Turbo-six rear-drive Mazda6 imagined

Rumours of the Mazda6 getting a straight-six and rear-wheel drive makeover have been swirling for years now and, despite Mazda’s best efforts to quell the speculation, it just won’t die down.

Now more fuel has been added to the fire by ‘virtual tuner’ and graphic designer Theottle, who’s mocked up what he thinks a next-generation Mazda6 wagon underpinned by the same Large Product Group (LPG) platform as the CX-60 and CX-90 SUVs might look like, and the results are stunning.

The finished product features the same now-familiar design cues as the aforementioned SUVs but blends them together in a lower, slinkier wagon profile with more than a whiff of BMW 5 Series to the arrangement.

Funnily enough, the 5 Series served as the basis for a previous Theottle render of a new-generation Mazda6 sedan (seen in the gallery).

But we think the five-door version – and wagons in general – carries a whole lot more sex appeal than the four-door, adding an extra element of lust missing from the current Mazda line-up, especially the SUV-only LPG models based on Mazda’s latest rear/all-wheel drive, longitudinal six-cylinder engine platform.

Tweaks to the front fascia – versus the CX-60 – include an obviously thinner grille, which helps create an extra sense of connection between the rendered next-gen vehicle and the current model, while the long bonnet line has been retained in order to advertise and accommodate the 3.3-litre straight-six turbo engine hiding beneath.

The large alloys have been pinched straight off the SUV, as have the side garnishes and tail-lights, however, the rear apron is completely different with two distinct butt cheeks as opposed to the flush look of the CX-60.

Having spent years trying to silence the rumour mill, Mazda executives are now said to be reconsidering their position on a next-generation Mazda6 following the success of the luxurious new CX-60 and CX-90 globally, thanks in part to their effortlessly smooth straight-six powertrains.

Word out of Japan is the fourth-generation mid-sizer, if it actually reached production, will be reinvented as something of a BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe rival, underpinned by the LPG platform and powered by the aforementioned six-cylinder petrol engine.

Instilling the car with the hottest 254kW/500Nm tune of the sonorous mill would provide Mazda with a cut-price M440i xDrive rival and, in turn, deliver the people an upmarket spiritual successor for the lauded Mazda6 MPS of 2005.

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