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Our Fleet Test Drive: Mazda 6 - 6th report
Date: 03 September 2008 | Author: Tony Rock
Ever since the Mazda 6 joined our fleet we've been saying how much the big hatchback could do with rear parking sensors because of its length, high boot and spoiler, which all limit visibility.
The thinking was that any potential damage over three years would easily offset the initial outlay for the option, generally around the £250 mark.
Unfortunately, Mazda doesn't offer parking sensors on the 6 in Sport trim, something of a surprise given the car's hefty proportions.
And now the inevitable has happened. Just a few hours into my family holiday to south-west France, I backed into a very high kerb - though not visible from the driver's seat - at a service station, causing several scratches [1].
Fortunately for me, perverse as it sounds, the Mazda was rear-ended in slow traffic by a French lad in an Astra a couple of hours later that day - which means the whole bumper now needs replacing courtesy of his insurance.
That afternoon apart, our 6 coped admirable with the trials of two young children and the associated world of stuff that accompanies such a trip.
Looking at the piles my other half had stacked in the hall, I'd have put Spurs's transfer budget on us having to leave a kid behind, but the 510-litre boot swallowed two pushchairs, a travel cot, nappies and pretty much everything else [2], although we did have to slot a couple of bits between the toddler and baby [3] on the back seat. The usable square boot space makes the luggage area seem even bigger than its already mammoth proportions, and drop the rear seats and the hatchback can match many an estate car. It's not quite as large as the voluminous Ford Mondeo hatch, but there's very little else that can get close in the sector.
That huge boot is as a consequence of the car's whopping dimensions, taking us back full circle to the visibility and parking issues that have left it with the aforementioned battle scarring.
The trip down to southern France has helped lift the average fuel consumption to 37.9mpg, while French autoroute runs there and back saw 48.4 and 44.4mpg respectively, the former setting a new record for a tank of diesel. Settling back into post-holiday life, we've dropped back to around the 37mpg mark for the past few tanks.
We're now heading rapidly for the 10,000-mile mark since the car arrived in mid-March, and it's still proving faultlessly reliable (touch wood.). We're also still loving the touring car-style bodykit and stunning blue paint job, which should look even better when a nice new bumper comes along soon.
