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Thought it might be interesting after a test drive to post my views on the new Mazda6 in comparison to one of its competitors, the B7 Passat. There's no denying Mazda have produced a very impressive vehicle. On road dynamics are first class and the exterior is strikingly good with its purposeful stance. The Passat looks more conservative, but looks are a subjective opinion. I like them both in this regard. Both petrol and diesel variants make for rewarding drives, but the Passat is just as accomplished in this regard and the new Mazda6 isn't dramatically better to drive. Having said that, the 420nm of torque available on the Mazda diesel is potent. In terms of fuel economy, the Mazda6 might just have the edge as well according to the specs.
Mazda comes with an i-Stop system which is equivalent to the Passat's stat-stop system. It's standard across the range in the Mazda6 whilst only available on the diesel Passat. The two systems are similar in operation, albeit with some differences. Mazda's unit is regulated by both the brake pedal and the steering wheel. The Passat relies on the brake pedal only; however, there's a very interesting catch here. For those of you with a 125TDI Passat like mine, you'll know that if you lift your foot of the brake and reactivate the engine and then put your foot down on the brake - without having moved the vehicle - the engine will keep running. Not so, with the Mazda6 - as soon as you press the brake it will deactivate the engine regardless of vehicle movement. I didn’t really notice much difference in the time it takes for either unit to reactivate the engine. Of course, both systems are on by default, but both can be deactivated, which in some ways is a blessing!
Features and options make for an interesting comparison. The top spec Mazda6 Atenza is loaded with kit and includes some formidable safety aids that put the Passat to shame. At $51,000 for the Mazda6 Atenza there's a premium Bose stereo system, heated electric leather seats, sunroof, 19 inch wheels and matching alloys, sunroof, blind spot monitoring, collision detection, adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, high beam control, Bi-Xenon headlamps with adaptive front-lighting etc. The Mazda6 Atenza doesn't offer park assist like the Passat, but even if all of these aforementioned features were optional on the regular Passat sedan one would baulk at Volkswagen's option pricelist. A 125TDI Passat sedan that retails at $48, 500 optioned up with equivalent features would soon hit $59,000.
Nevertheless, the devil is in the detail, as they say. What does my current B7 125TDI Passat sedan offer that's missing or isn't as appealing in the new Mazda6? Given the high profile and imposing dash, coupled with high window sills, it's strange there's no height adjustment for the front passenger. People of shorter stature could find this problematic as they can sit quite low in the Mazda6 and see much less outside the vehicle. Given the size and the shape of the dash, more foot well space is lost in the Mazda6 compared to the Passat. The Audio Unit/Sat-Nav/RVC screen is rather small and looks tacked on in the Mazda6. Everything looks like it’s seamlessly integrated into the Passat dash. Both vehicles come with front and rear parking sensors, but whereas the Passat provides both an acoustic and visual guide, the Mazda6 is acoustic only. Furthermore, the Passat comes with both a DVD drive and SD card slot whereas the Mazda6 provides a single CD player slot. Both come with USB/iPod connectivity, but on first go, the Mazda6 can take a while to load music content from an iPod whereas on the Passat this happens instantaneously. Although controls fall to place quite logically, the Passat's dash is superior in terms of its layout, functionality, as well as size and shape. There's also no cooled glove box in the Mazda6.
On the exterior, I would suggest that the paintwork on the Passat is better than that on the Mazda6. Not sure why, but it seems the Passat would stand up better to paint chips and scratches. Purely subjective on my part and I could be wrong. Not something I could test in a showroom! When it comes to the interior, there's soft touch plastics in both vehicles, but it seems to me that the leather seats in the Mazda6 are softer when compared to those in the Passat. Long term, they could very well crease and possibly tear more readily than those in the Passat. Again, being purely subjective here as I can't go on any evidence and this sort of durability testing could only happen through ownership of the vehicles.
With the Passat I can open and raise the boot and lower all the windows as I'm approaching the vehicle which is not available on the Mazda6. I believe that if the Passat is optioned with electric seats, the passenger mirror will dip when reversing and neither is this available on the Mazda6, but it does come with heated side mirrors like the Passat, albeit no puddle lamps. Although wide and long, the boot is definitely shallower in the Mazda6 and there are no hooks for shopping bags. Indeed, there's a space saver spare in the Mazda6 as opposed to a full size spare in the Passat.
Both are great cars and neither is a bad choice. Having owned a Mazda6 before my current Passat would I consider going back to the Mazda brand? Tough call. Both are great to drive and offer impressive fuel economy, but I still prefer the interior of the Passat. Given how much time one spends inside a vehicle, this could very well be the deciding factor. Then again, the interior of the new Mazda6 isn't that bad and all those features being standard as opposed to optional on the Passat would have a strong sway as well.
Yes, I know I need to get a life, but I'm still on holidays, so I can afford to indulge myself in these sorts of comparisons! Oh, I haven't tried out the CC .... check in later. Cheers!
Mazda comes with an i-Stop system which is equivalent to the Passat's stat-stop system. It's standard across the range in the Mazda6 whilst only available on the diesel Passat. The two systems are similar in operation, albeit with some differences. Mazda's unit is regulated by both the brake pedal and the steering wheel. The Passat relies on the brake pedal only; however, there's a very interesting catch here. For those of you with a 125TDI Passat like mine, you'll know that if you lift your foot of the brake and reactivate the engine and then put your foot down on the brake - without having moved the vehicle - the engine will keep running. Not so, with the Mazda6 - as soon as you press the brake it will deactivate the engine regardless of vehicle movement. I didn’t really notice much difference in the time it takes for either unit to reactivate the engine. Of course, both systems are on by default, but both can be deactivated, which in some ways is a blessing!
Features and options make for an interesting comparison. The top spec Mazda6 Atenza is loaded with kit and includes some formidable safety aids that put the Passat to shame. At $51,000 for the Mazda6 Atenza there's a premium Bose stereo system, heated electric leather seats, sunroof, 19 inch wheels and matching alloys, sunroof, blind spot monitoring, collision detection, adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, high beam control, Bi-Xenon headlamps with adaptive front-lighting etc. The Mazda6 Atenza doesn't offer park assist like the Passat, but even if all of these aforementioned features were optional on the regular Passat sedan one would baulk at Volkswagen's option pricelist. A 125TDI Passat sedan that retails at $48, 500 optioned up with equivalent features would soon hit $59,000.
Nevertheless, the devil is in the detail, as they say. What does my current B7 125TDI Passat sedan offer that's missing or isn't as appealing in the new Mazda6? Given the high profile and imposing dash, coupled with high window sills, it's strange there's no height adjustment for the front passenger. People of shorter stature could find this problematic as they can sit quite low in the Mazda6 and see much less outside the vehicle. Given the size and the shape of the dash, more foot well space is lost in the Mazda6 compared to the Passat. The Audio Unit/Sat-Nav/RVC screen is rather small and looks tacked on in the Mazda6. Everything looks like it’s seamlessly integrated into the Passat dash. Both vehicles come with front and rear parking sensors, but whereas the Passat provides both an acoustic and visual guide, the Mazda6 is acoustic only. Furthermore, the Passat comes with both a DVD drive and SD card slot whereas the Mazda6 provides a single CD player slot. Both come with USB/iPod connectivity, but on first go, the Mazda6 can take a while to load music content from an iPod whereas on the Passat this happens instantaneously. Although controls fall to place quite logically, the Passat's dash is superior in terms of its layout, functionality, as well as size and shape. There's also no cooled glove box in the Mazda6.
On the exterior, I would suggest that the paintwork on the Passat is better than that on the Mazda6. Not sure why, but it seems the Passat would stand up better to paint chips and scratches. Purely subjective on my part and I could be wrong. Not something I could test in a showroom! When it comes to the interior, there's soft touch plastics in both vehicles, but it seems to me that the leather seats in the Mazda6 are softer when compared to those in the Passat. Long term, they could very well crease and possibly tear more readily than those in the Passat. Again, being purely subjective here as I can't go on any evidence and this sort of durability testing could only happen through ownership of the vehicles.
With the Passat I can open and raise the boot and lower all the windows as I'm approaching the vehicle which is not available on the Mazda6. I believe that if the Passat is optioned with electric seats, the passenger mirror will dip when reversing and neither is this available on the Mazda6, but it does come with heated side mirrors like the Passat, albeit no puddle lamps. Although wide and long, the boot is definitely shallower in the Mazda6 and there are no hooks for shopping bags. Indeed, there's a space saver spare in the Mazda6 as opposed to a full size spare in the Passat.
Both are great cars and neither is a bad choice. Having owned a Mazda6 before my current Passat would I consider going back to the Mazda brand? Tough call. Both are great to drive and offer impressive fuel economy, but I still prefer the interior of the Passat. Given how much time one spends inside a vehicle, this could very well be the deciding factor. Then again, the interior of the new Mazda6 isn't that bad and all those features being standard as opposed to optional on the Passat would have a strong sway as well.
Yes, I know I need to get a life, but I'm still on holidays, so I can afford to indulge myself in these sorts of comparisons! Oh, I haven't tried out the CC .... check in later. Cheers!
It doesn't blend with the rest of the interior and again could have been much better. The Passat excels in this area as well.
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