If estate cars were chosen on looks alone then the new Mazda 6 would make the shortlist every time.
The latest version of Mazda’s business car workhorse is sleeker than ever, adopting the striking frontal styling of the new saloon, and blending on a sportwagon rear end with sloped rear pillars, chrome roof rails and curved tailgate.
There’s plenty of interior space. The estate is 30mm longer and 50mm higher than the hatchback, which results in another 45mm of rear Seat headroom. Then there’s the load-carrying capacity: with the seats up there’s 519 litres available, but with the seats down it’s a massive 1751 litres.
To put that into perspective, the VW Passat estate manages only 1641 litres while the new Mondeo estate (a larger car in all other respects) comes in at 1733 litres. The 6 also boasts one of the widest openings (1066mm) in the segment and a total boot length of 1926mm.
Carried over from the old model is the innovative ‘Karakuri’ fold-flat seating system, operated by a one-touch lever in the boot sidewall. As you pull the lever out, the seat squab moves forward and the seat back folds down to create a flat load area. It’s easy to use and amazingly effective.
A further sign of Mazda ingenuity is the…
