

The vehicle received the Good rating, the highest one available, in the moderate overlap frontal crash test, as well as in the side impact and roof strength tests. As for the more severe small overlap test, which only sees 25 percent of the car handle the frontal impact, the Mazda6 only received an Adequate rating. We’ll note that there are models which achieved a Good rating here, albeit very few of them.

Drive the Mazda6 and you’ll understand that the carmaker hasn’t put its name on the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca just for the show. Don’t get us wrong, this is no racer, but the Mazda6 brings personality to a segment that generally lacks such as asset.

This is what the Japanese company wanted with the 6 and this is what they’ve achieved. It’s such a pity that many excellent vehicles in the mid-size class / D segment provide their owners with many things, but deprive them of the driving pleasure.

The Mazda6’s spirit isn’t overly sporty, it simply invites you to drive it again and again. It wasn’t easy to decide on what the best part of the 2014 Mazda6 is, but we’ll offer this title to the aforementioned asset.

The exterior styling comes a close second. You can’t help but be happy when you meet a car that doesn’t have to come with a premium price in order to make your little boy admire it when you’re taking him to school in the morning.

At least when it comes to design, we tend to see the Volkswagen CC as a closer competitor to the Mazda6 than the VW Passat or any other car in the segment. However, the CC is considerably more expensive on both sides of the Atlantic. The German model doesn’t come with the Mazda6’s driving pleasure, offering a more detached experience, but it does offer superior interior quality.

The effervescence of the exterior design didn’t make it inside the Mazda6 though. The cabin won’t let you down, offering a pleasant experience, but we really would’ve enjoyed a few bells and whistles in the vehicle’s cabin.

The worst part of the Mazda6 is found in a collection of details that wouldn’t have required such a great effort in order to be made better. We’ll start with the central infotainment screen and go on with the wheel choice. Mazda makes you choose between 17- and 19-inch rims, but either selection brings a bit of a compromise and perhaps an 18-inch size would’ve solved the problem.

Another thing we would’ve liked to see but we found missing is the turbocharged setup on the petrol engines. Sure, the SkyActiv technologies bring many benefits, but there’s not much sense in opposing the general downsizing trend, which relies on forced induction. However, Mazda seems to have chosen smaller costs and reduced complexity over superior efficiency.

As for the diesel-powered Mazda6 we drove, a brilliant choice, is set to arrive in the US by the end of the year. Until then, we can tell you that, judging by the entry-level pricing, the Mazda is one of the most affordable proposals in the mid-size segment. To be more precise, the base model, which uses an 184 hp 2.5-liter petrol unit, starts at $21,675, with a $795 destination charge included.

In Europe though, the Mazda6’s financial scheme makes it one of priciest cars in the D segment. The range starts at EUR24,990 (including 19 percent VAT), which brings you a 2.0-liter 145 hp petrol unit. However, a model like the one we drove, with the 175 hp 2.2-liter diesel and an automatic, comes with a starting price of EUR36,990.

The Mazda6 also offers us something to look forward to. There have been many vehicles in this class that have received hot versions, including this model’s previous generation but none of them has managed to truly shine. However, if the new Mazda6 will get a Mazdaspeed (MPS in Europe) model, we expect this to be a damn good offer.

The European D segment is dominated by Germans and the Mazda6 is a brilliant alternative to their cars. It brings an approach that caters to your needs just as well, but has “original” written all over it.

And there’s one more thing about the Mazda6 that floats our boat, the dependability. Whether you’ll drive it accompanied by your family or alone, you can always rely on it.