2016 Mazda Mazda6 Road Test and Review

by Benjamin Hunting

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June 2, 2015

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6 min. Reading Time

2016 Mazda Mazda6 front 3/4 ・ Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Do enthusiasts matter in the family car segment? It's a question that the 2016 Mazda Mazda6 dares to ask the masses, and it does so with a subtlety that seems to have eluded most mid-size shoppers. The fact that such a competent daily driver struggles to match even one fifth of the sales figures of class leaders like the Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, and Ford Fusion indicates that the current strategy of injecting some fun into commuting seems to have been met with indifference by the general public. This is really too bad, because aside from a few tech-related miss-steps, the 2016 Mazda Mazda6 is a great-looking four-door option boasting a level of handling competence that's rare in its segment.

Models and Prices

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 starts out in Sport trim (MSRP $21,495), which includes air conditioning, power windows and door locks, a manual transmissions, a driver information display, 17-inch rims, tilt-and-telescopic steering adjustments, Bluetooth connectivity, and a USB interface for the audio system. The Mazda6 Touring (MSRP $23,945) is the next run on the sedan's ladder, and it installs push-button start with keyless entry, a blind spot monitoring system, 19-inch wheels, imitation leather seating (with power adjustments for the driver), and dual automatic climate control, while the Grand Touring trim (MSRP $30,195) provides LED headlights and taillights, a Bose audio system with a touchscreen interface, heated side mirrors, heated seats up front, additional active safety gear, a spoiler on the trunk, genuine leather upholstery, a power passenger seat, and a rearview camera.

The vehicle I drove for a week was a 2016 Mazda Mazda6 Grand Touring outfitted with the Technology package (active cruise control, lane departure warning system, i-Eloop regenerative braking feature, automatic high beam headlights, aero shutters in the front grille). The total window sticker for my tester came to $32,375.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Design

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 offers revised front and rear looks.
The sedan's interior has been more thoroughly refreshed.

The changes that have been made to the 2016 Mazda Mazda6's sleek sheet metal are most apparent on the high end Grand Touring model that I drove, where the new LED headlights and LED taillights work well with the revised front grille to create a more upscale, yet still sporty look for the sedan. The Mazda6 is a standout car in an area of the market where many stalwarts still aim for a styling middle ground intended not to offend the widest swathe of potential customers.

The Mazda's passenger compartment sees more extensive updates, as the center console, stack, and dashboard have been re-organized compared to the year before. This includes a new touchscreen display (more on that later), and a greater attention to trim detail that elevates the cabin above its roots. It's a nice environment to spend some time in, and although you have to pay roughly $7k over base to access the sweetest Mazda6 configuration, it's comparable to somewhat pricier mid-size sedans in its look and feel.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Comfort and Cargo

What’s New:

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 doesn't not add any new comfort or cargo features compared to the previous model year.

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 scores points for its large rear seat, as the amount of leg and shoulder room on offer by the sedan is on par with larger models (and stands strong in the face of its segment rivals). Up front you get strong accommodations, too, with tweaked seats intended to offer better support compared to the 2014 edition of the car. You might notice a little more wind noise inside the Mazda6 than you would in some of its competitors, but the company has addressed previous sound-deadening issues with an extra blanket of insulation. Trunk space checks in at just under 15 cubic feet, which again places the car in good standing amongst mid-size options.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Features and Controls

What’s New:

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 debuts a new touchscreen interface.

New technologies always have teething issues, and while some of the features that have been added to the 2016 Mazda Mazda6 aren't 100 percent fresh (they are also available in one form or another in high level editions of the compact Mazda3) they still don't seem quite ready for prime time.

The biggest issue I had with the Mazda Mazda6's electronic gear was the head-up display. Unlike other systems that project vehicle data like speed, RPM, and entertainment info out through the windshield and into the driver's line of sight, Mazda has instead elected to install a small plastic screen on the top of the dash just above the gauge cluster.

This is problematic for a couple of reasons, not the least of which being that you can only see the screen if you are sitting ramrod straight in your seat and…take your eyes off of the road and look down at the dash. Any slight tilt of your body throws the screen off-kilter, rendering its single-color LCD digits difficult to read. You can turn off the projection, but not disable the screen itself, which means its always sitting there in front of you even when it's blank. In any case, when you restart the Mazda6 the system resets itself, making the entire thing an exercise in futility.

The touchscreen infotainment system was also a bit of a disappointment. Paired with a rotary controller on the console, navigating through the system wasn't as intuitive as I would have liked. More troublesome was the number of times the system dropped the Bluetooth connection with my phone or froze me out entirely, the latter being a relative rarity in the world of in-car electronics.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Safety and Ratings

What’s New:

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 does not add any new safety equipment.

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 offers a generous number of active safety gear options to go along with its standard complement of airbags, electronic traction control, and stability control systems. All but the base model Mazda6 come with a blind spot monitoring system, and it's also possible to order the car with a lane departure warning system, a forward collision warning system, and a forward collision mitigation feature that can bring the sedan to a complete stop when traveling at city speeds.

2016 Mazda Mazda6 Crash-Test Ratings: The NHTSA has awarded the Mazda Mazda6 a five-star overall crash safety rating, while the IIHS gave the car a Top Safety Pick+ status for scoring 'Good' in each important crash test.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Engines and Fuel Economy

What’s New:

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 does not introduce any new drivetrain features.

All versions of the 2016 Mazda Mazda6 feature the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. This unit has been tuned to produce 184 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque, and in base form it returns 26-mpg in city driving and 38-mpg on the highway. If you opt for the available i-Eloop regenerative braking system, which charges a capacitor that is then used to power vehicle accessories, you'll see fuel efficiency increase to 28-mpg around town and 40-mpg during highway cruising. Going with i-Eloop forces you to select the Mazda6's six-speed automatic transmission in place of its available six-speed manual, as it's exclusively offered on the auto-only Grand Touring trim.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Driving Impressions

You may have noticed that unlike every single one of its rivals, there's no way to add any extra power to the 2016 Mazda Mazda6, as its options list is devoid of any turbocharged or six-cylinder engine choices. For some buyers, this will be a deal-breaker, and in a world where 250 horses or more are easily on tap in even the blandest of four-door commuter cars, it's easy to understand the desire to look elsewhere.

Anyone who sticks around long enough to get some time behind the wheel of the Mazda6, however, will soon discover that there's a lot more to this car than can be measured by its 0-60-mph time (seven seconds, in case you were wondering). It turns out that Mazda has been able to imbue its flagship with more than a token willingness to tackle high speed corners, with the end result being a suspension system that keeps the car's four wheels firmly planted even when executing maneuvers that would bring lesser grocery getters to their knees. It's not just the spryness of the Mazda6 that is impressive but also the way the sedan manages to communicate with the driver through its electric power steering system and stiff, but not over-sprung chassis. It isn't the type of performance that dazzles you with burnouts and drag strip heroics, but rather the kind that leaves you startled by how quickly and competently your affordable family car just ate up that sequence of S-turns when taking the back way home from work.

Mazda has touted its i-Eloop feature as a being a relatively low impact way to squeeze a few more miles out of a tank of gas, as the capacitor arrangement is lighter and cheaper to implement compared to a more complex hybrid battery system. I have to say that I didn't notice a particularly big difference in the mileage of the i-Eloop-equipped car and the standard Mazda6 I road tested in 2014, but since this feature is only available as part of the Technology package on the top-end model, and bundled with a number of other items, I don't think all that many buyers will be disappointed if they can't match manufacturer's numbers around town.

Photo by Benjamin Hunting

Final Thoughts

The 2016 Mazda Mazda6 is more fun to drive than most other mid-size sedans, and it also brings a spacious, charming interior and sleek good looks to the table. When driven conservatively, the Mazda6 is also fairly frugal on fuel, which is a bonus for anyone with a long drive to work and back. Truth be told, the entry-level edition of this family ride is a bit of a bargain, and suffers from none of the tech foibles found on the Grand Touring trim. It's a little surprising that the Mazda6 hasn't been the breakthrough success that by all rights it should be, but just because your neighbor doesn't own one doesn't mean you shouldn't pick one up for yourself.