Diesel 6 launched in hatch and wagon

Mazda has launched its ‘long-time-coming’ Mazda 6 Diesel. The 6 is the first non-European diesel small or medium passenger car to hit the Australian market.

Unveiled at the Sydney Motor Show last year and on the ‘drawing board’ since 2004, the turbodiesel 6 goes on sale officially at the end of this month (October) with stocks arriving in Mazda dealers from this week.

Though displayed in sedan-only form to date, Mazda will offer two versions of the diesel-powered 6 –neither of them a sedan! Kicking off the range will be a cloth-trimmed wagon, with a higher-spec hatch the top Mazda 6 diesel offering.

Both variants are available with six-speed manual transmission only. The transmission is shared with Mazda's saloon car performance flagship, the 6 MPS. With the mass diesel markets in Europe favouring manual transmissions there is no auto-equipped version on the horizon.

The variants are powered by the same common-rail direct-injected turbocharged and intercooled 2.0-litre four-cylinder DOHC diesel powerplant. Dubbed MZR-CD, the Mazda-developed powerplant features a variable geometry turbocharger, ultra-high 1800bar injection pressures, nine-phase injection cycle and a particulate filter. It is Euro IV compliant.

Mazda claims the engine’s NOX and soot levels are extremely low – 80 per cent below the Euro IV mandated level in the case of the latter. For consumers this means absolutely smoke-free running, even on start-up. Mazda says it engaged in extensive testing of local diesel quality to ensure the particulate filter would not be degraded in use.

The MZR-CD is a revision of the engine which powered the previous generation European-market 6 Diesel. In its latest form, power and torque are up and economy has been improved, says Mazda.

The company claims class-leading power and torque for the MZR-CD – 105kW at 3500rpm and 360NM at 2000rpm. The 0-100km/h sprint is dispatched in 9.5sec according to the company. This is 0.6sec slower than its petrol-engined equivalent however our (brief) seat-of-the-pants impression ranks overtaking and in-gear acceleration as at least on a par.

Mazda’s ADR 81:01 combined fuel economy figure for the car (in both wagon and hatch form) is an impressive 5.9lt/100km.  With the highway figure dropping to 5.0 and a 64-litre fuel tank, the company claims the car’s ‘country’ range approaches 1300km!

Mazda has released the 6 turbodiesels with high levels of standard equipment. Priced at $35, 205, the wagon features cloth trim, 16-inch alloys, climate control air, six-disc in-dash audio and power windows and mirrors.

The $38,090 turbodiesel hatch  is positioned between the company’s Classic and Luxury petrol variants and sports leather trim, power drivers seat, BOSE seven-speaker premium audio and an interior upgrade featuring the latter’s trim panels and so on.

Both variants get six airbags and ABS brakes but surprisingly miss out on Stability and Traction control.

According to Mazda it expects to sell around 50 turbodiesel 6s each month with the split favouring the hatch 30:20. This is a conservative number in our estimate though demand may be tempered given the lack of an automatic option.