I had the opportunity to drive the 2020 Mazda 6 recently and I have to say that I came away impressed with what Mazda delivers with this car.
First, let me say that I am 6-foot-4 and that, in the past that made Mazda cars simply undrivable for me due to the lack of room. This is not the case with the 2020 6. While it is not cavernous, it has a nice sporty feel behind the wheel and I never once found myself lacking for either head or leg room.
The fit and finish of the 6 also was exceptional and Mazda has definitely improved the quality of its cars as well as the materials used. The 6 I drove was a fully loaded Signature edition and while it is the most expensive 6 available, it is also the nicest.
The car I drove was finished in Soul Red Crystal Metallic with stunning and contrasting perforated Parchment Nappa leather interior. The leather was quite nice and used on the dash and the rood panels. The leather alone makes the interior a nice and quite upscale place to be.
The paintwork was just as nice with the special Signature paint color both deep and well finished. Even the 19 -inch alloy wheels suited the car remarkably well.
The 6 rewards great drivers and at the same time does not penalize those with less skill.
From behind the wheel the 6 is a bit of a 4-door sports car, much in the way the Mazda 3 is but a little more sophisticated. For a larger car, the steering is precise and the handling is amazingly neutral for a FWD car. The car rotates well and has quite a lot of grip.
Controls are in good positions and the dashboard reminds me a bit of an older BMW 3 Series. This is a good thing as BMW knows how to set up a dash layout.
The onboard technology of the Mazda is also good with simple phone pairing, intuitive controls and a decent audio system. It is interesting that the 6 has a Bose audio system, although the Bose system in the Hyundai Sonata I’d tested just before had better quality audio yet looked exactly the same. It was in no way bad, but just not as good as I expected it to be.
That being said, the heads-up display was terrific, and the Mazda was a much more fun car to drive than the Sonata. It’s much more of a true drivers car. I always think of the Mazda 3 and 6 as sort of economical Japanese 3 and 5 Series BMWs, and this still holds true.
If you are in the market for a car and need a bit more room than a Mazda 3, you might want to take a test drive in the Mazda 6. It is a fun, stylish and affordable FWD sports sedan.
2020 Mazda 6
Vehicle type: 5-passenger sedan, front-wheel drive
Base price: $24,100 Price as tested: $36,940
Engine: Turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-4, 250 horsepower @ 5,000 rpm, 310 pound-feet of torque @ 2,000 rpm Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 111.4 inches Overall length/width: 192.7 inches / 72.4 inches
Curb weight: 3,582 pounds
EPA mileage estimates: 23 city / 31 highway / 26 combined
Assembled in: Japan
For more information, visit the Mazda website
