Mazda 6 is full of surprises
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
HERE are two facts you may not know about Mazda, both surprising in their own way. One: in the United States, on any given weekend, more Mazda cars and Mazda-engined cars compete in track racing events than any other manufacturer's. Are your eyes bulging with disbelief? Let me spell it out — or in marketing speak, unpack it.
In the country that's made a national pastime out of raising the world's temperature by igniting fossil fuels, and in a sport that is the redneck equivalent to shooting empty beer bottles off the head of your toothless second cousin, one marque stands supreme. And it is not a Corvette or a Mustang or a Jeep. It is a Mazda.
Before you push your bulging eyes back in, here's fact two: at the end of the precision-engineered, robot-controlled production line in the Hiroshima factory where Mazda builds its capable cars, there is a pause in the automatons' working week while the shiny new motors are dusted with feathers. Ostrich feathers. The dusting isn't part of some ritualised Japanese blessing ceremony, but a savvy move by a company at the top of its game.
Mazda has discovered this most traditional way of removing dust is actually the best. By dusting for static with hand-held feathers they also avoid the need for a power-gobbling drying process, which means emissions from the plant have dropped. Soon the factory hopes to start using water-based paints, too, which will also reduce toxic compounds.
Before you worry that the paint job on your Mazda has been achieved by leaving a flock of ostriches trying to cover their modesty, you'll be relieved to hear the feathers are a byproduct from a free-range ostrich farm. With developments as lateral as this it's no wonder that Mazda has just been named best carmaker of the year at the annual Which? awards.
With its all-new 6, Mazda is keen to play on the awe-factor. It's a family saloon with a difference — and it needs to be. Competing with the likes of the Accord, Mondeo and Laguna, a true contender has to be sharply presented, offer plenty of bang for your buck and, above all, be reliable. At this level, any shortcomings are quickly exposed.
The 6 certainly looks the part. Wide-set and with a great curving grille, it is a mass of swooping lines and aerodynamic scoops. There's even a specially designed underfloor cover to make sure the air flows smoothly beneath it. The car is bigger, faster, lighter and more efficient than the 6 that went before.
If you can be lured out of the driving seat, the view from the back is worth taking in, and the estate version proves that clever tailoring can indeed disguise an unsightly bulge.
Inside you can commit karakuri — what Mazda calls its "unique folding seat system". In Japanese, the word means "a mechanical device to tease, trick or take a person by surprise". And certainly collapsing the seats with a single button does make you feel like Derren Brown.
This year, sales have increased 20 per cent and more than 7,500 Mazdas arrive in Europe every week from Japan.
Those feather dusters have been busy.
Observer
In the country that's made a national pastime out of raising the world's temperature by igniting fossil fuels, and in a sport that is the redneck equivalent to shooting empty beer bottles off the head of your toothless second cousin, one marque stands supreme. And it is not a Corvette or a Mustang or a Jeep. It is a Mazda.
Before you push your bulging eyes back in, here's fact two: at the end of the precision-engineered, robot-controlled production line in the Hiroshima factory where Mazda builds its capable cars, there is a pause in the automatons' working week while the shiny new motors are dusted with feathers. Ostrich feathers. The dusting isn't part of some ritualised Japanese blessing ceremony, but a savvy move by a company at the top of its game.
Mazda has discovered this most traditional way of removing dust is actually the best. By dusting for static with hand-held feathers they also avoid the need for a power-gobbling drying process, which means emissions from the plant have dropped. Soon the factory hopes to start using water-based paints, too, which will also reduce toxic compounds.
Before you worry that the paint job on your Mazda has been achieved by leaving a flock of ostriches trying to cover their modesty, you'll be relieved to hear the feathers are a byproduct from a free-range ostrich farm. With developments as lateral as this it's no wonder that Mazda has just been named best carmaker of the year at the annual Which? awards.
With its all-new 6, Mazda is keen to play on the awe-factor. It's a family saloon with a difference — and it needs to be. Competing with the likes of the Accord, Mondeo and Laguna, a true contender has to be sharply presented, offer plenty of bang for your buck and, above all, be reliable. At this level, any shortcomings are quickly exposed.
The 6 certainly looks the part. Wide-set and with a great curving grille, it is a mass of swooping lines and aerodynamic scoops. There's even a specially designed underfloor cover to make sure the air flows smoothly beneath it. The car is bigger, faster, lighter and more efficient than the 6 that went before.
If you can be lured out of the driving seat, the view from the back is worth taking in, and the estate version proves that clever tailoring can indeed disguise an unsightly bulge.
Inside you can commit karakuri — what Mazda calls its "unique folding seat system". In Japanese, the word means "a mechanical device to tease, trick or take a person by surprise". And certainly collapsing the seats with a single button does make you feel like Derren Brown.
This year, sales have increased 20 per cent and more than 7,500 Mazdas arrive in Europe every week from Japan.
Those feather dusters have been busy.
Observer
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