From the May 2013 issue of Car and Driver.
Long limbed and slightly poisonous, the yellow sac spider (Cheiracanthium inclusum) is a North American native whose looks are as terrible as you’d expect from anything with “sac” in its name. The little creature fell hard for the previous-generation Mazda 6, and for reasons unknown outside the arachnid world, the eight-eyed webmasters started shacking up in the 6’s evaporative canister vent line at some point between the plant and dealerships, prompting the recall of 65,000 cars. However, while spiders voted with their feet for the 6, Mazda always struggled to get actual humans into the car.
On average, Toyota sold more Camrys in one month last year than Mazda 6s sold all year. That overly large, personality-deprived 6 is gone, left to the arachnids. With the introduction of the new 6, Mazda didn’t just shake the Etch A Sketch, it threw it out and started over on an iPad. The 2014 Mazda 6 is a wholesale reboot. The body, suspension, powertrain, interior, and exterior—and even the evaporative canister vent line—are all clean-sheet designs. It’s not even built in Flat Rock, Michigan, anymore. The 6 picked up its bindle and caught the next boxcar headed for Hofu, Japan.
You don’t need eight eyes to spot the 6’s new sheetmetal. Mazda tells us the new styling is informed by its “Kodo” philosophy, which endeavors to capture motion in metal. It’s hardly a unique concept, but the 6 is certainly less “meh” than the class average. We’re talking about you, Camry. The 6 looks like a premium Japanese sedan, and if Mazda hadn’t strangled in the cradle its plan to launch the Amati luxury brand 20 years ago, the new 6 could anchor its showroom nicely.
Visual trickery abounds. Pleated fenders give the illusion of width. Mazda shifted the A-pillar back nearly four inches to lengthen the hood and disguise the unflattering proportions inherent with a transversely mounted engine. Gloss-black trim, dual exhaust outlets, and chrome embellishments around the greenhouse, grille, and trunklid lend an upmarket presence, even in this, the lowliest, $21,675 Sport trim. And, should you buy this cheaper version, your thrift will remain a secret. Aside from the Sport’s 17-inch wheels and its lack of fog lights and a rear spoiler, its exterior is identical to the $30,290 Grand Touring model’s.
On the scales, the manual-transmission Sport puts up another pertinent number: 3124 pounds. That’s a startling 216 pounds less than its equivalent predecessor. Considering the weight loss, you might suspect a structure crafted from bird bones and shredded wheat. What you actually get is a stiff new unibody with straighter frame rails and additional high-strength steel.
Light in weight, but never feeling lightweight, the 6 is a solid car. Bolted to the new structure are struts up front and a multilink rear suspension. Mazda claims to have tweaked the suspension mounting points to enhance stability and lessen impact harshness. We can report that suspension crash and structural shudders are minimal on the Sport model with 17-inch wheels and 225/55R-17 all-season tires. Road noise, long a weakness for Mazda, isn’t intrusive. Even so, the sound-level meter did record 70 decibels at 70 mph. That would have made it noisiest in our recent test of the segment [“Masters of the Middle,” November 2012].
The ride quality and shock damping are on the stiffer side of the segment, more like a Ford Fusion than a Camry. Up and down motions are attenuated quickly, while body roll and understeer are both kept on a short leash. On the skidpad, the 6’s 0.87 g of grip would have tied it for first place in our test with the four-cylinder Accord EX and the Fusion SE.
The brake pedal strokes with a satisfying linearity that makes scrubbing the right amount of speed easy. Braking from 70 mph takes 172 feet, a number that would have put the 6 at the head of the table in the afore-mentioned family-sedan comparo. The steering effort is light, but the response is accurate and predictable. More feedback would be nice, especially from the Miata company, but we should probably accept that not every mid-size-sedan driver wants a Miata wheel in his hands. Though we do.
At launch, the only engine available in the 6 is Mazda’s new 2.5-liter Skyactiv four-cylinder. A 2.2-liter turbo-diesel arrives this fall. In the 2.5, a 13.0:1 compression ratio, direct injection, and long, tuned exhaust runners hint at race-car ambitions, but the 87-octane burner turns out just 184 horse-power at 5700 rpm and 185 pound-feet of torque at 3250 rpm. It is a smooth and calm, if somewhat flavorless, low-revving engine.
Hitched up to the six-speed manual, the 2.5 drives the 6 to 60 mph in 7.9 seconds. A four-cylinder Accord manual does it in 6.6 seconds in second gear, whereas the Mazda requires two upshifts. By the quarter-mile, the 6 is a second behind the Accord. In short, the Skyactiv isn’t very active, and it won’t win you many drag races, even against other family sedans.
Mazda’s engine seems to prioritize efficiency, refinement, and low-end power, and it succeeds on those objectives. With a manual, the 6 earned an EPA rating of 25 mpg in the city and 37 on the highway; we scored 26 mpg. Automatic versions rate even better: 26 and 38 mpg. But opting for the auto will cost an additional $1615.
We’d gladly sacrifice 1 mpg for the joy of the six-speed manual, but there are other sacrifices required. A clutch pedal only comes in the base Sport model or in mid-level Touring spec. In the Sport model, choice amounts to selecting one of six paint colors and either a tan or black cloth interior. No other options are offered.
That lack of choice is a real timesaver at the dealership. Sport models sacrifice Bluetooth connectivity, a 5.8-inch touch screen, satellite radio, navigation, automatic climate control, auto-dimming mirrors, bi-xenon headlights, a rearview camera, power seats, leather, and safety options like blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warn-ing. Moving up to the Touring version is less of a sacrifice. Touring 6s add a touch screen, rear camera, 19-inch wheels, automatic cli-mate control, and a power driver’s seat. Still, the Touring manual can’t be had with navigation, bixenon lights, and the active safety features.
In exchange for being an options martyr, though, you receive the endless bliss that comes from perfectly placed pedals, snappy throws, effortless shifts, and creamy clutch engagement. Engineers with RX-8s clearly had a hand in this gearbox. Thanks to them, forgetting you’re in a family sedan is a heel-toe downshift away.
Treat the 6 like a teen hauler and it still shines. The 111.4-inch wheelbase is 1.6 inches longer than the previous 6’s and yields excellent rear-seat legroom. A 15-cubic-foot trunk is in line with the segment leaders, as is a 60/40-split rear seat that folds at the pull of trunk-mounted knobs. The well-bolstered front seats are contoured in the right places and comfortable in day-to-day use. Unlike the velour upholstery in a number of competitors, the 6 uses a coarser and more durable-looking fabric that wouldn’t seem out of place in a Volkswagen GTI.
Material quality is top-shelf throughout, even in the base trim. Smooth leather wraps the three-spoke steer-ing wheel. The instrument panel is fashioned from soft and tightly grained plastic that put us in the mind of a Benz E-class. Satin-chrome bezels highlight the three gauges and dashboard vents. Spears of what appears to be gray granite—it’s actually plastic—cross through the middle of the dashboard. Mazda’s interior is attractive because of its restraint and execution, and it’s a welcome relief from the overdesigned and button-laden starship command decks in some other mid-size sedans.
Throughout the 6 are the fingerprints of people who don’t think of cars in the same way they think of other machines. While it’s not quick or even club-you-over-the-head sporty, the new 6 shares a lot of fundamental traits with sports cars. And these traits aren’t just there for the benefit of car lovers. They’re also useful to the typical family-sedan driver. A relatively low cowl and the repositioned A-pillars result in a vast view out front. The structure is both light and stiff to boost handling and fuel economy. The driver’s relation-ship to the steering wheel, pedals, radio, and HVAC are all spot on. Better yet, the steering, brakes, and floor-mounted accelerator have responses that wouldn’t feel out of place on Turn Three at Road America. If you think that’s overkill in a mainstream sedan, con-sider that the Mazda 6’s alert controls will be at your command when a truck tire bounds into your lane.
Substance trumps flash here, and that’s especially apparent in the most basic, manual Mazda 6 i Sport. Buyers who long for a sports car, but who are forced into an afford-able sedan, will find a kindred spirit in the 6. Less-enthusiastic drivers will find that this car just feels right. Consequently, we think this is the one family sedan most likely to share garage space with a sports coupe, a race car, or even some sort of spyder—but hopefully not any lovesick spiders.
Material quality is top-shelf throughout, even in the base trim. Smooth leather wraps the three-spoke steer-ing wheel. The instrument panel is fashioned from soft and tightly grained plastic that
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Source: Reviews - aranddriver.com
