The sleek-looking Mazda6 wagon offers space and style across all trim levels in the current model line-up. The GT SP that I recently drove combines a flowing exterior design line and 19” black alloy wheels with an exclusive Burgundy trim with grey stitching on the interior to make you feel special every time you go for a drive.
The interior is nice looking as well and I particularly liked the door trim and dash design with the contrasting burgundy stitching that matches the burgundy leather seats. The other smart-looking element of the interior were the optional ($246.46) carpet mats with model designation and distinctive trim on the corners.
Both front seats are heated and the passenger seat gets power adjustment for forward/back, recline and height. The driver seat also has these features along with front and rear cushion height adjustment, 2-way lumbar support and two memory positions. The memory position buttons are located on the side of the seat and I appreciated that the buttons had raised dots on them with the first button having one dot and the second button two dots so that I could feel which is which position I was selecting.
The Mazda6 has the older style 8-inch touch screen display and although all models come with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto I found the Android Auto was a bit clunky to use. It does however have Premium Bose 231 watt amplifier and 11 speakers to enjoy your music with. Media sources include AM/FM, DAB+, Bluetooth, two USB audio input ports, an Auxiliary-audio input jack and Internet radio integration (Stitcher and Aha).
Other tech fitted to the wagon I drove included head-up display and voice control that could be used for making a call or changing the media source, but could not be used to set a destination on the sat nav. The voice control button on the steering has a masculine-looking silhouette similar to that used by most car companies. The rest of the controls on the leather-wrapped steering are logically placed and if you want to ‘manually’ change gears there are small plastic paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel.
The rear seats have ample head and leg room for two adults to comfortably sit back there and for younger passengers there are two ISOFIX/three rear tether child seat restraint points. I do think that you would be limited to just two car seats though due to the width of the back seat and if this is the case the centre seat can be folded down as an arm rest with drink bottle holders at the front of it. Under the arm rest lid is a shallow storage area with two USB ports and having the ports here would mean your little ones would not be tripping over them in the foot well, so this is a smart design feature. There is good-sized drink bottle storage in the door cubbies and my children were happy that they had two central rear air vents and heated outer seats. The air vents have manual on/off and direction control only with the temperature set from the front climate control.
The wagon’s boot lid is only power assisted and not power operated, making it slightly heavy to lift open, but I liked that when you lift the boot lid that the cargo net is attached and so lifts up out of your way. The boot is very large inside and I think it would easily fit a pram and the weekly shop. There are four tie down points, two hooks, one 12V socket and a light located in the boot and a temporary use spare tyre is located under the boot floor. If extra storage space is needed the rear seats have a 60:40 split folding mechanism.
The GT SP is powered by a 2.5 litre, 4-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine producing 170kW and 420Nm that offers adequate acceleration. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission via smooth gear changes in both normal and Sport driving modes and the ride quality is pleasant for occupants. The official combined fuel consumption is 7.6l/100km and for my week with the Mazda6 wagon I used 8.1l/100kms.
Airbags are fitted at the Front (driver and passenger), Side (front), and Curtain (front and rear) and all variants of the current Mazda6 range receiving a 5-star (2018) ANCAP safety rating. The ANCAP Adult Occupant protection score is 36.14 points out of 38 (95%) and the Child Occupant protection score is 44.81 points out of 49 (91%).
Active safety features fitted to the Mazda6 GT SP wagon include Blind Spot Monitoring, Emergency Brake Assist, Forward Obstruction Warning, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Smart City Brake Support [Forward/Reverse] and Adaptive Cruise Control. You also get a standard rear view camera with front and rear sensors, auto lights and auto wipers.
ANCAP tests of the autonomous emergency braking system showed GOOD results with collisions avoided or mitigated in most test scenarios. ANCAP tests of lane support system functionality showed some GOOD performance; however, the system does not intervene in more critical emergency lane keeping test scenarios and overall performance was classified as MARGINAL. The overall ANCAP Safety Assist score is 73% for the Mazda6.
All new Mazda vehicles sold in Australia come with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty with Mazda Premium Roadside Assistance included. Service intervals are every 10,000 km, but no longer than 12 months, whichever comes first and using the Mazda website I calculated that it would cost $1805 for the first five scheduled services on the Mazda6 wagon I drove.
The sophisticated look, big boot and comfort of this wagon makes it a great choice as your next family car. The Mazda6 GT SP wagon starts at $47,990 excluding on-road costs and as tested with the carpet floor mats and premium paint ($495) the wagon I drove was $48,731.46 plus on-roads. Visit your preferred Mazda dealer for more information or configure your Mazda6 online.
Pros and Cons of the Mazda6 GT SP wagon
| Pros | Cons |
| Sophisticated exterior and interior styling | Older style infotainment system |
| Big boot | Boot lid not power operated |
| ‘Dots’ on the seat memory buttons | Voice control can’t set a destination on sat nav |
Photographs by Driven Women Magazine.