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Wagon comes standard with a V6
First, the wagon. The Mazda 6 Sport Wagon only comes in high-content “s” trim, which means that it’s motivated by a 3.0-liter V6 making 220 horsepower and 192 lb.-ft. of torque. For the curious, this motor is a variant of the Duratec V6 engine so familiar in Ford’s lineup, faithfully serving since the mid-1990s. It also moves the Jaguar X-Type, Jaguar S-Type and Mazda Tribute (Ford is the parent company of Jaguar and Mazda). Mated with the standard five-speed manual transmission, as was our Mazda 6 wagon test car, this is a powerplant that’s eager to rev. While its Duratec ancestry does show in the upper rpms where it gets somewhat grainy and unrefined, we found that for most city driving applications power delivery is buttery smooth. When climbing hills, it tends to become short of breath, losing steam earlier than Honda and Nissan V6 engines. Our Mazda 6 wagon used a gallon of fuel for every 19.4 miles traveled in mixed city and highway driving.
Manual transmission in a station wagon
We found the manual transmission to be somewhat tricky to operate. The long-travel clutch must be depressed all the way to the floor to start the engine, and it’s also easy to stall the car in traffic. And while the shifter is notchy and a bit floppy, it was still a pleasure to maintain revs in the engine’s sweet spot by rowing through the gears. For those who cannot operate a manual, we can report that the five-speed automatic paired to the V6 is quite responsive, so there isn’t too much of a trade-off between ease of use and driving yee-haws.
Hatchback comes standard with a four-cylinder
Nestled in the engine bay of our Mazda 6i hatchback was a 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder engine producing 160 horsepower and 155 pound-feet of twist. “More power!” may be the official American mantra (next to “Yes, I will have fries with that”), but we found this engine to be more than adequate, providing smooth and linear acceleration throughout the rev range. Sure, it lacked the satisfying grumble of the V6 and encouraged higher rev shifting, but we liked how this engine delivered its power to the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission. Still, a turbocharger would be a thing of beauty in this car, and we’re eagerly awaiting word of a MazdaSpeed version. During our driving, the Mazda 6 hatchback averaged 22.4 mpg, exactly three more miles per gallon than the V6 wagon. If you must have more power, choose the Mazda 6s hatchback, which comes with the same 3.0-liter V6 found in the wagon.
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