Not too long ago, senior editor Ed Loh spent a day driving each variant of Mazda’s all-new 2009 Mazda6—the Japanese automaker’s midsize-sedan segment contender. His biggest gripe? That Mazda didn’t get the car to market soon enough to be included in our recent four-banger family sedan shootout, a comparison test that Loh speculates the Mazda6 might have won. At the time of Loh’s drive, we’d already conducted our first drive of the new 2009 Mazda6, but we still hadn’t had the opportunity to run our own test numbers as the car wasn’t yet available for public consumption.
On the road, the Mazda6 makes no attempt to hide its sporty backbone. This isn’t another soulless method of basic transportation, but one of the more spirited offerings in a sea of bland family haulers. This being the four-cylinder version, our tester didn’t have the grunt of the 272-hp, 3.7L V-6-equipped cars, but then again, Mazda’s terrific, six-speed manual gearbox wouldn’t be available, either. Enthusiasts take note: The only way you’ll get to row your own gears in the Mazda6 is by sticking with the smooth, rev-happy four-banger.
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This isn’t a gearbox to be missed. Quick, snappy, and precise, Mazda’s manual gearboxes are the best in the under-$50,000 market. Acceleration could best be described as “peppy,” with the 0-to-60-mph sprint coming up in 7.8 sec and the quarter mile dispatched in 15.9 sec at 89.5 mph. While it was nearly a full second slower in the quarter mile than our 10-car test winner, the 2008 Volkswagen Passat Turbo (the only car in the comparo with a manual transmission), the Mazda6 is also down 30 hp and 40 lb-ft in comparison, while weighing in at just over 100 lb less.
The Mazda6 further excels in interior quality. Typical of the majority of the Mazdas we’ve driven, the interior appears much more upscale than other cars in its class. While not quite up to the exceptional standards laid down by Volkswagen, the Mazda could easily be considered a close second, while being miles ahead of much of the competition—including Toyota and Honda. The only aspect of our iSport model’s interior that we’d change would be the seat upholstery. The black velour-like, almost zebra-patterned seats were not in keeping with the rest of the car’s trim and gave us worries of premature wear. Plus, they’re just plain hideous. Swap ‘em out for something classier, Mazda.
The winning Passat rolled in at a budget-stretching $26,000, making it the most expensive car in the test. Meanwhile, our Mazda6 tester checked in at $20,920—a cool $5000 less. Spend that extra cash in your Mazda dealership, and you’ll be able to upgrade to a leather interior, Bluetooth connectivity, LED taillamps, Xenon headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, automatic dual-zone climate control, power-adjusting front seats with driver-side memory, and a blind-spot warning system.
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