What is the Mazda6 5-Door?
Built on Mazda's award-winning '6' platform, the all-new 5-Door is a hatchback variation that provides more cargo-carrying capacity than the sedan, with the ease of a 5-door for loading and unloading gear. Its looks are sportier than the wagon, and it fulfills Mazda's "Zoom-Zoom " tagline that advertises that all Mazda vehicles have the "soul of a sports car" . When does it go on sale, where is it built, and how many does Mazda expect to sell?
On sale now and built in Flat Rock, Michigan, Mazda hopes to sell 80,000 to 90,000 of the '6' vehicles overall, with 40 percent of sales as sedans, and a 30/30 split of Sport Wagons and 5-Door hatchback models.
How does it handle?
We drove this new model on highways and two-lane roads in the San Diego region, as well as on a high-speed performance track for more aggressive evaluation. Overall, the 5-Door handles just like the sedan, with plenty of power, great shift points, gear ratios, gas pedal feel-and a performance engine sound. We appreciated that it has a 5-speed manual transmission as standard equipment, and also enjoyed the 5-speed AT with Sport Shift. Steering has a good on-center feel and good feedback. Braking is even and smooth (no nose-diving), with good brake pedal feel. Particularly impressive is its flat handling in transition maneuvers and limited body roll , due to its rigid body structure.
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