2004 Mazda 6 Review

Touch, taste, sight, sound, and smell are the five senses each of us relies upon to navigate our environment. However, a sixth sense exists, one that speaks to the visceral, the world of imagination. This sixth sense is intuition, which tells you to look beyond the rational and sensible and go with what appeals to the heart.

When conversation turns to family transportation, the list of usual suspects reels off the tongue like some to-do list: common sedans, minivans, and SUVs like the Honda Accord, Toyota Sienna and Ford Explorer come immediately to mind. However, new alternatives occasionally make their mark, vehicles that somewhat defy logic but nevertheless manage to earn recommendation because they make a strong emotional connection.

Consider, for example, the Mazda 6 triumvirate. When the Mazda 6 first debuted in sedan form as a 2003 model, it was met with accolades from the press for its combination of family-friendly utility and driver-friendly dynamics. Imbued with more than its fair share of the cliché-ridden “zoom-zoom,” it quickly garnered a place in the nook of driving enthusiasts’ hearts. Unfortunately, the 2003 Mazda 6 sedan wasn’t a breakout hit like the Nissan Altima, another sporty family sedan, when it debuted; the Mazda lacked ample rear seating to accommodate ample American bodies, for example, and its engine choices did not possess the kind of impressive-sounding, class-leading numbers that marketers so dearly love to tout. It doesn’t help that Mazda’s well of marketing dollars is significantly more shallow than Nissan’s.

To increase the appeal of the Mazda 6 for 2004, two new variants debut which increase the usefulness of these stylish, fun-to-drive vehicles. Now, buyers can select from three different body styles of the Mazda 6; a sedan, a five-door hatchback and a station wagon. The new hatchback (Mazda prefers to call it the 5-door) and wagon (Sport Wagon, according to Mazda) offer added practicality without sacrificing their fun-to-drive nature, and cover segments ignored by Honda, Nissan and Toyota.

We recently had the opportunity to drive the Mazda 6 Sport Wagon and Mazda 6 5-Door back-to-back, and we’re happy to say that we came away as satisfied as Atkins devotees after a visit to the Outback Steakhouse.

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First, the wagon. The Mazda 6 Sport Wagon only comes in high-content “s” trim, which means that it’s motivated by a 3.0-liter V6 making 220 horsepower and 192 lb.-ft. of torque. For the curious, this motor is a variant of the Duratec V6 engine so familiar in Ford’s lineup, faithfully serving since the mid-1990s. It also moves the Jaguar X-Type, Jaguar S-Type and Mazda Tribute (Ford is the parent company of Jaguar and Mazda). Mated with the standard five-speed manual transmission, as was our Mazda 6 wagon test car, this is a powerplant that’s eager to rev. While its Duratec ancestry does show in the upper rpms where it gets somewhat grainy and unrefined, we found that for most city driving applications power delivery is buttery smooth. When climbing hills, it tends to become short of breath, losing steam earlier than Honda and Nissan V6 engines. Our Mazda 6 wagon used a gallon of fuel for every 19.4 miles traveled in mixed city and highway driving.

We found the manual transmission to be somewhat tricky to operate. The long-travel clutch must be depressed all the way to the floor to start the engine, and it’s also easy to stall the car in traffic. And while the shifter is notchy and a bit floppy, it was still a pleasure to maintain revs in the engine’s sweet spot by rowing through the gears. For those who cannot operate a manual, we can report that the five-speed automatic paired to the V6 is quite responsive, so there isn’t too much of a trade-off between ease of use and driving yee-haws.

Nestled in the engine bay of our Mazda 6i hatchback was a 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder engine producing 160 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of twist. “More power!” may be the official American mantra (next to “Yes, I will have fries with that”), but we found this engine to be more than adequate, providing smooth and linear acceleration throughout the rev range. Sure, it lacked the satisfying grumble of the V6 and encouraged higher rev shifting, but we liked how this engine delivered its power to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. Still, a turbocharger would be a thing of beauty in this car, and we’re eagerly awaiting word of a MazdaSpeed version. During our driving, the Mazda 6 hatchback averaged 22.4 mpg, exactly three more miles per gallon than the V6 wagon. If you must have more power, choose the Mazda 6s hatchback, which comes with the same 3.0-liter V6 found in the wagon.

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As interesting as these engines are, the powerplants aren’t the big news with these vehicles. What shines with any Mazda 6 is the handling. An affordable and dynamically astute station wagon is not a contradiction in terms – you have one in the Mazda 6. Unlike the lumbering station wagons of yore, the Mazda 6 provides spirited performance with its double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension. The car sticks and tracks in a wonderfully neutral manner, effectively hiding its 60/40 front weight bias. Despite this talent in the twisties, ride quality is not compromised. The Mazda 6 Wagon is fairly soft and supple, nicely absorbing most bumps. Unfortunately, bigger road abrasions tend to be transmitted directly to the driver through the steering wheel.

Speaking of which, the steering is crisp and communicative, although the turning circle of 38.7 feet is somewhat wider than we prefer. Additionally, the Mazda 6 stops with reassuring stability, as the four-wheel-disc antilock brakes provide phenomenal linearity, feel and modulation, and exhibited no fade under severe usage during our testing. The P215/50 R17 Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires barely squealed under duress and did an admirable job of sticking to the road during the performance driving of our test loop.

But wait, there’s more. The Mazda 6 hatchback shines even more brightly than the wagon when the going gets twisty. Credit a weight reduction of 223 pounds for the hatchback, mostly due to the smaller standard engine. The steering feels sharper, the front end is less prone to plowing around turns, and the hatchback exhibits slightly less body roll. The Mazda 6 hatchback, more so than the Mazda 6 wagon, reminded us of the excellent Mazda 3, from which we emerged grinning like idiots after an all-out flailing.