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64 | FireFlyz
Car
Review
W o r d s :
Z a c h a r y H o
E
VERY
time I come across
Mazda’s “Zoom Zoom”
tagline, I’m reminded of the
song “Slap That Bass” from
Broadway’s Crazy For You
(undeniably I wasn’t aware
that Fred Astaire sang it
in Shall We Dance). Being a Gershwin
number, there’s no doubt it’s a catchy
feel-good tune and with that we shall
“zoom” in to Mazda’s latest executive cars
of the Mazda 6 SKYACTIV range. Drawn
out of Mazda’s Kodo concept, it articulates
the “Soul of Motion” exterior styling and
speaks of three elements: speed, tension
and allure. This design language was first
seen in the stunning Shinari concept car in
2010 and then in the Takeri concept in 2011,
which the production 6 sticks closely to.
By far, I find the Mazda 6 to be the most
striking of all Japanese executive sedans
you can find today. The prominent grille,
mildly peeved looking headlights and
muscular fenders give the impression that
the car is ready to pounce. However, we
gave a miss to the 2.0 and 2.5 litre sedans,
and headed straight for a “Grand Touring”
of the Mazda 6 Touring 2.5 litre station
wagon. Sadly, in the local context, wagons
or estates have a negative connotation
as something used for sombre occasions.
Well, so are MPVs, which are a favourite
among locals!
INTERIOR SPACE AND WHEELBASE
Oddly enough, the wagon has a wheelbase 80mm shorter than the sedan, mak-
ing overall length 65mm shorter, but cargo space is 84 litres more at 522. The
primary reason is the estate is targeted at the European market where this body
style is popular. The perception is that they generally prefer lots of cargo space
in the smallest possible car. As a result, some legroom is sacrificed in the wagon.
It’s still quite comfortable for the rear passengers, nevertheless.
I-ELOOP AND I-STOP
Like the CX-5 SUV, the 6 is built on Mazda’s Skyactiv principle. Every bit of the
car from the engine to the body is designed from scratch resulting in a car that
is more efficient, more rigid, nimbler and safer too. Available only in the 2.5
litre variants are i-ELOOP and i-Stop. i-ELOOP is similar in concept to Formula
One’s KERS or a hybrid’s regenerative braking where kinetic energy is stored
in batteries and harnessed to provide more torque. Except in Mazda’s case, the
recovered energy is stored in a capacitor and used to power the car’s electrical
parts, so the engine can concentrate on putting power to the road instead of
the alternator. The advantage of using a capacitor is that it can be charged and
discharged quickly and lasts longer.
When coupled with i-Stop which shuts down the engine when stationary,
it helps improve fuel economy by as much as 10%. But more importantly,
i-ELOOP helps keep the air-con cool a little longer when the engine is down.
Beware though for a slight flick of the steering restarts the engine, which by the
way feels jerkier than say, VW’s auto start-stop function.
PERFORMANCE
But that’s about as jerky as it gets; on the road the engine is silky. If you’re
into numbers, the engine pops 185hp and 250Nm of torque. If you aren’t into
numbers, it means you’ll have no problems overtaking cars. Officially, it clocks
8.2s for a 0-100km/h sprint. However, since the Skyactiv idea is to be as frugal
as possible, power feels a little wanting at low revs. This is probably due to the
6-speed gearbox craving to be in as high a gear as possible. Get past that and
you’ll enjoy the smooth power Mazda brings you.
Soulful Passion:
Mazda 6 Grand Touring