Upgraded and facelifted Mazda6 arrives

Mazda has introduced a Touring Wagon variant of the Mazda6 as part of a general upgrade for the mid-size car. The Touring wagon comes with leather trim, electrically-adjustable seats and parking sensors front, and rear. Sweetening the pot for Mazda6 buyers, the upgraded and facelifted model announced by the importer is on sale at a reduced price worth hundreds of dollars for each variant.

"With the facelift, we set out to evolve the Mazda6 by augmenting its strengths and enhancing its safety performance and environmental compatibility," Minoru Takata, Mazda6 Program Manager was quoted as saying in the press information for the revised model.

"We enhanced the exterior design by adopting the new Mazda family face and by evolving the overall look of the car for even greater sportiness and an even clearer premium identity. And in the cabin, we heightened the level of refinement through careful craftsmanship that included replacing silver-painted surfaces with chrome-plated and piano-black finishes. We also focused on handling stability and ride comfort, evolving and optimising numerous parts of the car in order to deliver an even better combination of driving enjoyment and ride quality."

Visually, the new Mazda6 range has been lightly facelifted and the interior has been upgraded also. The grille has been revised and now provides a clearer distinction between the Luxury Sports and Diesel Sports models. Headlight and fog light designs are new and reflect styling cues from Mazda's Nagare concept car. Mazda6 variants specified with adaptive headlighting now benefit from the lights swivelling through an arc of up to 15 degrees, where the previous model merely illuminated corners with fixed cornering lights.

17- and 18-inch alloy wheels sport a new look and Mazda has specified "plate-type front tyre deflectors" for aerodynamic efficiency gains. Overall, the exterior cosmetic changes have resulted in drag coefficient gains for the Mazda6 -- now 0.27Cd for the sedan/hatch and 0.28 for the wagon.

New colours for the range are Clear Water Blue Metallic -- an altogether new colour for the Mazda range -- and two colours not previously available for the Mazda6:  Graphite Mica and Black Mica.

Inside the cabin, Mazda designers have opted to expand the use of chrome decorative trim and piano black appliqués. Seats are trimmed in a new pattern of fabric and the instrument graphics have been revised for easier legibility. Switches mounted on the steering wheel now provide what Mazda says is a more intuitive operation and the company has added a sunglass holder to the overhead console aft of the mirror.

The MZR-CD four-cylinder diesel is now claimed to provide better throttle response and driveability. A smaller turbocharger spools up quicker, but at the cost of 4kW of power outright. The new peak power figure for the engine is 132kW at 3500rpm, but torque is unaffected. According to Mazda, there's no loss of performance accompanying the lower power peak -- and mid-range performance is actually improved. As a further sop to the buyer, the Mazda6 Diesel now achieves fuel consumption (combined-cycle) of 5.9L/100km -- an improvement over the 6.0L/100km figure previously -- and the engine is now Euro IV-compliant.

Other changes to the diesel powerplant include new control settings for EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) and fuel injection system -- both to reduce NOx emissions. The exhaust manifold has been lightened by 10 per cent to reduce its thermal capacity for a faster warm-up. Mazda has also lightened and shrunk the exhaust silencer, as well as upgrading the diesel particulate filter. Remapping engine management for the injection pressures and timing, amongst other measures, have reduced diesel engine knock and NVH generally.

Engineers have also put in some time on the car's steering and suspension. Mazda advises that feedback through the steering is improved, as is stability and ride comfort. This has been achieved by retuning the steering assistance for better feel and reducing the spring constant for mounting bushes to enhance compliance steer and consequently, stability. For the suspension, Mazda has tweaked the front bushes and increased the rigidity of the mounting for the rear-wheel hubs. To reduce NVH, Mazda changed the alignment of recesses in the bushes for the rear crossmember.

Hill Launch Assist is a new feature fitted as standard in manual variants. Other than these technical changes, the Mazda6 continues as before, with MZR 25 2.5-litre petrol engine and the MZR-CD diesel. Transmissions are six-speed manual (N/A Luxury and petrol/wagon variants) or five-speed automatic (N/A diesel models).

Prices have been reduced across the range, except in the case of the newly-introduced Touring Wagon variant. The reductions range from $530 up to $935. Full details are reproduced below.

Sedan: Price Reduction
Mazda6 Limited 6MT $27,310 -- $935
Mazda6 Limited 5AT $29,310 -- $865
Mazda6 Classic 6MT $31,750 -- $685
Mazda6 Classic 5AT $33,750 -- $615
Mazda6 Luxury 5AT $40,905 -- $655
Hatch:
Mazda6 Classic 6MT $32,750 -- $650
Mazda6 Classic 5AT $34,750 -- $580
Mazda6 Luxury Sports 6MT $41,415 -- $660
Mazda6 Luxury Sports 5AT $43,415 -- $590
Mazda6 Diesel Sports 6MT $42,815 -- $615
Wagon:
Mazda6 Classic 5AT $35,050 -- $565
Mazda6 Touring 5AT $38,120
Mazda6 Diesel 6MT $36,250 -- $530

Standard features for the entry-level Mazda6 Limited sedan are: air conditioning, cruise control, MP3-compatible four-speaker CD audio, electric windows/mirrors, remote central locking, tilt/reach-adjustable steering, variable-dwell intermittent wipers and 205/60 tyres on 16-inch steel wheels.

Perched one step above in the model hierarchy, the Mazda6 Classic (in sedan, hatch and wagon styles), adds the following standard features to the Limited specification: Auto-on/off headlights, Bluetooth connectivity, dual-zone climate control, leather-bound steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, six-speaker six-disc (in-dash) audio with steering wheel-mounted controls, trip computer, front fog lights and 215/50 tyres on 17-inch alloy wheels. The Mazda6 Diesel wagon is equipped to the same level of trim.

Slotting in between Classic and Luxury grades, the new Touring Wagon variant offers, in addition to the Classic spec, the following standard kit: leather seat trim, three-position memory for eight-way electrically adjustable front seats and front/rear parking sensors.

The auto-only Mazda6 Luxury sedan is fitted with a sports grille, blacked-out instrument cluster, leather-bound gear knob, sequential-shift paddles, sunroof, electro-chromatic mirror, Bose premium eight-speaker audio, LED tail lights and xenon headlights.

Effectively topping the range and available with either manual or automatic transmissions, the Mazda6 Luxury Sports hatch adds a rear spoiler, aluminium pedals/driver's footrest, bi-xenon adaptive headlights and 225/45 tyres on 18-inch alloy wheels. The Mazda6 Diesel Sports (manual only) is equipped to the same basic specification but without the sunroof. Mazda offers buyers the option of satellite navigation for the Luxury, Luxury Sports and Diesel Sports variants. This $2800 extra features a seven-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth audio and voice control.

Tested by ANCAP, the new Mazda6 rates a five-star score as a result of the car's in-built safety construction. A combination of high and ultra-high strength steels with 'triple-H' architecture contributes to the car's independently tested crash safety, further aided by a comprehensive list of passive safety features fitted to all variants, including: ABS/EBD, stability control, traction control, Emergency Brake Assist, Hill Launch Assist (manual only), dual front airbags, side-impact airbags (front), side-curtain airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, load-limiters and active front headrests.

With the release of the upgraded car, Mazda6 buyers are entering a new stage of the roller-coaster ride. The announcement of the revised model range is merely the latest marketing initiative for the Mazda6, following a price increase and reduced running costs 12 months ago, plus a price slashing before that, just as the Global Financial Crisis began to bite in July of 2008. The company must be doing something right though, because the Mazda6 remains the best-selling imported medium-segment car, according to VFACTS.

Mazda plans for the revised range to sell around 680 units a month to a mix of 28 to 34-year olds, principally white-collar males, with a substantial number of female and older buyers also. The mix is expected to be compose of 30 per cent sedan, 50 per cent hatch and 20 per cent wagon. According to Mazda's research, these buyers subscribe to a lifestyle for which "vanilla is not an option".

Watch Carsales TV's Mazda 6 MY10 update video review here

Key to pics: Mazda6 Diesel Sports Hatch (blue), Mazda6 Limited sedan (red) and Mazda6 Touring Wagon (silver)

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