Despite its much-improved appeal, which generated much-improved sales, Mazda6 remains an afterthought among midsize sedans, outsold nearly eight-to-one by the Honda Accord, which seems most like the Mazda, and almost three-to-one by the oft-overlooked Subaru Legacy.
The freshened 2016 version now is upon us, and the model's sales jumped 28% in February, the month it went on sale.
Mazda wisely left the 2016's outsides almost untouched — modified grille area and that's it — while attending to the interior with richer materials, nicer dashboard and instruments.
Mazda was on the edge of new-wave styling when it unveiled the Mazda6 midsize sedan in 2014, hoping the sex appeal finally would swipe some Camry/Accord/Fusion buyers. The 2016 updates left the styling mostly untouched and focused on interior upgrades. (Photo: Mazda)
But as part of the interior upgrades, Mazda included a navigation system that — for Test Drive, at least — worked poorly. A $200 aftermarket unit would work easier, better.
The only way we could enter a destination, using either the voice command or by manually selecting letters and numbers, was to go through the progression: State, city, street, number, waiting between each for the system to absorb and digest.
Mazda said it shouldn't work that way. In fact, it sent a video showing the system responding to a voice speaking the entire address conversationally, as a navi should work — leaving us puzzled about the alternative navi reality we found. Should a modern system even have a mode that requires the tedious entry that we faced?
Offering a manual mode makes sense. Requiring data entry in a strict manner doesn't.
Of course, if you don't use the navi to find destinations frequently, it's not a big deal.
Other gripes, none deal-breakers:
•Exterior door handles: They feel cheap, as if you're operating a fragile plastic piece, which undermines the car's upmarket persona. The door handle is something you touch every time you use the car, so the impression it gives reinforces itself through repetition.
•Back seat: Two outboard spots are comfy, but the big floor hump remains in the middle. We remember when the industry promised that front-wheel drive would eliminate the hump— makes that spot hardly useful.
On the other hand:
•Engine: Remarkably quick for its 184 hp rating, and fuel-efficient too. Our rather rather rambunctious suburban thrash-about returned roughly 22 mpg — which sounds bad against the 32 mpg city/highway combined rating. But the ratings are they're unbelievable in the first place. And we drive hard, in the second. At least we do if the car's any fun, which the 6 is.
Mazda takes the commendable approach of eschewing downsized and turbocharged powerplants that are nearly universal now. It Instead, continues to rely on a relatively large-displacement four-cylinder, but as part of its ballyhooed Skyactiv technology it builds that engine with an unusually high compression ratio. That means the pistons squeeze the air tightly in the cylinders, emulating the packing-in of air that turbos do. but without the additional turbo hardware and the chance you'll have to fix it later at great expense.
High compression ratios or turbos once mean premium fuel. Neither does nowadays.
The Mazda6 engine sounds a bit coarse due to the high compression, but only a minor detail, especially once it's warm.
•Fuel saving i-Eloop: It's optional rather than standard as we'd prefer. But it saves fuel without the ugliness of the stop-start mechanisms that can interrupt your driving pleasure.
Instead of shutting off the engine at stoplights and the like, as stop-start does, i-Eloop generates electricity when the car slows and brakes, as a hybrid does. Instead of a hybrid's But there's no massive battery; pack to store juice i-Eloop sends the electricity into a small storage device called a capacitor. It holds enough to run the lights or climate control briefly, taking that load off the engine and enabling it to use less fuel.
It's worth 2 mpg in government ratings. We didn't have a chance to directly compare Mazda6s cars with and without.
•Noise: Not much, which was Mazda's a goal in the freshening. But still we noticed what seemed like unusual amounts of tire nose on a variety of asphalt and concrete paving. Check where you usually drive before you sign the papers, to be sure you're not buying annoyance.
If you consider midsize four-door sedans to be simply family cars, you're probably not a Mazda6 buyer. If you see no reason why usefulness and family-friendliness need to conflict with good driving behavior, you're a candidate.
Mazda6 Highlights:
• Style: Very sexy.•
•Engine: Fun, fuel-efficient
•Interior: Nicer, as intended.
2016 Mazda6 Details:
•What? Updates — mainly inside — to a recently redesigned mid-size, four-door, front-drive sedan.
•When? 2016 went on sale in February.
•How much? Starts at $22,315 including $820 shipping for base Sport, manual transmission. Top model, Grand Touring with automatic, starts at $31,015.
Test car, Grand Touring automatic, with optional Technology Package ($2,180) and other, minor options was $33,395.
•Where? Made at How, Japan.
•What makes it go? 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine rated 184 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 185 pounds-feet of torque at 3,250 rpm, available with manual or automatic six-speed transmission.
•How big? Very close to Honda Accord.
Weighs 3,179 lbs. (manual transmission), 3,250 lbs. (automatic)
Passenger compartment, 99.7 cubic feet.; trunk, 14.8 cu. ft.
Turning circle diameter 36.7 feet.
•How thirsty? Manual rated 25 mpg in city driving, 37 highway, 29 in combined city/highway.
Automatic rated 26/38/30, or 28/40/32 with i-Eloop fuel-saving option.
High-end, automatic-transmission test car with i-Eloop delivered 22.1 mpg (4.52 gallons per 100 miles) in broad mix of driving, much of it quite vigorous.
Burns regular. Tank holds 16.4 gal.
The only way we could enter a destination, using either the voice command or by manually selecting letters and numbers, was to go through the progression: State, city, street, number, waiting between each for the system to absorb and digest.
Mazda said it shouldn't work that way. In fact, it sent a video showing the system responding to a voice speaking the entire address conversationally, as a navi should work — leaving us puzzled about the alternative navi reality we found. Should a modern system even have a mode that requires the tedious entry that we faced?
Offering a manual mode makes sense. Requiring data entry in a strict manner doesn't.
Of course, if you don't use the navi to find destinations frequently, it's not a big deal.
Other gripes, none deal-breakers:
•Exterior door handles: They feel cheap, as if you're operating a fragile plastic piece, which undermines the car's upmarket persona. The door handle is something you touch every time you use the car, so the impression it gives reinforces itself through repetition.
•Back seat: Two outboard spots are comfy, but the big floor hump remains in the middle. We remember when the industry promised that front-wheel drive would eliminate the hump— makes that spot hardly useful.
On the other hand:
•Engine: Remarkably quick for its 184 hp rating, and fuel-efficient too. Our rather rather rambunctious suburban thrash-about returned roughly 22 mpg — which sounds bad against the 32 mpg city/highway combined rating. But the ratings are they're unbelievable in the first place. And we drive hard, in the second. At least we do if the car's any fun, which the 6 is.
Mazda takes the commendable approach of eschewing downsized and turbocharged powerplants that are nearly universal now. It Instead, continues to rely on a relatively large-displacement four-cylinder, but as part of its ballyhooed Skyactiv technology it builds that engine with an unusually high compression ratio. That means the pistons squeeze the air tightly in the cylinders, emulating the packing-in of air that turbos do. but without the additional turbo hardware and the chance you'll have to fix it later at great expense.
High compression ratios or turbos once mean premium fuel. Neither does nowadays.
The Mazda6 engine sounds a bit coarse due to the high compression, but only a minor detail, especially once it's warm.
•Fuel saving i-Eloop: It's optional rather than standard as we'd prefer. But it saves fuel without the ugliness of the stop-start mechanisms that can interrupt your driving pleasure.
Instead of shutting off the engine at stoplights and the like, as stop-start does, i-Eloop generates electricity when the car slows and brakes, as a hybrid does. Instead of a hybrid's But there's no massive battery; pack to store juice i-Eloop sends the electricity into a small storage device called a capacitor. It holds enough to run the lights or climate control briefly, taking that load off the engine and enabling it to use less fuel.
It's worth 2 mpg in government ratings. We didn't have a chance to directly compare Mazda6s cars with and without.
•Noise: Not much, which was Mazda's a goal in the freshening. But still we noticed what seemed like unusual amounts of tire nose on a variety of asphalt and concrete paving. Check where you usually drive before you sign the papers, to be sure you're not buying annoyance.
If you consider midsize four-door sedans to be simply family cars, you're probably not a Mazda6 buyer. If you see no reason why usefulness and family-friendliness need to conflict with good driving behavior, you're a candidate.
Mazda6 Highlights:
• Style: Very sexy.•
•Engine: Fun, fuel-efficient
•Interior: Nicer, as intended.
2016 Mazda6 Details:
•What? Updates — mainly inside — to a recently redesigned mid-size, four-door, front-drive sedan.
•When? 2016 went on sale in February.
•How much? Starts at $22,315 including $820 shipping for base Sport, manual transmission. Top model, Grand Touring with automatic, starts at $31,015.
Test car, Grand Touring automatic, with optional Technology Package ($2,180) and other, minor options was $33,395.
•Where? Made at How, Japan.
•What makes it go? 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine rated 184 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 185 pounds-feet of torque at 3,250 rpm, available with manual or automatic six-speed transmission.
•How big? Very close to Honda Accord.
Weighs 3,179 lbs. (manual transmission), 3,250 lbs. (automatic)
Passenger compartment, 99.7 cubic feet.; trunk, 14.8 cu. ft.
Turning circle diameter 36.7 feet.
•How thirsty? Manual rated 25 mpg in city driving, 37 highway, 29 in combined city/highway.
Automatic rated 26/38/30, or 28/40/32 with i-Eloop fuel-saving option.
High-end, automatic-transmission test car with i-Eloop delivered 22.1 mpg (4.52 gallons per 100 miles) in broad mix of driving, much of it quite vigorous.
Burns regular. Tank holds 16.4 gal.
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