Still one of top rides in its class
Sometimes, you just have to watch a movie a second time. Sure, it’s the same movie but on the second go-round you’re bound to notice foreshadowing clues, shot details, and other nuances that you simply missed the first time.
The 2020 Mazda6 is that movie — I drove it for a week earlier this year and was so chuffed with it, I took it out again. So, this review is more in-depth than usual, given my extra time behind the wheel.
And behind the wheel is a very pleasant place to be!
The base Mazda6 is the GS, starting at $29,331. That gets you 17-inch wheels, LED headlights, and a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre inline-four that makes 187 horsepower and 186 lb-ft of torque.
Our test car was the fully loaded $41,481 Signature, adding a few nice upgrades like 19-inch wheels and a power moonroof, but hands down the highlight is the Nappa leather interior.
A pleasant suede-like material lines the door cards and parts of the dashboard, while the seats themselves are trimmed in wonderfully soft leather.
To make things even sweeter, the interior was a stylish cream white; it may be difficult to keep clean, but my goodness does it look good. But if you have kids or ever want to eat in your car, perhaps another colour would be wiser.
The Mazda6’s interior is easily the best in the midsize segment and it’s nice to see actual, thoughtful design inside an affordable car.
The seats are sumptuously soft but supportive during spirited driving, and the central digital speedometer can be customized to show trip/ fuel economy info, music, or navigation.
That said, one awkward feature is that the centre console doesn’t really run far enough forward for your elbow to rest comfortably, but the open console layout is nevertheless very practical despite this, offering
two cupholders, a storage cubby, and a little spot for your phone.
The infotainment system, although packing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, is a little less successful. The eight-inch display is mounted high on the dashboard and is a touchscreen — but only when you’re in park.
Slot the Mazda into drive and the screen will pretend it can’t feel you poking it, relegating you to the rotary control knob located awkwardly rearwards on the centre console. The knob provides good haptic feedback, but it’s just not as intuitive as a touchscreen.
Still, it’s miles better than, say, Lexus’ touchpad, and I understand that Mazda doesn’t want you messing with a touchscreen while driving, but the system has no way of knowing that your passenger isn’t using the touchscreen and also locks them out.
Moving rearwards, the rear seats are just as spacious and comfortable as the front, and the roofline allows decent headroom. The trunk is very generous for a car of this size and will happily swallow all the suitcases you can throw at it.
The driving experience is another area in which the
Mazda6 excels over cars like the Accord and Sonata. The ride quality is absolutely superb over bumps and the overall effect is nothing short of serene — some Audis wish they could ride this well.
As part of my extended road test, I took the Mazda6 on a 900-kilometre road trip from Toronto to Ottawa and back. Along the way, I learned a few things in a road trip scenario that weren’t evident during my regular driving.
First, while the seats are initially comfortable, I found them to be a little less so as time went on. I learned that for me they were really only comfortable for the first three hours of driving before fatigue set in — but then again, few seats are truly all-day comfortable.
The other fly in the ointment
was the amount of road noise above 100 km/h. It was so noisy that I found myself turning my music up louder than normal.
When I called people while driving via Bluetooth, most on the other end all noticed and commented on the road noise. It’s easy to blame the tires here, but the high-speed road noise is something I’d really like to see addressed in this otherwise very comfy cruiser.
But don’t let all this fool you into thinking the Mazda6 is an overstuffed armchair like a Buick Park Avenue. This thing’s got moves. Push it through some back-road curves and the big sedan responds far more adroitly than it has any right to.
The Mazda6 is genuinely enjoyable to drive on curvy roads. Like most sedans in its class, the engine is a turbocharged inline-four, but this one is a 2.5L unit putting out 250 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque.
Those are pretty good numbers for the segment, but the way that power is delivered isn’t all that exciting. It makes most of its power in the midrange and doesn’t particularly like to rev out. It also makes a pretty generic whirring noise, but I guess most midsize sedans do.
That said, I was impressed with the Mazda6’s handling on the road that I decided to put it through a test that, according to Mazda Canada, no one had attempted (bothered?) before: I subjected the big sedan to a full (and socially distanced) day’s worth of autocross!
For those who don’t know, autocross is basically a form of motorsports that takes place on a course made up of cones on a large parking lot. If it sounds extremely nerdy, well, that’s because it is.
Measuring just under 4.9-metres long overall, the Mazda6 isn’t your usual autocross choice. It definitely carried a weight advantage, but despite that it still managed to post a time mid-pack among the Miatas and Subaru BRZs that usually dominate the day.
Pretty commendable for a family sedan. But its tires were once again its Achille’s Heel. Not surprisingly, the fairly hard tires intended for fuel economy, likely contributing to the high amount of road noise on my road trip as well as vocally opposing any rapid change in direction.
But unless you plan on cone-racing your family sedan every week, it really shouldn’t pose too much of an issue.
We put the Mazda6 through every reasonable and unreasonable test we could think of and came away impressed. With its designer interior, smooth ride, agile handling, and tech goodies like Apple CarPlay, the Mazda6 simply stands out above its competitors.
While not perfect, it’s certainly one of the top cars to consider in the segment.