Background
Released in 2002 the Mazda6 was an immediate hit, as well as quite a curiosity. For a start, here was a Mazda that didn't look boring, and harked back to the days of the stylish early Astina's and RX-7's. Secondly the rather strange name that was an amalgam of Manufacturer and model. While officially the model name is Mazda6, it soon became known as the '6' and was soon joined by the Mazda3 and Mazda2.
The final surprise was the performance and handling. Nobody was more surprised it seems than Richard Hammond of Top Gear who reviewed the Mazda6 shortly after release in the UK.
Over the ensuing 5 years, Mazda proceeded to win many and various quality and reliability awards around the globe, was regularly acknowledged as being "best in class" and as recently as December 2007 won the Carsales Peoples Choice award in the medium sized category for the 5th time. Prior to that the Mazda6 was winner of the 2005 Wheels active safety program, in 2004 was rated as the best medium car by Drive (The Age) in their Top Ten Cars feature, and in 2003 was rated Best Mid-size Car over $25,000 in Australias Best Cars.
Significant then that even at the end of the product cycle, with a new model waiting in the wings, the Mazda6 is still leading the field.
Key to the Mazda6 story of success was the excellent 2.3 litre MZR four cylinder engine, which produced a still impressive 122kW and 208Nm of torque. Back in 2002 that output was in the realm of the 2.5 litre Liberty and JSII Vectra V6. The second key element to success was how the car looked. Both Ford and Mitsubishi can attest that building an ugly car is no way to sales success. The AU (awfully ugly?) Falcon almost sunk Ford, who were fortunately redeemed by the very impressive and attractive BA. Mitsubishi however started off on the wrong foot with the last (and hideous) Boulay Magna, and took barely a step forward with the US Galant based "380". Impressive dynamics could not make up for boring, and to some eyes ugly, styling.
The Mazda6 however was a stylish and attractive trend setter. Known as the Atenza in Japan, it was the first of a series of stylish Mazda's and aped the more extreme looking RX8 with sweeping cut lines across the bonnet and subtly flared guards. The optional "aero" body kit further improved the aggressive look.
The only omission some in the Australian market longed for was the V6 engine available in the USA, however this would have meant sourcing complete cars from the USA. The exchange rate made this unattractive, and more importantly the abysmal quality of the US models made the deal a no go. Maybe abysmal is a strong word, however the USA is the only country in the world where the Mazda6 ranked near the bottom of quality rankings, rather than the top. The Australian Mazda6 was sourced from Japan, and as such enjoyed excellent Toyota like levels of quality and reliability, without having to suffer the Toyota like boredom and lack lustre performance.
Review
It was a sad day when I took my MY02 WRX to the Mazda dealership and drove away in a brand new Mazda6 Sports Sedan. The WRX was great fun, however after more than 8 months and 18,000km of ownership, the lack of compromise and completeness of the Mazda6 has made a lasting impression. While it's lacking power to the tune of 38kW in comparison to the Impreza, it weighs the same and changes direction just as well, if not better. The Impreza is quicker through corners by virtue of it's all wheel drive grip, however the Mazda is agile and great fun to drive. During U-turns and tight corners it will easily light up the inside wheel, which leads me onto the surprising lack of traction control. Available in higher spec models it was not even an option on the Sports Sedan, which was a little disappointing. It is greatly missed on wet days, especially considering the generous torque produced by the 2.3 litre MZR, and the extremely short gearing in 1st gear. This leads me onto the next surprise. The gearbox ratios. Considering Mazda had 6 ratios to use, they all seem to be stacked quite close together, with 6th gear turning around 3000rpm at highway speeds. This is similar to 5th gear in the WRX, but a long way from the relaxed 2100rpm the Vectra spins as it lopes along sipping fuel. On a spirited drive through the hills I can see the rationale for 6 close ratios, however I think I'd on balance prefer 5 close ratios and a much taller 6th for cruising.
These minor quibbles aside, the Mazda6 is a great car, and surprisingly capable in many areas. The power output of 122kW might seem low in comparison to a Commodore or Falcon, however considering the weight of the Mazda6 is considerably less, it actually had a similar power to weight ratio to the 2002 VX Commodore and wasn't far off the mighty then-just-released 182kW BA Falcon, which was some 450kg heavier. The contemporary 4-cyl Camry was totally outclassed and some would say still is.
The MZR engine revs sweetly and cleanly to redline, and sounds great doing so thanks to Mazdas attention to the induction note, and pulls cleanly from rev ranges that would see the WRX requiring a downshift or a very long wait.
The boot of the Mazda6 is actually larger than both the Falcon and Commodore, which makes the "family car" case very strong indeed unless you need to regularly tow a large boat or caravan.
