Mazda 6 2.0 (2007) CAR review

The old Mazda 6 was the acceptable face of repmobility. Will we get more of the same?

When the first 6 came out in 2002, it was a genuinely surprising and enjoyable product in the stale upper-medium market. But they grow up so fast these days, and only five years later the 6 is being replaced. This car is almost entirely new, and despite trading bits and pieces from the Ford parts bin, Mazda has gone it alone and the new 6 (available in saloon, hatch and estate form) shares almost nothing with its Mondeo cousin. Which seeing how good the Mondeo is, might be seen as an unnecessary risk.

There’s something about this design that reminds me of a misty forest...

Absolutely. And hints of a samurai sword, a sumo wrestler and a jewellery box. According to chief designer Youichi Sato, the 6 has the combination of the contrast between sharp and soft of the forest, the taught calmness and explosive power of the sword and sumo and the craftsmanship of the box. Or ‘Yugen’, ‘Rin’ and ‘Seichi’. All a touch on the ethereal side but pointing to the shift in design thinking at Mazda: its cars must be Japanese in style, and not bland Euro-replicas. Hmm. So wide, sharply creased front wheelarches, slashed headlights, low glass and deep body is the style. And it works. There’s no jumbotron Mondeo styling here. The 6 is a very sharky, good-looking car indeed and it looks particularly suited to the Japanese national colour of white.