Thursday 29 November 2012

Introducing the 2012 Mazda6

The year ahead is going to be filled with an exciting crop of new cars as the Australian market awaits the launch of several flagship vehicles. But today, we’re looking at the Mazda6 GT that is set to hit dealers before the end of 2012.

The Mazda6 GT is one of the most anticipated vehicles of the year. Equipped with Mazda’s new i-ELOOP brake energy regeneration system, it hopes to outclass it’s market rivals - the Honda Accord Euro and theToyota Camry.

The Mazda6 GT has some amazing specs and is available in two variants, petrol and diesel. The petrol version houses the SKYACTIV-G 2.5 litre engine which yields 138kW/ 250Nm, a ten per cent increase over the existing Mazda6 series. The diesel version houses the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 litre turbo-diesel engine that yields a performance of 129kW/420Nm, similar to the previous CX-5 models.


The Mazda6 GT has been hyped as the most advanced Mazda model, with a range of features aimed at improving performance efficiency, including the new Ii-ELOOP brake energy system and the iStop engine stop-start system.

The i-ELOOP brake energy system essentially stores and recycles electricity produced as a result of deceleration and braking. The iStop engine stop-start system automatically switches off the engine when the car is still, and restarts it on a gentle tap of the accelerator pedal. These two technologies contribute greatly towards enhancing the efficiency of the Mazda6 and will set some high standards for other upcoming releases in this class.

According to Mazda, both the petrol auto and diesel manual accelerate to 100kmph within 7.8 seconds. The diesel auto version that will arrive in Australia will take about 8.4 seconds to achieve the same speed.

The Mazda6 will be available from dealerships from early December.