The IT Nerd

The Mazda6 that I’m driving this week is filled with all sorts of technology that is in a car that’s under $35,000. That makes it very accessible to the majority of car buyers.

Let’s start with actually driving the car. The GT trim level with the technology package gives you a proximity key with push button start. Thus all you have to do is press a button on the driver’s door handle. Press it and the car will unlock. Get in, hit the start/stop button and drive away. When you’ve reached your destination, press the start/stop button to turn off the car. Then get out of the car and press the button to lock the car. You never need to pull out the key fob to do any of this. But the key fob does have the ability to unlock the doors and pop the trunk, plus it has the ever useful panic button. As an added bonus, it has a backup key inside the key fob should you need it.

Now onto the safety features. This Mazda6 comes with a long list of safety features:

• Mazda Radar Cruise Control: A radar sensor behind the front grille allows the car to monitor what the vehicle in front if it is doing, and adjust it’s speed accordingly. It works and works very well. I consider this to be a safety feature as it lessens the burden being on long drives.
• Lane Departure Warning System: If you cross over into another lane, this system will buzz you on either the right or the left side. The buzz really gets your attention I must say.
• Blind Spot Monitoring: This system keeps an eye out for cars in your blind spots so that you don’t hit them when changing lanes. It works well as the area of detection was large enough to keep me safe, but not so large that it created false positives.
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert: If you back out of a parking space in a busy shopping mall and you have limited visibility to your left and right, you’ll love this system as you will be warned of any cars that cross into your path.
• Adaptive Front Lighting System and High Beam Control: I wrote about this previously and I have to admit that on some of the back roads that I drive at night, this feature comes in handy. I was always able to see what was in front of me clearly. I should also note that this trim level comes with Bi-Xenon HID headlights with LED daytime running lights that look cool. The lighting can be set to automatic so that you never have to worry about turning the lights on and off. I found that the levels where the lights might turn on to be better than most cars that I’ve driven as on a dark overcast day, the lights would come on in the Mazda6. That’s something that would not happen in a lot of cars in similar systems.
• Forward Obstruction Warning: This system detects objects in front of you and if it thinks you might hit it, the system warns you so that you can take evasive action.
• Smart City Brake Support: Let’s say that you hear the warning from the Forward Obstruction Warning system and you do not react in time. This Mazda6 is capable of coming to a stop at low speeds, or slowing down to make the impact less severe. You can get more details on this system here.
• You get anti-lock brakes, traction control, stability control, and electronic brake force distribution
• Finally, you get dual front air bags, dual front side air bags and dual side air curtains

Now let’s move on to the infotainment system. The Mazda6 GT with the technology package has a 5.8″ touchscreen that allows you to control the radio (AM/FM and Sirrus), Bluetooth, USB, and Pandora. The latter requires you to have the Pandora app on your smartphone to make this feature work. Though at the moment, Pandora is only available in U.S., Australia and New Zealand. If that changes, the Mazda6 is ready to go.

If the touchscreen doesn’t do it for you, Mazda also has the HMI (Human-Machine Interface) Commander Switch behind the shift lever. It’s a knob with redundant buttons around the sides that is quick to adapt to and use. You can use rotary, push and tilt operations to do what you need to do. Now if that doesn’t do it for you, there’s also voice commands that work very well. Tip: there are several tutorials that will help you not only use the system, but pair your phone via Bluetooth. Spend some time listening to them to get the most out of the system.

I plugged my iPhone 5 into the USB port and all my tunes and playlists were accessible. Though I did have to wait about four or five minutes for the contents of my iPhone 5 to be accessible. But beyond that, everything worked perfectly. No matter what song I tossed at it, be it MP3 or AAC, it worked. Since we’re talking about music, this Mazda6 has an 11 speaker sound system. I have to admit that regardless where I was in the Mazda6, the sound was excellent as the highs and lows were perfect and the audio was well balanced. Phone calls were clear on both ends of the conversation as well. For those of you who still use CDs, there’s a CD drive as well which is located just above the touchscreen.

When it comes to navigation, the system is powered by Tom Tom. Some things I really liked about this system:

• It always asked me if I wanted to use toll roads and high occupancy lanes when coming up with routes. That’s a very nice feature as you don’t have to fish into the options to turn off or on the ability to avoid toll roads. It also offered to avoid roads that were closed. That was hit and miss. It correctly avoided some roads that were indeed closed. But it failed to identify other roads that have been closed for months. I am guessing that either the maps needed updating or whatever source it was pulling this info from wasn’t accurate.
• Traffic was always accounted for and it would re-route me if it could find a faster route.
• The audio directions are clear and the screen offers guidance as to what lane you should be in.
• Maps can be updated via a SD Card

Now the touchscreen also doubles as the screen for the backup camera. It was easy to manoeuvre into a space as its field of vision was very good. Though I will note that the actual camera is exposed to the elements. Thus I have to wonder what the video quality would be like if the Mazda6 gets really dirty. Another observation, like most of these backup cameras, it will warn you when you get too close to an object. But from what I can tell, you have to get pretty close before the warnings start. Now one could argue that this could be a good thing as you won’t tune out the warning. But it may be handy to have more of a warning further out from the object.

Complaints? I don’t have any. But I will point out that some people may initially be turned off by the 5.8″ screen given that there are cars with 7″ and 8″ screens out there. I was at first. But I have to say that it doesn’t affect the ability to use the infotainment system and it fits in well with the design of the dash. Thus if you think this might be a deal breaker for you, try it at your local Mazda dealer. I think you’ll change your mind.

The Mazda6 has safety technology that you typically don’t see in a sub $35,000 car, such as the ability to stop itself if you do not do so quickly enough. In fact, nothing it competes against has a feature like this. Thus the Mazda6 has to be considered to be at the top of the mid-sized car pack when it comes to safety. As for the infotainment system, it’s works quite well and I think you’ll love it. Especially the 11 speakers that this trim level gets. On the technology front, I have to give the Mazda6 an “A”.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my final verdict. Watch for it on Monday.

The interior of the Mazda6 is a great place to spend some time in. Let me show you why I say that:

Let’s start with the center console. It’s got dual zone climate controls that sit below a touch screen 5.8″ in size along with a slot for CDs. The size of the touch screen fits in with the rest of the dash from an aesthetics perspective. However, I think that some will feel that the screen should be bigger given that many cars come with 7″ and 8″ touch screens these days. You’ll also note that it has a space beneath the climate controls to store small items in.

You also get this control knob called the HMI (Human-Machine Interface) Commander Switch. It doesn’t take long to get used to it and it is handy for controlling the radio, navigation system or even the phone.

Behind the HMI (Human-Machine Interface) Commander Switch is this panel that hides….

….a pair of cupholders that are great for Venti sized coffees from Starbucks.

There’s a storage area behind the cupholders that also doubles as an armrest (which is adjustable by the way). If you look closer…

….You’ll a 12V port, a USB port, and a 1/8″ jack. Bonus points to Mazda for having flaps that cover them so that they don’t get filled with dirt.

Moving to the gauge cluster, it’s of the analog variety and I found it to be readable in most lighting conditions. One thing to note is that the pod on the right can be customized with all sorts of info such as average fuel economy, distance to empty, and so on.

The steering wheel is wrapped in leather and is the right size for those who are “spirited” drivers. Though my wife did mention that it was a bit thick for her small hands. There are controls on the steering wheel to handle everything from audio to cruise control.

This is a picture of one of the paddle shifters that’s behind the steering wheel. Bonus points to Mazda for having them, and for making them work regardless of the position of the shift lever.

Window and side mirror controls along with door lock and unlock buttons are on the drivers door.

And just in front of that is a cubby for change, along with buttons to defeat a variety of electronic overseers should the need arise.

The front passengers get lit vanity mirrors.

Plus you get a place to put your sunglasses.

You get leather front seats with bolstering and they can be power adjusted in eight ways. I should note that the passenger seat can be power adjusted in four ways and both seats are heated. I found them to be comfortable and it didn’t take me long to get a decent driving position.

The back seats will hold two people. Three if you’re all friendly. But if you only need to carry two passengers back there, there is a armrest that flips down that has a couple of cupholders in them. The seats will flip down in a 60/40 split as well for extra long cargo. One thing to note, there is a lot of room back here. If you want a car to carry passengers in comfort, this is it.

You get a good sized moonroof. One thing that I will note, it did cut into my headroom a tiny bit until I found a seating position that made that a non-issue.

One thing that is a welcome feature are puddle lights in the doors.

The trunk is HUGE, and bonus points to Mazda for two things. One the rubber cover for the floor of the trunk and the other for the shrouds that cover the hinges so they don’t crush whatever is underneath them. However, it could use a handle to keep your hands clean when you close the trunk.

All the surfaces that you touch are soft. Plus the fit and finish is approaching levels that I usually see with luxury car companies. Everything that the driver could possibly need falls easily to hand. In short, everything interior wise is well thought through. In fact, I would say that the Mazda6 for the most part fit me rather than I being forced to adapt to it. If you want a car that feels like it was made for you, the Mazda6 is your car.

In part four of this review, I will cover the technology in the car. And there’s a lot of it to cover. Stay tuned!

What you’re looking at is the Mazda 2.5L SkyActiv engine. It’s a 4 cylinder engine that puts out 184 horsepower and 185 pound feet of torque and this the only engine option that’s available for the Mazda6. I’ll stop right here and address the elephant in the room. It’s not a V6 in a market where the so called market leaders have V6 engines available. So this has to mean that the performance of this car has to lacking. Right?

Wrong.

That’s because SkyActiv is not one technology. It’s a suite of technologies that encompasses the engine, transmission, and body to give you plenty of Mazda’s trademark “Zoom Zoom” while saving you gas. If you want to go into finer details, check out my in depth look at SkyActiv technology here. But let me cut to the chase. In the Mazda6, it works exceptionally well to motivate the front wheels. The engine never, ever felt weak. If I wanted to pass by a transport truck, no problem. If I wanted to merge onto the highway in rush hour traffic, no problem. If I needed to zip around a slow moving car, no problem. Any time I needed engine power, it was there and always on tap. That’s because the 185 pound feet of torque show up for work at a low 3250 RPM. In other words, exactly where you need it and as a result the Mazda6 feels like a car with much more under the hood. The six speed automatic transmission also helps this by shifting in a smooth manner and being in the right gear regardless of my driving style. I should also mention that you get a sport mode that really allows you to take full advantage of what this engine can do. If that’s not enough, you also get paddle shifters that work regardless of where the shift lever is. In other words, you can be in “D” and if you want to hold a gear through a corner, simply tap the shift lever of your choice and Bob’s your uncle. But if you want a number to associate with my seat of the pants feelings, I used an app called Dynolicious and a flat road outside of Toronto to record a 0 – 60 time of 7.5 seconds. And that’s with snow tires on the car. That’s not slow.

But the accolades from yours truly don’t end there. This car handles exceptionally well. And when I say that, I am comparing to luxury cars costing tens of thousands more. The weight of the steering is perfect, and there’s a great amount of feel and precision that I typically don’t find in a mid-sized car that’s at this price point. Not only that the suspension is absolutely perfect. It feels firm but isn’t punishing and it lets the right amount of road feel through to the steering wheel. The last time I drove something that felt this good, it was from Bavaria.

Take it from me, you’ll test drive the Mazda6 and you’ll be thinking “This is a sub $35,000 car? It feels like it’s worth $60,000 or more.”

Now because I’ve got a Mazda6 with the technology package, I get one extra item. I get Mazda’s i-Eloop regenerative braking system that helps you to save gas by capturing and storing energy that is normally lost during braking in a capacitor. Then it takes that energy and uses it to run the electronics in the car so the engine doesn’t have to. The finer details on i-Eloop can be found here. But I am sure that it along with the SkyActiv technology in the car is allowing me to do 9.8 L/100 KMs in mixed highway and city driving, most of which is during rush hour.  One thing to note is that unlike regenerative braking systems found in hybrid cars where the brake pedal feels disconnected from the brakes, the Mazda6 has perfect brake feel as I can modulate the brakes and get the feedback I need from them. In fact, if I didn’t check the spec sheet, I would never know that a regenerative braking system was in the car.

There’s nothing that makes it way into the cabin in terms of sound with the exception of some of the exhaust note if you put your foot into it and perhaps a tiny bit of wind noise if the wind is blowing hard in the right direction for it to become a factor. That’s another thing that I wasn’t expecting from a sub $35,000 mid-sized car. Visibility is also good from the drivers seat as there was nothing that impaired my vision in any direction.

So, the bottom line is this. This car drives way above it’s weight class. I am extremely impressed by the Mazda6 thus far. And that continues with the interior, which I will cover tomorrow.

This week I’m stepping into a 2014 Mazda6 which is Mazda’s entry into the mid-sized car segment. Now, the mid-sized segment is usually owned by either the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry and anyone else that tries to play in that segment usually ends up being an also ran. But rather than save my verdict until part 5 of this review, I’ll say this right up front. The Mazda6 needs to be on your shopping list as they have a winner on their hands that can compete with Accord and Camry. And I don’t mean that they have a winner from a metaphorical perspective. The Mazda6 is The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) winner for the best family car over $30K. And if that’s not enough, the Mazda6 also took the award for Canadian car of the year. That’s just for starters. The Mazda6 has won a total of 170 awards worldwide. Not to mention that the IIHS considers the Mazda6 to be a top safety pick.

I bet that got the attention of some people at Honda and Toyota.

The Mazda6 I have this week is the GT variant with the technology package and it has every option box checked. So as a result I will get to write about a host of technology and comfort options. Now frequent readers of this blog will recall that I wrote about my experience with the Mazda6 GT previously. That one was without the technology package and I only had the car for a few hours. Thus it will be nice to do a more in-depth review and see if the impressions that I had last May are still true today.

I’ll be posting a multi-part review that will cover the following sections:

• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

Now the picture above doesn’t really do it justice in terms of how good this looks. It’s long hood and short rear deck really makes the Mazda6 look fast even when it’s standing still. But there’s more to the look than that:

You get great looking 19″ rims with the Mazda6 GT with technology package.

The dual tailpipes let those behind you know you mean business.

And the Mazda6 has Mazda’s groundbreaking Skyactive suite of technologies on board.

So without further ado, let me put the Mazda6 through its paces and find out how much “zoom zoom” this car has.

Mazda wants you to save fuel while being able to maintain the fun to drive factor that their cars are known for. One way they’ve done that is by using SkyActiv technology in their recent vehicles. But they have another trick up their sleeve. That trick is Mazda i-Eloop.

i-Eloop stands for Intelligent Energy Loop. It’s a brake energy regeneration system. Normally when you hit the brake pedal in a car, the kinetic energy that the braking process creates is simply lost. Mazda uses this to power to relieve the engine from the need to produce this electricity for your in-car stereo, navigation system, lights, and anything else electrical. By recovering and reusing the energy that is produced when a car decelerates, Mazda can get significant improvements in fuel economy. Before I tell you how it works, let’s look at the parts that make up the i-Eloop system:

• Variable voltage alternator: Responding to voltage level charges in the capacitor, the alternator automatically varies its voltage (between 12V and 25V) in order to smoothly transfer electricity to the capacitor.
• Electric Double Layer Capacitor: An electricity storage device similar to a battery. but it does not involve a chemical reaction.
• DC/DC convertor: Converts the voltage of electricity from the capacitor (max. 25V) to 12V in order to supply power to the electrical components. 

The first thing you notice is that there is no battery. The reason is simple. By using a capacitor to store energy you get the following advantages:

• You get a power density of over 10kW/kg which is something that a battery (lithium-ion or lead acid) can’t come close to.
• It is capable of charging and discharging a large amount of energy at once. That’s another thing that batteries can’t match.
• There’s a very low amount of deterioration after repeated charging and discharging. A battery has to be replaced eventually. Usually within a few years at a cost to you.
• The capacitor mainly consists of activated carbon which is derived from coconut husks. No precious metals or heavy metals are used. That means it’s environmentally friendly.
• Capacitors unlike batteries can work at higher ambient temperatures making it possible to locate it in the engine bay. Batteries in hybrids are typically in the trunk which affects how the car can handle and reduces the available storage space in the trunk.

Now how does i-Eloop work? When the accelerator is released, a high-performance alternator powered by torque from the tires generates electric energy which is quickly transferred to the capacitor. Now when you accelerate, the alternator does not generate electricity. Instead, the capacitor generates the electricity. The fact that the engine is not generating electricity means that it can be turned off at stop lights automatically and automatically turned on when you let go of the brakes. Mazda calls the automatic stop/start functionality i-Stop and in combination with i-Eloop, it can deliver up to a 10% savings in fuel. Now if the electricity available exceeds what the car is actually using, the excess electricity is used to charge the lead-acid battery that starts the car.

Another thing to note is that Mazda paid special attention to ensure that the system produces the maximum power generating torque for a given degree of deceleration but does not itself produce unnecessary deceleration which may annoy the driver. For example, if you drive a typical hybrid, hitting the brakes feels very weird and disconnected. That drives some people (like me for example) nuts. So the fact that Mazda looked after that is great.

This technology is available as an option in the Mazda6 and Mazda3. I’m sure it will be making an appearance in other Mazda vehicles eventually. That way regardless of what Mazda you drive, you can get better fuel economy while keeping the fun to drive factor. This is an option that’s very much looking into if you’re in the market for a car from Mazda.

Every car maker is under pressure to make the cars that they make more fuel efficient. That means that a bunch of new technologies have made an appearance in showrooms. For example, some companies have gone the hybrid engine route. Some have gone the electric car route. Some have tried using technologies such as cylinder deactivation where some cylinders in an engine are turned off under light load to save gas. Some have started using continuously variable transmissions.

Mazda has gone a different route based on two premises:

• The internal combustion engine will still power more than 80 percent of vehicles by the year 2020.
• The internal combustion engine operates at only 30 percent efficiency. So even if you make minor gains of say 5 or 10 percent, that’s a major improvement.

Plus there’s another premise. Some of the technologies that car makers employ to save fuel take all of the fun out of driving. While fuel economy is important, so is the driving experience and Mazda would like you to get both. After all, they want to make sure that their customers get a healthy dose of “zoom zoom.”

Enter SkyActiv.

Mazda looked at the engine, transmission, body and chassis, and looked for ways to improve on them. Here’s what they came up with:

I’ve recently been on a run with reviews. The most recent being an invitation from a local Mazda dealer to drive a Mazda 6 mid-sized sedan for a day. The variant I got was the GT version which came with every option checked. The big news is the inclusion of Mazda’s SKYACTIV technology? What is that? Mazda isn’t a proponent of hybrids or electric vehicles because they feel that the internal combustion engine has a ways to go in terms of development. Thus they’ve looked at the engines, transmissions, body, and chassis so that you the driver could get more fuel economy but still get the “Zoom Zoom” that they’re known for. In this case, I got a car with a 6 speed automatic transmission with a four cylinder 2.5 L engine that put out 184 horse power and 185 pound feet of torque. Those of you with V6 based mid-sized cars will scoff of that, and I know that I did at first until I drove it. This car feels quick off the line, quick when passing, and never wanting for power. If for whatever reason this isn’t enough car for you, Mazda does have a diesel version in the works that will have a pile of torque on tap. Oh, if you’re looking for a V6, don’t. There’s isn’t one planned. The Mazda 6 is not only quick, but it feels light on it’s feet. From a suspension standpoint, it feels firm but not punishing. When I took it onto highway 401 it was comfortable and on city streets it soaked up most of the bumps that I encountered.

“Zoom Zoom.” Check.

Exterior wise, it looks sharp. If the goal was to make the Mazda 6 look anything other than an appliance from Honda or Toyota, mission accomplished. It looks fast standing still and has styling that will make people say “that’s a Mazda?” Interior wise, the car is well put together. Everything is well laid out when it comes to the controls. The seats are exceptionally comfortable, and the back seats are huge with plenty of legroom and head room. The only place where this falls about is the screen in the center console. It’s not only small, but the navigation system (which I found to be powered by TomTom) is confusing at times when it comes to the user interface. It also looked kind of primitive when compared to the Garmin powered Uconnect systems that Chrysler has started to use in their cars. It is otherwise competent in terms of finding locations so it’s not all bad. The trunk is huge and is well designed with shrouds to keep the hinges from crushing items underneath them. That’s a nice touch as I tend to see that sort of thing on luxury cars. Safety tech includes a rearview camera and rear backup sensors, blind-spot monitoring system with cross-traffic alert. Not to mention 6 airbags, traction control, stability control, and ABS. In terms of comfort, it comes with dual zone climate controls and voice commands. I’ll also point out that this car is very quiet. Unless you really thrash the engine, you don’t really hear anything.

Now I didn’t have the chance to fill the tank as I only had the car for a few hours, but I drove it for over 100 KMs and the fuel usage was minimal based on the movement of the fuel gauge. Not scientific I know, but a good sign. It is rated for 7.6 L/100 KMs city and 5.1/100 KMs highway. Given how overly optimistic those ratings tend to be, it means that I should get somewhere between 7/100 KMs and 8/100 KMs in real world usage which would be quite good for a car this size.

My bottom line? The Mazda 6 GT is an exceptionally good mid-sized car. So good in fact that if you get Accord and Camry drivers to try this car, I think this would make them switch. Not only that, they won’t miss the V6. That tells you how good this car is. If you’re looking for a mid sized car, this one should be on your shopping list.