10 things we learned about the Mazda 6
Date:
19 May 2017
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Category: | Upper medium | Key rival: | VW Passat | Model tested: | 2.2 150 Sport Nav | Price as tested: | £26,595 | |
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Classy and capable, but can a Mazda 6 saloon tempt in a market that prefers hatches, ponder Al Suttie.
1 - The best sellers in the upper medium sector are hatches, so is Mazda hampered with its saloon 6?
2 - With a 480-litre boot, it's not as generous as a Mondeo or Insignia, but it's long, wide and plenty big enough for most needs.
3 - Taller items will be tricky to fit in, but there's always the estate version for that, and the saloon does look good.
4 - Any other downsides to four doors instead of five? Not that we can see and there's loads of room front and rear.
5 - It's also very well made and has an air of sophistication in here that's missing from its Ford and Vauxhall rivals.
6 - That comes through in the way the Mazda drives, too, as it feels lithe and limber on twisting roads.
7 - Head onto the motorway or into town and it's equally adept with a superb ride and handling balance.
8 - The 2.2-litre turbodiesel has sufficient oomph for all occasions and the manual six-speeder is slick.
9 - One point that irked was the over-keen automatic central locking that secured the car between getting out and trying to open the boot.
10 - Other than that, and residuals that trail the class leaders, the Mazda is a saloon-sized solution in a hatchback world.
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