Mazda 6 & 2, and a disappointing X-Trail

I got to finally test drive the Mazda 6, and while I was there the 2. Here's what I thought of the now outdated model.

The 6 is great. Fit and finish is the best I've found out of all the cars I've test driven over the last 4 months. Handling is great. I drove the Turbo Diesel wagon.

I would say this is borderline, the perfect car (for me). The only gripe I have is that the diesel engine noise does intrude into the cabin a fair bit more then expected. At idle, you can barely hear any "clatter" at all. While driving, it didn't sound so refined, although it went really well. 360Nm! Loved the pulling power.

The interior is well thought out. There are little handles to pull at the back of the cargo area which tilt the spring loaded seats. When you pull the lever, the backs of the rear seats fold down, and the "seat" of the seat lowers to the floor of the car. Creating a perfectly flat surface big enough for (dare I say) three of my mountain bikes.

The leather interior is soooo comfy. The plain clothe is okay. But no as supportive or nice to touch.

Dashboard is well organised, the buttons for aircon, radio, etc are all top quality. They felt so solid and of high standards. I haven't felt dashboard buttons so solid in any other car I've driven. The instrument panel was well set up and the dials were placed well.

I'm a tall driver and three problems I have in most cars is head room, not being able to see the instruments through the steering wheel and not being able to see traffic lights when I'm anywhere in the first three cars from pole position.

I didn't have this problem with the seat adjusted almost all the way down. And unlike the Ford Focus, I felt like the seat was hugging me, rather then me sitting on a swiss-ball (Exercise ball).

The car, all in all was worthy. I'd put my hard earnt dosh down on it for sure.

I drove the 2 while I was there. I chose the Auto and I'll be honest and straight up. I liked it a lot. Same fit and finish as the 6. Albeit, sparse. Not quite the "luxury" of the 6. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well the little engine "zoomed" along. I have driven the Honda Jazz, same size engine, and was expecting no acceleration. And the jazz was manual. But this little 2 went like a little rocket. And the auto transmission, although an old 4 speed job, felt nice, solid, responsive and it changed gear almost correctly.

The rear seats, also didn't fold flat but could recline. So rear occupants didn't sit BOLT upright! And the seats could be shifted back and forth for either more leg room and less boot space when carrying passengers. Or you could still use the seats but increase boot space by shifting the rear seats forward.

Child seat anchor points were not very well thought out. They were placed right on the edge of the tailgate. If they are in use you won't be able to get a set of Golf clubs in the back. Just in case you wanted to fill in a 9er with the new born

I also recently test drove the Nissan X-Trail. I have to say, the dash felt a little cheap. And it looked very 1991. Though the car itself was great. handling was okay. Engine was super quiet, but made the right sounds when you put your boot in it.

The interior is okay. Nothing special. The drawcard is the rear cargo area and the ducts to cool your drinks. The backs of the rear seats are covered with the same material as the cargo floor. It's a very hard wearing plastic I can easily throw my mountain bikes on and not worry. It pulls out easy, and there's a full sized spare under it. The rear seats also recline slightly.

It was a good package. Though Nissan is releasing a new model, but no Diesel in Australia, so it's kinda lost my sale because I was going to wait till October for the Turbo oiler. :( ah well. [EDIT: Nissan, in the end released their Diesel X-Trial when they said they wouldn't. Kudos for doing so, but not so much for lying about it].

Thanks for reading my utterly random ramblings.

SteveC