Top Car

OUR CARS

January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 103

R

IGHT OFF THE

batit’s absolutely

not the Mazda’s

fault. Livingin a

smallish townsome

distance outsidethe city, the car

gets ample opportunity to

stretch its legs and play

economical continental cruiser. This isa role it loves,

eating distancesfor breakfast, or moreoften thannot,

lunch and dinner too.The only problem is that said

townlies at the end of a simple one-lane-each-way road,

once empty but, in the way of our country, nowclogged

with trucks doing what the railroads are supposedto

do. This means that any trip downthe road – it is in the

process of beingupgraded thankfully –is a gameof

gauge and go, makingconstant decisions about power,

distance, overtaking hazardsand yes, courage. Simply

put, there’s alot of barrelling past 22-wheelers. This the

Mazdaalso loves, possibly evenmorethanthe long

distance cruising. The 420Nm of torque means the

cracking2.2-litre diesel is never anything but upfor the

challenge. And of course that lower back shove is an

eensie bit addictive, truthbe told.

There’s aprice to pay for this Charge of the Light

Brigade stuff. Whenthe 6arrived back in the day it

neededto be run in and that meant 1000kmat half

throttle and noTrevor Howard storm trooping. The

result was avery exciting 6.3ℓ/100km,a figure that put

mein mind of 1000kmtankrange and birthdays before

refilling. The reality, as with life, has beena little

different,with figures averaging between 7and

9ℓ/100km. I’ve nowcometo terms with that; there’s got

to be a balance between economy and enjoyment.

While others onthe team literally spend every driving

kilometre eekingout the best mileage, Ilike to think

mypurpose onEarth is to slay the Dieselgate dragon

and deliver upentirely real world figures, ones that

include momentsof glee, the odd Light Brigade charge

and agooddose of fun. After all, that is what the

delightful6 seemsto be all about.

In other news, frustratingly froma writing point of

view, nothing has gone wrong. Atall. A tiresome

squeakfromthe dashboard obviously heard the

moaning fromthe cockpit and fixed itself. Ty res appear

to be made of something other thanrubber because,

despite the 22-wheeler antics, there is nodiscernible

tread reduction. The only thing it seemsnot to be any

goodat is washing itself, which, given aparticularly

gluttonous pigeonthat nests above its home, is

unfortunate. I have takentips fromBorrill

(Our Cars Dec 2015) but getless enjoyment

fromit thanperhaps I did whenI was 18.

This too is unfortunate, and Iwish the

goodfolk at MazdaHQcould hurry upand

perfect a self-cleaning exterior paint (there

is one in the labs apparently). Now there’s

aninnovation worth shouting about.

Onward.

Dist ant rela tions

Ups/downs

Speeddemon

Not pigeon proof

LOGBOOKMAZDA6 2.2DE

DYNAMIC

>Odoreading start/now:60km/6650km

>Distance covered:6590km

>Fuel consumed: 559 ℓ

>Average fuel consumption:8.5ℓ/100 km

>Service interval:15000km

>Service cost:Covered by 3-year/unlimited

km service plan

>Total Fuel cost:R5899.51

>Running cost:89c/km

ThemooiMaz

continu es to

charm, chase

and cosset, but economy is

starting to be anissue.Blame

the driver. ByPeter Frost

MONTH 5

MAZDA6