The 2016 Mazda 6: grace, space, pace

Details

Published on Friday, October 28, 2016

Photos by Dan Cowell. 

By Ben Castle

Neepawa Banner

“Grace, Space, Pace” was a phrase coined by the late Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar, the British luxury car manufacturer to market their vehicles in the 1950s and 1960s. So what has that got to do with the latest 2016 Mazda 6?

Grace

Modern car designs tend to be either a bit bland, modern and edgy or overly aggressive. At some point, simple elegance in car design has largely been lost. Not so with the Mazda 6. The dynamic curves are reminiscent of the compact Mazda 3 tested last year, but somehow, the larger proportions of the mid-size Mazda 6 work better and it genuinely looks elegant from every angle. 

 So often you need to go for the most expensive model with the biggest rims for the styling to work, but even in mid-range GS trim on 17 inch rims, this car still looks great. Couple this with some very attractive exterior colour options, such as Soul Red or the Titanium Flash metallic of our test vehicle and you have a car that looks not unlike, and every bit as good as, the new luxury mid-size Jaguar XE at a fraction of the price.

Space

The cabin is every bit as stylish as the exterior with high quality plastics and padding and a simple, ergonomically excellent layout with a minimal number of buttons and an analogue speedometer and rev counter. The seats are very comfortable and fully adjustable, coming with lumbar adjustment for the driver, even on base GX models. 

The Mazda 6’s cabin is every bit as stylish as the exterior.

The infotainment system comes courtesy of a 7 inch touchscreen perched atop the dashboard, but you have a rotary controller on the centre console, close at hand to navigate through the functions. For traditionalists like me, you have the unusual feature of a slot for playing CDs, hurrah! 

It’s not very often that I pay much attention to stereo sound quality, but even on this mid-range model, sound quality is excellent (a Bose speaker upgrade is available on GT models).   

The test model supplied by Forman Mazda in Brandon was the $30,995 mid-range Mazda 6 GS automatic, with the optional Luxury package. This $3,000 package adds leather seating (white leather is available with some exterior colours), power moonroof and driver’s seat and SD-card navigation and really raises the interior ambiance. 

Thanks to one of the longest wheelbases in its class, Mazda 6 also offers one of the roomiest rear cabins, where even three adults will be comfortable. All Mazda 6s come with heated front and rear outboard seats. The three-stage heated rear seat controls are neatly integrated into the rear armrest. 

At 419 litres, the trunk is small in terms of volume for the class, but it is long and reasonably deep, with minimal intrusions, and when you fold down the rear seats, you have a completely flat load area. The trunk hinges disappear into recesses when you shut the trunk, which is a nice quality touch, as in some sedans with exposed hinges, you cannot shut the trunk if you have any luggage immediately under them.

Niggles? Compared to the fantastic quality of the rest of the switchgear, the buttons on the steering wheel for audio and cruise controls feel a little cheap. Unlike many other rivals, the rearview camera does not have dynamic guidelines and the centre console is quite narrow, so centre console storage and indeed, door pocket storage, is a bit limited. However, I’m nit-picking at this stage!

Pace

Mazda 6 comes with only one engine option, a Skyactiv-G 2.5 litre four cylinder with 184 horsepower and 185 pound feet of torque, with the choice of either a six speed manual or six speed automatic transmission on all trim levels. Mazda claim 6.4 litres per 100 kilometres for the manual and as low as 5.9 litres per 100 kilometres for the automatic when equipped with i-Eloop regenerative braking, which is available on top-spec GT models. 

Some rivals offer the option of more powerful V6 or turbocharged four cylinder engines, but in all honesty, these tend to be in the higher spec models and the vast majority of mid-size cars sold have normally aspirated four cylinder engines. Fortunately this is a good one. It always feels strong and sounds good under hard acceleration, but is very quiet and refined at highway speeds. 

Engine, wind and road noise are exceptionally low, probably thanks in part to the 17 inch rims on 55 section tires. It rides and turns into bends beautifully and really flows down a twisty road, but the steering is perhaps a little too light for my tastes. Nevertheless, unlike most mid-size cars, I think this car would be great fun to drive with the six speed manual transmission. However, most will plump for the six speed automatic transmission, which is a $1,300 option on base GX models and a free upgrade on all other models. It is exceptionally smooth and responsive, although I found it a little whiny around town. On the open road though, you have an excellent sport mode and slick steering-wheel mounted paddleshifters, which really heighten your involvement. However, I did find the paddleshifters a little too short for my relatively small hands! 

The brakes are very strong and progressive. 

My one disappointment was that I only averaged 9.3 L/100 km during my test, although this was slightly better than I achieved in the smaller two litre Mazda 3 last year!

Servicing is every six months or 8,000 km and the good news for high mileage drivers is that the three year bumper-to-bumper, three year roadsides assistance, five year powertrain and seven year anti-perforation warranties are all still unlimited mileage.

Mazda 6 is available in three trim levels: GX, GS and GT. 

GX starts at $24,695 and comes very well-equipped with features including six speed manual transmission, power, heated mirrors, windows and locks, body-coloured bumpers, door handles and mirrors, 17 inch aluminum wheels, front and rear heated seats, driver’s lumbar support, auto headlights and LED taillights, air conditioning, 7” colour touchscreen, steering-wheel mounted audio and cruise controls, CD player, push button start and Bluetooth. Add $1,300 for the automatic transmission. 

For $3,300 more, GS trim adds free automatic transmission upgrade with paddleshifters, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, dual-zone climate control, advanced keyless entry, rear view camera, power driver’s seat and leather-trimmed steering wheel and shifter. GS trim can be enhanced with the $3,000 luxury package. 

Finally, $4,900 more will get you into GT trim, which adds adaptive front LED headlights and foglights, 19” aluminum wheels, LED interior lighting, voice-activated navigation, power moonroof, driver’s and passenger’s seat, leather upholstery and an 11-speaker Bose sound system, amongst other features. A $2,800 Technology package on GT models (auto only) adds more active safety systems, high beam control, XM radio and the aforementioned i-Eloop regenerative braking system, which stores extra power in the alternator to run the car’s electrical systems and improve fuel economy.

Excellent value

The price of entry for the class seems relatively high, but when you consider the very high standard spec, GX manual is excellent value for money. 

GT has many additional features for a reasonable outlay, but it has no more power than the “base” model, so most will consider mid-range GS the best compromise between features and value, especially if you take the “free” automatic transmission upgrade. As the driver, you sit quite low in the car and the rear windshield is relatively high, which means poor rear visibility, so for me the standard rear view camera on GS would be essential. Specify the luxury package if you want a more upscale feel.

So, Mazda have made a car with “Grace, Space and Pace” that Sir William Lyons would be proud of and it’s not hard to see why. Mazda 6 is the former 2014 AJAC car of the year. Fortunately for you, you don’t have to pay the $50,000+ price of entry for a Jaguar XE to get a mid-size car with elegant styling, a comfortable, high quality, spacious interior with many luxury car features, an exceptionally refined drive and excellent ride and handling. With the Mazda 6, you can achieve all of that for as little as 50 per cent of the price! 

The largely unchanged 2017 model is only just around the corner and there are some great deals to be had on remaining 2016 models.