First drive: Mazda6 poised for success

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First drive: Mazda6 poised for success

A Mazda executive noted that most hatchback buyers were attracted by the sporty styling, but the new sedan and wagon both have that in spades.

We drove both of the four-cylinder engine variants coming to Australia – the “high power” version of the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel already available in the CX-5 and the new 2.5-litre petrol unit – and came away impressed with both.

We expected the twin-turbo diesel to be the star of the show and it impressed from the outset, sounding nothing like a diesel but rather like an older petrol unit.

Engine noise was not intrusive and diesel rattle was absent, but the power delivery was pure turbo-diesel – strong and linear from low revs.

However, driving the new petrol unit left us even more impressed. Not only is it lively, with plenty of power delivered impressively smoothly all the way through to the red line, but it is accompanied by a sporty engine note that probably made it seem even faster.

The weight difference of about 140kg also helped to make the petrol version feel more lithe...

Mazda 6 petrol - 1360 Kg, 6.3 l/100 km
Diesel - 1500 Kg, 2.2 I-4 420 nm, 4.8 l/100 km.

Drive.com.au
There’s a modest 141kW of power to play with (Australian cars will get 138kW running on regular unleaded petrol) but the light 1360kg body means it feels perkier than the raw figures might suggest.

Torque, or pulling power, is also modest but useful, helping gradually build speed or slug up a hill. And at 100km/h in top gear the 6 will amble along at less than 1900rpm, dropping down a gear or two up an incline.

As well as stop-start – which refires the engine impressively smoothly – there’s a new technology called i-eLoop. Using a capacitor to quickly store energy normally lost in heat through the brakes, the power is then fed to the battery where it is used to power everything from the steering and sound system to the air-conditioning and fuel pump.

Combined the systems are claimed to reduce fuel use by 10 per cent, adding to already impressive gains on the engine and other components. The fuel missing diesel will use a hybrid-beating 4.8 litres per 100km according to the European test cycle (expect 0.1-0.2L/100km more in the Australian test).

The 2.2-litre diesel – as with the petrol engine it’s available exclusively with a six-speed auto – produces 129kW of power and 420Nm of torque, compared with 132kW and 400Nm for the engine it replaces.

The diesel pulls strongly and cleanly with impressive low-rev flexibility, and teamed with that Bose sound system doesn’t have the droning sound diesels can often emit. In fact at higher engine revs the diesel sounds more like a petrol engine.

The 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine won’t be as economical as its diesel counterpart, though, but it’s still impressive, using as little as 6.3L/100km. That still translates to near class leading economy, undercutting some key rivals by as much as 30 per cent.

Teamed with the petrol engine, the new six-speed automatic transmission shifts slickly when building pace, with only a mild, muted knock on full throttle up-changes. Downchanges aren’t always as elegant, but the transmission responds quickly and efficiently to select the right ratio.