Mazda6 Turbo 2018 Review

Evergreen Mazda revitalised

The Mazda6 is a car that dates but slowly. Its styling is six years old and still looks fresh, even more so with the arrival of a facelifted 2018 Mazda6 range. Decent driving dynamics, comfort, safety, fit and finish have all been highlights of Mazda's largest passenger car too. And the whole SKYACTIV fuel-saving concept has proved its mettle in the real world too, finding the middle path between performance and economy.

Up against some newer competitors, however – mostly in the medium passenger car segment, but also including Holden's large, economy-sized Commodore – the Mazda6 is beginning to look vulnerable.

In a comparison some years ago we rated it the top choice, but it finished fourth in our last medium car comparison behind the winning Kia Optima GT and two other competitors.

Mazda has implemented frequent updates in the past – most recently to suppress engine noise for the diesel variants and enhance active safety with g Vectoring Control. This latest update addresses one of our principal concerns from the last comparison: performance.

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Healthy engine output

The new turbocharged engine in the GT and Atenza variants is the same engine powering the CX-9 SUV. It's essentially a forced-induction version of the naturally-aspirated 2.5-litre petrol engine that continues to power the lower-grade Mazda6 Sport and Touring models, now with cylinder deactivation.

While the turbocharged engine doesn’t quite transform the Mazda6, it makes for a marked improvement in a car that was somewhat lacking in straight-line urge. There's little sign of turbo lag, particularly in Sport mode, and performance will be more than adequate for most owners, even if the transmission does shift up just above 5000rpm.

That's well short of the redline, and in spite of the driver shifting manually. Its short shifting was academic, however, with the unmistakable feel of torque steer making its presence felt at full throttle – a novel experience in a Mazda6, frankly.

The turbo engine is a quiet unit at cruising speed, not a peep out of it at 1900rpm with the speedo nudging 100km/h. But there's enough bark from the turbo engine to please the ears once it's throttled up in the mid-range.

Although a proper determination will have to wait for a comparison, the Mazda6 with the turbocharged engine also promises to be more economical than the Kia Optima GT. The on-paper ADR consumption figures indicate that, and the Mazda’s computer-posted fuel consumption finished the drive program at 10.8L/100km, which is a decent number in the circumstances.

Driving home from the launch saw the car’s consumption drop from 10.8 to 8.7L/100km – helped by over 100km of freeway driving, but also offset by about 30km of peak-hour Melbourne traffic, including roughly 5km of bumper-to-bumper morass.

The six-speed automatic transmission shifts cleanly and smoothly, but the engineers responsible for calibrating the automatic don’t define ‘manual’ the same way I do. In full-on manual mode the Mazda's transmission would kick down to a lower gear, and it would also change up automatically.

On low friction surfaces, for instance, or accelerating hard out of a tricky corner as another example, this could be an unwanted trait. But the transmission in the Mazda6 is at least an automatic for the people – most of whom will never see fit to use it manually.

Safe and tidy dynamics

Mazda has made some changes to the suspension, which the company claims improve ride comfort, body control and noise suppression in the cabin. On the drive program, the wagon tested didn’t feel like it rode as comfortably as sedans we’ve tested in the past – but that may be due to the sedan’s longer wheelbase and the Atenza wagon's 19-inch alloys. Overall, the wagon still rides acceptably well, but I expect the Optima GT might retain an edge for ride/handling balance.

Steering response in the Mazda6 is as good as before, although another point in favour of the Optima GT is the Kia’s feedback through the tiller. The Mazda can be placed accurately on the road, but by my recollection the Kia’s steering is more communicative.

Tyre noise has been an issue for Mazda in the past, but while the Bridgestones fitted to the Mazda6 Atenza wagon tested remained noisier than the car's engine or airflow over the body, the updated model earns itself a pass mark this time around for the revised suspension and other noise-suppressing countermeasures.

On the long run back from Ballarat the level of road noise was not fatiguing or unduly loud. In fact, road noise transmitted to the cabin is only noticeable because the rest of the Mazda6 is actually very quiet.

In construction zones on the way back from the media drive program, the Mazda’s newly-introduced radar cruise control was effective at keeping a safe braking distance in front, right down to zero km/h. The Mazda6 has an almost full quotient of advanced technology like this on board, also including 360-degree camera coverage, but the obvious exceptions are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

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Interior delights

The Mazda’s cabin has been critically praised in the past for its presentation, fit and finish – and the upgraded model improves on that again. Redesigned for comfort and lateral location, the seats suited me to a T, and the driving position could not be faulted for the relationship to wheels and pedals or the scope of adjustment on offer.

Ergonomically, the Mazda’s major instruments and controls are easy to use, with the new-look instrument binnacle of the Mazda6 Atenza highly legible and complemented by the new Active Driving display (a head-up display) now reflecting off the windscreen rather than the pop-up unit fitted previously.

As an example of the instruments’ cleverness, the analogue-look speedometer in the Atenza grade marks off the prevailing speed-limit zone with a red calibration point. A speed-limit-sign graphic is also displayed separately, to the left of the speedo. As is often the case with traffic sign recognition systems in other brands, the Mazda’s is not perfect, but it will always choose the lower speed if it’s confused by a school-zone restriction. All the minor instruments in the binnacle were clear to read at a glance, just like the tachometer and speedo.

Mazda has achieved a perception of width in the cabin by pushing the face-level vents further outboard so that they appear to overlap with the sculpture lines in the door cards. With the single-point controller for the (MZD Connect) infotainment system, the rest of the dash and centre fascia look elegantly simple. And the Mazda6 Atenza comes with a Bose audio system, which delivers clear, crisp sound in the treble range.

Sen Wood decorative trim is a darker, subtler woodgrain that tastefully coordinates with the test vehicle’s Walnut Brown Nappa leather upholstery and an Alcantara-like soft-textured material on the dash.

Practical, stylish wagon

Having a wagon in the range is a trump card for the Mazda6. Kia won't bring the Optima Sportwagon, here, anticipating little demand for it. Ford Mondeo and Skoda Octavia do offer wagons in each respective range, but the Mazda6 wagon puts up a pretty strong fight against those two. According to Mazda, 31 per cent of Mazda6 sales are wagons – and little wonder.

It’s a practical and stylish unit, with features like the finger pulls in the luggage compartment to drop the rear seats and a flexible cargo blind that lifts – hatchback style – with the tailgate for a larger opening. There’s a temporary-use space-saver spare wheel under the floor, which will at least get you out of trouble in rural areas.

Although the wagon is built on a shorter wheelbase than the sedan, rear-seat legroom is still adequate for an average-sized adult, and the head room wasn’t compromised by the car’s sunroof. Kneeroom is fine, but there's not that much length to stretch out behind the front-seat occupants. If rear-seat legroom is an issue for buyers, the longer-wheelbase sedan may be the preferred choice.

Either way, the cumulative effect of running changes over the past year or two places the Mazda6 back in contention for the title of the medium car segment's benchmark. And with its nearest direct competitor rumoured to be on the chopping block, the Mazda's lock on that title appears stronger than it has been for some time.

How much does the 2018 Mazda Mazda6 Atenza wagon cost?
Price: $48,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 170kW/420Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.6L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: TBA
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP (2012)