Mazda’s first luxe

The CX-60 brings back the iconic I6

Disclaimer: I am a confirmed fan of what was once the stable of New Zealand’s family car fleet — and that is not one particular marque, but the inline six-cylinder engine.

The straight 6 came in just about everything from Aussie and the big English cars and was often the base engine in American cars.

I’m still running the 250ci (4.1-litre) I6 in my XY Falcon and have driven a number of sixes over the years, including my XM Falcon wagon with 221ci (3.6-litre) fitted, Mark 3 Zephyr with that smooth 2.6-litre engine and even the iconic J40 Toyota Land Cruiser with the 4.2-litre petrol I6.

But there’s one engine size that was iconic in my mind — the 3.3 litre.

I loved my parent’s ’65 Vauxhall Velox 3.3-litre with Hydramatic transmission. It had a whopping 85kW of power and 238Nm of torque. I also thought it strange that England, which was so passionate about the imperial measurement system, rated its engines in metric terms.

Not so the Aussies. Their 3.3s were the Holden’s 202ci and Falcon’s 200ci — both putting out 80-something kW of power and over 250Nm of torque.

All three engines ran a wider bore (92-93mm) than stroke length (79-82mm) — the result of increasing engine size by boring out engine ranges.

The point of that introduction is that the I6 is all but extinct — but

Mazda has brought it back.

The new CX-60 is Mazda’s first luxury SUV, a mid-sized AWD offering to compete against Audi, Lexus, Mercedes Benz, Volvo and BMW.

It comes in three specifications — Touring, Homura and Takami — and each is in PHEV spec with a host of tech and fuel-saving trickery that delivers power and economy.

But I didn’t drive a PHEV from Fairview Motors — I drove the one offering that has a 3.3-litre I6 — the Mazda CX-60 Homura e-SKYACTIV G 3.3 Hybrid AllWheel Drive.