CLASS OF ITS OWN
Car buyers have been moving away from the classic sedan in droves, in favour of hatchbacks and SUVs but the Mazda6 is proof the medium sedan is far from dead
THE Mazda6 is a flagship model for its maker, a medium-sized Japanese sedan and wagon for the family.
It’s been a mainstay of the range, and while now under attack from the cult of SUVs, Mazda said the 6 series will remain part of the family.
To stabilise sales and to hold its ground, the Mazda6 has been revised again to attract new customers and keep sales running at a steady clip.
The changes, albeit minor, may help the Mazda better compete for buyers looking at lower-end European cars.
It might also appeal to those moving down in size as the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon begin disappearing from showrooms.
From outside, the 2016 Mazda6 looks little different, aside from new door mirrors with indicator lights incorporated on three of the four model grades and a fresh body colour options. There are still four trim options, sedan or wagon body styles and the choice of 2.5 litre petrol or 2.2 litre diesel options; all with six-speed automatic gearboxes.
Changes to the mechanical package for the new season include G-Vectoring Control for the front end (as introduced on the smaller Mazda3) and some clever work to reduce the knock-knock sound inherent in diesel engines.
As discovered on the Mazda3, this G-VC is a subtle business. It’s a computer-controlled system that adjusts engine torque to help generate a braking force on the front wheels and smooth out those forces which upset wheels under cornering.
It will also take out some need for constant steering wheel corrections on rougher patches of the M1.
But we’re still not sure if even this cleverness could smooth out that piece of Bermuda St leading to the freeway at Burleigh these days.
But the G-VC does mean that little extra driver control of what’s already a well-behaved vehicle.
The 129kW diesel engine uses dampers inside the piston pins plus extra control of fuel injection to lessen engine clatter. While Mazda sees only 10 per cent of buyers opting for this engine, and while it’s at least $3000 dearer, it’s not far behind the 138kW petrol on power and ahead on torque – 420Nm versus 129Nm.
There are more, again subtle, changes inside. These range from coordinating fonts across instruments and the windscreen’s “Active Driving Display” to a new steering wheel.
There are trim revisions, some extra splashes of chrome and that head-up display projected on the windscreen in front of the driver now arrives in full colour and reads speed.
All these minor changes add up to extra class for the Mazda6 which – these days with unchanged prices – starts at a reasonable $32,490.
This enhancement is most evident in the upper-spec Atenza, $45,390 for a petrol sedan; this could challenge some premium Euro brands.
We’d be most happy – if no need for a ute – to go with a Mazda6 wagon in as high a grade as the budget would stretch. Like its sedan sibling, it’s a handsome, comfortable and competent machine not shaded or shamed by European counterparts. THUMBS UP Style and substance
THUMBS DOWN Not an SUV GORDON Murray, designer of Formula One racers and super sports cars, has now created one of the world’s slowest, most flat-sided and most useful little trucks.
The Ox, commissioned by the Global Vehicle Trust in England, is designed to be pulled apart, packed flat, shipped to exotic countries and do duties as a mechanical workhorse in some of the poorest parts of the world. Parts of the world where well-constructed and maintained, let alone tarred, roads are a luxury.
The new Murray machine runs a 2.2 litre, 74kW Ford diesel engine with five-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels.
There’s a wide track, 16-inch wheels, a minimum of 250mm ground clearance and a low 1600kg dry weight.
And the Global Vehicle Trust and Mr Murray are confident these specifications, plus excellent approach and departure angles, mean the Ox will go as far, if not further, than a conventional fourwheel-drive machine.
It takes almost five hours for the Ox to be packed up; it can then be reassembled by three trained people in about 12 hours.
There are any number of cost, and practical, advantages to the vehicle’s design for shipping and work configurations.
It has a three-seat cab with a central driving position and could carry another 10 passengers as a people-mover or 2000kg of cargo.
But with car design rules, plus lowest-common denominator road rules around here, don’t expect to see the Ox on the streets of Surfers Paradise any time soon.