2008 Mazda MAZDA6

Review

It's heading into the twilight, now, the first gen Mazda6. It is being replaced for model

year 2009 by a new, larger, more angular and altogether younger, albeit four-door-only vehicle, but if my 2008 Mazda6 s 5-Door Grand Touring test car is any indication, the original 6 is planning on going out at a decibel or two below a bang, but at far from a whisper. Remember, in 2002 this was the car that, along with the Mazda3 released a few years later, became representative of Mazda's “Stylish, Insightful and Spirited” design philosophy that has since been mimicked by some of the more prolific Japanese manufacturers--take a look at the latest Camry and tell me if you don't see some Mazda6 in its sharp nose and upsweeping beltline. Basically, with the release of the 6, styling ceased to be an afterthought in the midsize sedan segment, pushing aside the belief that even if a car may not be hugely appealing to the eye, buyers were happy with bulletproof reliability that lasted far beyond its warranty.

First impressions are of utmost importance, and the Mazda6 5-Door's styling does wonders. The Mazda6 sedan, with its squinting front lenses and forward-leaning stance is a good looking car itself, but this particular 6's hatchback takes things to another level. I'll admit that when the 5-Door was released

alongside the sedan in 2002, I had a little trouble telling the difference between the two, especially when the four-door was fitted with the optional rear wing, but upon closer inspection the differences are substantial. Most evident, of course, is the short rear deck thanks to the 5-Door's hatchback roots, but my favorite aspect is how the low roofline melds smoothly with the steeply canted beltline, culminating in a fairly substantial rear wing that adds a real air of Touring Car drama to the proceedings. This is appropriate as the 6 races in the SCCAPro Touring Car Series and, as with many Mazda products, the racing DNA is plainly visible. My particular example was fitted with the optional 18-inch Y-spoke alloys wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero Nero rubber that has such a low profile it can hardly be seen unless you get right down to tarmac level, and which also features a new-for-2008 electronic tire-pressure monitoring system. The white finish of the wheels provides a sharply appealing contrast to the Bright Island Blue Metallic bodywork—a little boy-racerish, yes, but well implemented nonetheless. Ditto the dual chrome-tipped exhaust and front fog lights. The one aspect of the exterior I'd like to see changed is the front air dam; while the body-colored grille is good I wish the air dam was finished in something other than a black mesh, perhaps something a little more metallic in keeping with the rest of the car's styling.

The interior styling does a good job of mimicking the exterior features—I especially like the rubberized texture on the door handles (much better than the plastic so commonly found here) and the perforated inserts on the leather seats, even though the fairly deep buckets may be a little too narrow for some. They sure do a good job of keeping you snug during enthusiastic drives, though. There is also a few faux-silver flourishes around the cockpit; the gearshift surround and the center console trim to name a few, and while we might be seeing too much of this material gracing the interiors of cars today, I actually felt the 6's cockpit would benefit from the

addition of a little more of the stuff. As it stands right now, I find the mostly blacked-out dash and door panels a bit lacking in character. Not so the instrument cluster, whose three levels of red lighting provide a level of ambiance that isn't too far removed from some of the offerings on German luxury sedans. The digits are clear with a sporty font that doesn't appear like they were sourced from a Pep Boys catalog.

As far as passenger comfort goes, the 5-Door gives a little away to the Sedan when it comes to rear seat headroom, the forward leaning style and steeply raked hatch scrubbing 0.4 inches off of the sedan's count of 37.1 inches. Front seat passengers, meanwhile, give nothing away to the sedan in the headroom department, whose count of 38.0 inches is actually fairly generous considering the power moonroof featured on my car. In the seating department, both front passengers in my GT-V6 get heated seats, while the driver's offers eight-way power adjustability and lumbar support.

So, the seating arrangement and creature comforts are good, but I have yet to mention the one aspect that hatchbacks were originally conceived for, and that is their ability to transport nearly as much as a station wagon without the box-like styling constraints those vehicles are known for. Mazda originally released a wagon alongside the sedan and liftback versions of the 6, but in 2005 they put the kibosh on that model, leaving packing duties to their then-new CX-7 small crossover SUV, the already-in-production Tribute SUV, and this 6 5-Door. And I must say, my car's generous hatch is so well implemented, it's clear why Mazda elected to scrap the wagon model. There is an internal hatch release, but as long as drivers select “unlock” on the key fob, it opens with a pull on the exterior release lever nestled just above the rear license plate. Cargo capacity? Quite substantial, actually, as it comes in at 22.1 cubic feet with the 60/40 folding rear seats upright, or 58.6 to the roof once the seats are collapsed. To put this in perspective, the VW Passat station wagon, for example, provides a maximum of 56.5 cu-ft in cargo

capacity—yes, that's with the rear seats folded, and while the 5-Door seemingly delivers more on paper, some might have found its greater vertical space, the result of its squarer profile, more useful for carrying bulkier items. There is no pass-through door in the back seat for hockey sticks, skis or 2x4s, but the seatbacks drop forward so easily I hardly missed it. Simply pop the hatch and yank the levers mounted on either side of the cargo bay, just above the rear wheel wells. It's great; there's no need to open the back doors or crawl into the hatch in order to reach a seat-mounted release button—just pop the lever, which offers no more resistance than a typical door handle, and you're done. Why don't more companies do this?

Other interior additions that reflect my car's luxury quotient are the HVAC knobs finished in a black gloss, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, roof-mounted garage-door buttons and a Premium Bose audio system that features a subwoofer and six-disc in-dash CD player. There is no auxiliary input for MP3 player connectivity, but an iPod adapter can be had from Mazda for a little extra—iPods only, though. Also available, but not found on my test car, is a navigation system, although it comes at a fairly hefty $2,000

premium. In an interesting twist, the controls for this system aren't located around the LCD screen, but close at hand beside the shift lever so they can be easily reached. My car had a dash-mounted bin where the 7-inch screen would normally be, which is another feature I wish I saw on more cars today—it's a perfect size for CD cases or wallets, and its central location makes it hard to forget to check upon leaving the car.

Even the 6 5-Door's ride quality offers a taste of luxury, although I must admit that despite its comfort there were a few times I actually managed to convince myself that I was driving a Grand Touring car, as my test car's trim designation (s 5-Door Grand Touring) suggests. The power adjustable seats allow for a low seating position if desired, giving a cool view of the fairly long hood reaching out in front, while its impressive sound-dampening made driving in the city and on the highway quite relaxing. Of course, the low-pro tires and big wheels cause a little road noise, but you want your car to have some character, right? Also helping the cause is the well engineered chassis, featuring double wishbone suspension up front and a multilink setup at the rear, which, as mentioned, does its part to walk the fine line between “sport” and “comfort”. It's a little bit of a stiffer setup than what's found on the sedan, but I must think that this is what 5-Door buyers are looking for, and I believe that this is one of the prime factors adding to the GT's identity.

My car was also equipped with the optional Sport Mode six-speed automatic transmission, but even as a die-hard manual transmission fan (you can get a five-speed manual gearbox if desired) I must admit that throttle response was good, and suffers little of the lethargy often associated with non-sport oriented automatics. Of course, pop the shifter into the “+/ -” slot and you can select gears on your own, but I didn't find the manual gear selection to be quite as responsive as I like. My advice is to leave it in auto, as there's still room for a little controlled hooliganism without sacrificing ride comfort during daily driving.

Of course, the other aspect that is important to any self-respecting GT car is an engine that provides powerful delivery, yes, as well as one that communicates in a smooth, progressive manner. The 6's V6 delivers a healthy 217 horsepower and 197 lb-ft of torque, which are fair numbers that unfortunately fall a little short of both the Camry and Accord—both of those cars also feature 500 cubic centimeters more volume and some form of variable valve timing, which Mazda doesn't offer on any of its vehicles. All this being said, what it lacks on paper is not obviously missed on pavement.

Thanks to its responsive throttle, well sorted chassis and six-speed transmission I found that any lack in the engine bay dissipated when I started chucking the 6 into bends and dips. This car is a real joy to throw into the curves, feeling light and agile and a real thrill compared to its larger, heftier competitors.

I did, however, take issue a little with the 6 5-Door's braking performance. Granted, disc brakes are found at all corners (the fronts get ventilated rotors while the rears are solid discs) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution doing its part to keep things copasetic, but I would have liked to see some more bite when I pressed the pedal—as it stands right now I felt the 6's pedal feel a little mushy at first and requiring some pretty undue pressure. Traction control also comes standard on all 6s, and I found it to be of the relaxed variety, meaning that there's no sport feature that allows for a modicum of slip before cutting in and spoiling the fun. Finally, the last piece of the puzzle for any good GT is steering feel, and while the 6 doesn't quite come up aces in this department (I found the dead-zone a little too pronounced), once the rack and pinion system engages the car responds well, reacting to input at a fairly rapid pace and transmitting decent feedback during high-speed cornering. It's also surprisingly maneuverable in tight situations such as underground parking lots and during three-point

turns on narrow roads—the only complaint I have with regards to the car's tractability around town is that the pronounced rear spoiler, coupled with that wonderfully-forward leaning stance can make rearward visibility a little challenging, at least at first. Once I learned to use the edges of the wing as a guide, however, I relied less and less on the tried and true “watch yourself park in the plate glass window” tactic. But then, the 6 5-Door is so rakishly handsome that I couldn't help but look at its reflection, as parking next to a glass tower just meant another chance to admire the muscular folds and creases.

Forget the horsepower and torque count, this car, even though the styling has changed little since its 2002 inception, has managed to stay modern even today... until, of course, the more powerful 6 starts to appear in Mazda showrooms later this year. When all is said and done, I look back at my week with the 6 and realize that I always looked forward to jumping in the car and going for a ride. I also had a brand new Acura MDX in my garage that week, and while it's a great luxury SUV with lots of technological wizardry and comfort-oriented fixings, I felt myself drawn towards the sporty profile of my 6 5-Door. That's nothing against the Acura, but rather the Mazda6's willingness to indulge in sporty driving, as well as its ability to smoothly transport you home at the end of at it all is a gratification every car owner should strive for.