Classy and capable, but can a Mazda 6 saloon tempt in a market that prefers hatches, ponder Al Suttie.
1 – The best sellers in the upper medium sector are hatches, so is Mazda hampered with its saloon 6?
2 – With a 480-litre boot, it’s not as generous as a Mondeo or Insignia, but it’s long, wide and plenty big enough for most needs.
3 – Taller items will be tricky to fit in, but there’s always the estate version for that, and the saloon does look good.
4 – Any other downsides to four doors instead of five? Not that we can see and there’s loads of room front and rear.
5 – It’s also very well made and has an air of sophistication in here that’s missing from its Ford and Vauxhall rivals.
6 – That comes through in the way the Mazda drives, too, as it feels lithe and limber on twisting roads.
7 – Head onto the motorway or into town and it’s equally adept with a superb ride and handling balance.
8 – The 2.2-litre turbodiesel has sufficient oomph for all occasions and the manual six-speeder is slick.
9 – One point that irked was the over-keen automatic central locking that secured the car between getting out and trying to open the boot.
10 – Other than that, and residuals that trail the class leaders, the Mazda is a saloon-sized solution in a hatchback world.
