Here are your talking points: Jinba Ittai, Skyactiv, Zoom-zoom.
Know what any of those taglines mean? You would if you've read a review of any Mazda product over the past few years. The first is a Japanese phrase relating to the melding of horse and rider moving as one being.
The second is Mazda's catch phrase for their efficient-yet-sporty engines and chassis. The last is pretty self-explanatory.
Thing is, do you really care about all this marketing? I know I don't. Cars are good, bad or indifferent.
When it comes to Mazda mid-sizers, the track record's been a bit hit and miss. I have fond memories of a boxy old 626 that racked up the miles and could haul ridiculous amounts of cargo. Then there was the 626 Cronos that might have been styled by the folks behind Lever 2000.
The Mazda6 of the past was based on the European Ford Mondeo, and that's good, but it didn't exactly fly off the shelves. Strange, that, considering how well baby-brother Mazda3 does.
This new '6 is more important than ever: if the plucky Japanese purveyor of driving pleasure is to succeed, their bread-and-butter mid-sizer better appeal to the masses.
Thinking of buying an MX-5 in five years time? The success of this car will determine whether you'll be able to do so. Not to worry, though, because I've got good news...
Design This theoretically medium-strength family-hauler has the kind of curb appeal to make luxury marques envious.
With swelling front arches, a long hood and a bluff, trapezoidal nose, there's an inherent "rightness" to the new '6's proportions.
There's only so much you can do with a four-door sedan, and Mazda hasn't over-egged the pudding as compared to a few other excessively bulging mid-sizers I could name.
Better yet, Mazda's new corporate grille puts an end to the goofy grins of the past. While the Mazda3 still smirks away like a lunatic, the '6 has a face that says "Serious Business." The front end does put me in mind of a robot dog, but in a good way.
Environment If the exterior checks all the styling boxes, the interior is perhaps a tad too conservative for some. Instead of trying to impress you with flash, the Mazda actually works.
It pains me to think we live in a world where I have to label the Mazda6's sensible knobs and simple three-gauge instrument cluster as "old-school," but there you go. I will say this, aside from the pseudo-iDrive controller just back of the shifter, everything is intuitive and easy-to-use.
Quite frankly, it's a delight to jump in and drive a car without spending three hours reading the manual and watching YouTube instructional videos.
Performance The long nose of the '6 isn't just a styling feature; the layout of the Skyactiv-G engine below necessitates the packaging considerations.
The Skyactiv engine has a very high-compression ratio, a racing-style 4-2-1 exhaust header and precisely-metered fuel injectors. These all combine to make a grunty engine that extracts the most from each gallon of gasoline and revs sweetly to redline.
Features The Mazda6 line breaks into three trim levels: the nicely-equipped GS, higher-tech GX and all-the-trimmings GT. Standard features on the base model ($24,495) include Bluetooth, 17-inch alloys, heated seats, automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers.
Bumping up to the GS adds cosmetic features like fog-lamps and a little nicer trim, convenience upgrades like an Intelligent key, and safety improvements such as blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert.
Stop Sign Conservative interior; no V6 power; wind noise on the highway.
Green Light Sporty handling; excellent fuel economy; sharp styling; smooth and dynamic transmission; manual option even on highest trim.
Checkered Flag The full-size sedan every enthusiast driver has been asking for.
Optimist contributor
