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our test drives or view them all

Mazda6 2.2D TS2 Estate

FEW estates have moved me – and my goods and chattels – quite so well as the latest Mazda6.

What a car. Built on one of the best mid-range platforms to come out of Japan for some years, the estate-bodied Mazda6 with the punchy 2.2 litre turbodiesel is a driver’s joy – and stylish to boot.

There are seven models in the estate range, from £17,840 for the 145bhp 2.0i to £23,145 for the 183bhp 2.2 Sports Luxury Diesel – but my well-appointed 161bhp 2.2D in TS2 guise is a perfect representation of the best in estate ownership that blends performance and incredible pulling power with economy and a surprising level of driver satisfaction.

At £20,170 it offers great value and substantially undercuts its most obvious rivals – Ford’s 173bhp Mondeo Estate in 2.2 TDCi Zetec trim and Vauxhall’s fine 158bhp Insignia Sports Tourer 2.0 CDTi in SE trim.

And with an average economy of 50mpg the Mazda6 falls neatly between the Mondeo’s 45mpg and Insignia’s 53mpg.

What’s more the Mazda scores heavily over both in appearance – the Japanese offering is sleek and hides its cargo carrying ability well.

This is more of a lifestyle choice than the others. It’s a great looking estate, and despite not being quite as sharp to drive as the Mondeo or as silent on the diesel front as the Insignia’s sweet two-litre CDTi, it does feel good at the wheel and has comfortable accommodation and great practicality.

On the boot front it has marginally less space than its main rivals – but there’s little in it. Where the Mazda6 offers 519 litres the Ford has 542 litres and the Vauxhall 540 litres.

But when you flick the Mazda’s split rear seats flat with a single push of a button, the space you get is a massive unobstructed flat floor area.

The seat squab moves forward and down to allow the seat back to rest flat. That means there’s no lip to get in the way of bulky cargo.

With the rear seats folded the Mazda6 offers 1751 litres of space – bigger that both the Mondeo with 1733 litres and the Insignia with 1530 litres.

The cargo space is practical with a big tailgate and under the rear floor near the tailgate sill there is more storage.

It all adds up to an intelligent estate built on a great chassis.

There are lots of sensible features on this car. The slick six-speed manual gearbox is perfect for extracting performance or lugging loads and Mazda has built in a proper clutch footrest that’s comfortable and means you won’t ride the pedal.

Standard wheel and tyre fit on my well-appointed TS2 model are sensible 17-inch alloys with 50-section Goodyear Excellence tyres, a combination that helps on the comfort front with a car that in its natural state is a firm rider.

Despite the average road noise that’s generated and its firm ride, the Mazda6 Estate is a comfortable mile-eater and was a pleasure on a 300-mile round trip from Moray to the west coast’s Red Point beach near Badachro in darkest December. With the wider aspect of the split/fold rear seat tucked away the cargo area easily swallowed a six-foot long cardboard packing case with a friend’s new outboard motor inside.

The near 1.6 tonne kerb-weight car has a solid, well-constructed feel. You won’t find this estate rattling or squeaking and the controls work with a firm solidity that is reassuring on twisty west Highland single-trackers in sleet and rain.

Back on roads with denser traffic the estate cruises beautifully and accelerates powerfully, thanks to the 2.2 litre turbo four potter’s 360 Newton metres of torque that slushes in willingly from 1800rpm and won’t peak until 3000rpm. It makes for a relaxed and able load-carrier.

I was surprised to find the car comes as standard with a system Mazda calls RVM. Know what that is? Neither did I for a start.

There’s a small switch low down on the dash beside your right knee marked RVM that lights up a green “RVM” caption in the lower part of the speedo.

Turns out it stands for Rear Vehicle Monitoring. Any wiser?

To be fair, it’s quite useful – though I wonder why it needs to have a switch that allows the driver to disable it.

Like similar systems on cars such as Volvo it scans those difficult blind spots on your near and offside and warns when you have a vehicle lurking, perhaps about to overtake. If it works as it says on the tin it should give you an orange flashing light warning near the front windscreen pillars to alert you to a vehicle in your blind spot and backs that up with an audible warning if it’s there when you indicate to pull out.

It’s a clever and useful addition to the car’s substantial safety arsenal – but only if you remember to leave it switched on.

The great thing about the 2.2D TS2 test car was that is was not loaded with optional equipment. All Mazda had added was a coating of mica/metallic paint – a reasonable option at £385.

The standard specification is generous with hard-wearing interior fabrics and plastics that are both comfortable and tasteful. The car’s black cloth trim was top quality and not hard and unyielding like some.

The dash and instrumentation are superb. Main speedo and rev counter dials are large and easy to read and the steering wheel carries remotes for the fine in-car entertainment package and the standard cruise control. Heating and ventilation is delivered by a sophisticated climate system that is powerful and controlled using three logically large rotary dials in the lower centre of the main console with the radio and CD knobs and switches immediately above.

I am not a fan of Mazda’s satin silver dash and steering wheel trim though – I’m from the traditional school and don’t like too many highlights on the dash. But the material is good quality and well fitted.

Few mass-production estates have impressed me as much as this good-looking mid-range Mazda. The 2.2D is a lusty performer and needs servicing every 12,500 miles.

Not only is this cargo ship impeccably built but it is good to drive, very practical with a towing capacity of 1.6 tonnes and comes with a three-year/60,000 miles warranty.

Rating: 8.5/10

FINAL THOUGHT: The latest Mazda6 Estate TS2 is an outstanding mass-produced cargo ship. It drives well, has a quality feel and a strong and responsive 2.2 litre turbodiesel. Ride quality is firm, but never uncomfortable. An intelligent buy that can be ordered with the same engine but as a more modest TS from £18,970.

Mazda6 2.2D TS2 Estate

• Price: £20,170
• Capacity: 2183cc
• Power: 161bhp
• 0-62mph: 9.2 seconds
• Maximum speed: 130mph
• Economy: Combined 50.4mpg; Urban 40.4mpg
• CO2 emissions: 149g/km
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 12