2017 Mazda 3 vs Mazda 6

What's the difference?

The 3 is a car that will satisfy growing families, couples or a sole driver who likes a bit of space or a bit of metal around them. While the Neo is a bargain basement starter, competition around that price point comes thick and fast from Japanese and Korean rivals, with Euros not far behind in the form of VW and Skoda. Like I said, it's a tough market.

The pick of the bunch is the Maxx, with all of the good safety gear and an options list so short it's not worth bothering with. The rest of the range features largely cosmetic bits and pieces that are perfectly fine but not fundamental to the experience.

The Mazda6 GT wagon looks stunning and is great to drive, but it doesn’t have the cargo capacity of rivals such as the Passat and Superb. As for the GT grade, I’d be looking at the Touring instead – it’s about $5K less and you’re only really missing out on the proximity key, which is great, but not $5K great. Good on you for considering a wagon, too. It’s the thinking person's alternative to an SUV.

The 3's third iteration is sleek and fluid, as befits Mazda's successful 'Kodo' design language. In both sedan and hatch, it looks low, sleek and classy. Whether rolling on 16 or 18-inch rims, the car has a good road presence and there isn't a bad angle on it.

The hatch is arguably less-balanced, in profile at least, its shorter exterior dimensions obvious in photos. The choice is between which you prefer for style and/or boot size.

The cabin is equally nice to look at - Mazda interiors continue to impress. Materials feel good and even the cloth trim is nicely textured to make you feel like you haven't cheaped out when going lower in the range.

The only real complaint is that on some models, it's very dark as the plastics are all dark grey or black with little to break up the expanses of... well... black and grey. The interior photos tell the story, although some models feature flashes of colour to lift the mood.

We're often asked "Where is the Mazda3 built?" and we can tell you it's at Mazda's Hiroshima plant in southern Japan.

The Mazda6 sedan is a good-looking car, and even as a wagon it’s appealing, with that sloping roofline, those curvaceous wheel arches and long bonnet. The shape isn’t new either – sure there have been updates, but this model came out in 2012 and it doesn’t look out of date. 

Can you tell it’s a GT from the outside? No. Well yes, but only by the wheels and headlamps – the GT has 19-inch alloy wheels and LED headlights, but so does the top-of-the-range Atenza.

Inside, the Mazda6 GT wagon’s stylish cabin has a premium feel with leather seats and an excellent fit and finish. All the touch points throughout the cockpit are soft or padded, and all the controls, from the paddle shifters to the climate buttons, are perfectly placed and feel refined.

There are spots where the cabin is showing its age – that head-up display once seemed cool but now appears dinky and the display is tiny and antiquated by Volkswagen and Skoda standards these days.

How long is the Mazda6 wagon? It might not look like it, but the wagon is shorter end-to-end than the sedan. The dimensions don’t lie; the wagon is 4800mm long, the sedan is 4865mm.

Compared to its rivals, the Mazda6 wagon is 110mm longer than the Subaru Levorg and 33mm longer than the Passat wagon, but 71mm shorter than the Mondeo wagon and 61mm shorter than the Superb wagon.

Don’t be fooled, though, longer doesn’t mean it has a bigger cargo area - all will be revealed in the practicality section below.

The 3 has grown over the years, with the sedan measuring 4.6m long, 1.8m wide and 1.45m high.

With the boot of the sedan lopped off and replaced with a hatchback, the 3 is 110mm shorter, which translates to a much smaller cargo area. The hatch can carry a still-reasonable 308 litres of stuff when full, while the boot swallows another 100 litres exactly. The hatch stands slightly higher at 1.47m high but is the same width as the sedan.

There's little choose in the cabin as it is basically, riding as it does on the same length wheelbase (2700mm), meaning virtually identical interior dimensions. There is plenty of room for four adults, offering good rear legroom for even those over 183cm (six feet) - I've had a 3 with four adults in it, with no (real) complaints or issues from the back seat passengers.

If you want a cup holder, the 3 has two up front and two in the rear, with bottle holders in each door as backups. Some models feature seat back pockets where you can store the kids' gadgets while in transit.

It's an easy car to park in either hatch or sedan, which is lucky because park assist is limited to front and rear parking sensors and no auto-parking as on some rivals.

Ground clearance when unladen is 160mm, so lumps and bumps won't turn into scrapes. Kerb weights range from 1258kg for a Mazda 3 manual Neo to 1336kg for an auto Astina. Gross vehicle mass ranges from 1800kg to 1875kg.

Dealer accessories for organising your stuff include a cargo tray which also acts as a boot liner. You can also twist your dealer's arm to throw in floor mats on Neo, Maxx and Touring - they're standard on SP25 and up.

Nobody buys a wagon by accident. You get a wagon because you’ve preempted regular situations when you’re going to have to carry stuff. Lots of stuff. Wagons are basically utes with a roof for people that don’t get dirty.

So not much point in getting a wagon if the cargo capacity doesn’t meet your requirements. The Mazda6 wagon has 506 litres of boot space, while the sedan version has 474 litres. Yes, that sounds like the wagon is small, but the big hatch opening and being able to fold the seats down opens up a 1648-litre cargo area.

The Passat wagon isn’t as long as the Mazda6 wagon, but its cargo capacity is 650 litres, or 1780 litres with the seats folded flat. The Superb has an enormous 660 litres or 1950 litres with the second row folded. The Levorg’s cargo area is smaller than the Mazda’s, with 489 litres, and so is the Mondeo’s, with 488 litres.

Cabin storage is good with two cup holders up front and two in the back. There’s also a large centre console storage bin and bottle holders in the doors, too.

As for humans, I’m one of those (but a tall one at 191cm) and I can sit behind my driving position with about 20mm of space. Headroom is also good back there.

The Mazda6 wagon’s coupe styling looks great, but the rear door opening is smaller because of it and I noticed this meant bending more to put my toddler into his car seat.

The Mazda6 wagon comes in three trim levels with a choice of two engines – a diesel or, in the case of our test car, a petrol engine. The GT grade we tested is the rung down from the top-spec Atenza and lists for $43,990, which is about $10K more than the Sport entry variant.

The GT comes with bucket loads of standard features. There’s a seven-inch touch screen with nav, an 11-speaker Bose stereo system, digital radio, a reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, paddle shifters, push-button start, LED headlights and tailights, and roof rails. 
 
Keep in mind that you’ll get all those same features on the Touring grade, too, only for about $5K less.

All the GT adds is 19-inch alloy wheels, sunroof, heated front and rear seats, head-up display, adaptive headlights and a proximity key. Really, the best thing in this list is the proximity key – a feature you can’t option on any of the other grades.

For the same amount of money (actually $500 less) you could buy a Volkswagen Passat 132 TSI Comfortline, which is superb, or for $2K less there’s the actual Skoda Superb 162TSI in wagon form, which has a cracker of an engine and clever features, or there’s the Ford Mondeo Ambiente wagon for a smidge over $35,000 (there's a diesel Mondeo wagon in the Trend spec for $42,840, too). 

That makes the decision a bit harder, doesn’t it? Well, it’s a good problem to have.

The Mazda6 wagon doesn’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto; there are people that are now making a decision to buy a car based on the presence of these apps.

The Mazda3 range is available with two transmissions and two engines. Since the demise of the MPS3, there is no AWD turbo version and with the departure of the XD, diesel problems are nothing to worry about. There has never been a factory LPG option.

The 2.0-litre SkyActiv-branded engine produces 114kW/200Nm.

SP25 models run the 2.5-litre SkyActiv, with 138kW/250Nm, a useful increase in horsepower.

The 3 features stop-start with the manual transmission and the auto, and the 3 was the first model to feature Mazda's 'G-Vectoring' technology which helps sharpen up the steering during cornering.

For those keen on load capacity ratings for towing, the 3 is rated at 1200kg braked and 600kg unbraked. Towing capacity is the same for all engine and transmission combinations.

Both run on standard unleaded, use a standard oil type. Oil capacity is model dependent, and can be found in the owners manual.

A regular question is whether the 3 makes use of a timing belt or chain - we can report the SkyActiv engines are both chain-driven.

Performance figures vary between the two engines - the SP25 auto should complete the 0-100km/h dash in just under eight seconds with the 2.0 cracking it in around nine seconds.

The Mazda6 GT wagon is available with a diesel or the 2.5-litre petrol engine which was in our test car. Producing 138kW of power and 250Nm of torque, the engine is smooth, quiet and has plenty of oomph.

This is a front-wheel-drive car and the transmission is a six-speed automatic. 

Mazda claims the 2.0-litre will return 5.3L/100km on the combined cycle for the manual and 5.0L/100km for the automatic. For the 2.5-litre, the official combined cycle figure is 6.5L/100km for the manual and 6.1L/100km for the auto.

Fuel tank capacity is 51 litres.

Recent Mazda3 reviews for CarsGuide reveal varying mileage figures. I drove the 3 Touring and got 8.0L/100km and when I drove the Neo saw an indicated 8.2L/100km, so you'll get around 600km to a tank with the 2.0-litre petrol motor.

In the 2.5-litre SP25, Richard Berry did not spare the road and returned 11.1L/100km, suggesting a range of under 500km if you're having fun. Calm down and you should get reasonable fuel economy from the 2.5, if still closer to 9.0L/100km than the claimed figure.

Mazda says the wagon with the 2.5-litre petrol engine and six-speed auto should use 6.6L/100km when driven on a combo of urban, country and city roads. Our car spent most of its life with us in the city and our trip computer was saying we were averaging 10.2L/100km. 

Whether in 2.0 or 2.5-litre form, the current 3 is by far the best. Mazda's engineers have paid close attention to complaints that dogged earlier 3s, including road noise and a lack of front grip. Both of these have largely been banished, with the teams delivering a well-balanced chassis that rides and handles well.

The 3 is front-wheel drive, but with no torque steer, it's an easy companion in the wet or the dry, with well-tuned stability and traction control systems keeping things in check. It's been a long time since a Mazda hatchback was rear-wheel drive.

There is still some less than pleasant noise under hard acceleration, but it's much quieter than before.

Part of the credit for the car's transformation goes to some more sensible use of sound-deadening to simply block the noise, but also in tweaks to the shell and the suspension itself. There is still some less than pleasant noise under hard acceleration, but it's much quieter than before.

Added to that was last year's update with G Vectoring, a system that helps smooth out direction changes by adjusting the torque across the front axle. It makes the 3 feel rather pointier than in years gone by while boosting driver confidence. It's subtle, but effective and feels a lot more expensive than it is.

Front suspension is by MacPherson struts and rear suspension is a multi-link setup that is slowly becoming the segment standard. The turning circle is a commendably tight 10.6 metres.

Given the 3 doesn't have a 4WD version or even reasonable ground clearance, its off road ability is somewhat limited.

Mazda’s ‘thing’ is making cars that are fun to drive – the company takes this seriously, and when a new car is launched they devote a lot of time explaining the pains they went to in making the car engaging to pilot.

And the effort seems to pay off; Mazdas really are good to drive, and the Mazda6 is no exception.

Steering is smooth, well-weighted and accurate, the engine is responsive and has a sport mode (which is actually sporty), and the six-speed auto gets the drive to those front wheels well. There were times, though, that the front wheels would lose traction - especially from a standing start on a hill.

Handling is good and the ride is comfortable, too. Although the lower profile tyres on the GT grade (225/45 R19) do mean you’ll feel the bumps and cracks in the road more than the thicker-walled tyres on the lower grades.

And finally, a wagon will almost always be better to drive than an SUV, and that's because it has a lower centre of mass and that gives it superior handling. Just like a car. Because that's what it is.

The Mazda6 wagon scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating. There’s also some great advanced safety equipment including AEB (forward and reverse), blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

There’s three top tether points and three ISOFIX points across the second row.

Mazda's standard warranty runs for three years/unlimited kilometres and roadside assist starts at $68.10 per year or $83.50 for a few more inclusions. There is no indication of an extended warranty sold by Mazda, but a dealer will no doubt try and flog you a third-party offering.

Service costs are capped for the first five services. Visits to the dealer come every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. Service costs alternate between $297 and $324 for a total cost of $1539 for the five.

There are extras, such as cabin air filter ($64), and if you need oil, Mazda will charge a very reasonable $15. It's worth noting Hyundai's capped price servicing regime applies to the lifetime of the car.

If past models are anything to go by, durability shouldn't be an issue. The roads are still crawling with first-gen 3s.

Reliability faults seem few and far between, with no widespread reported transmission problems, gearbox problems or issues with oil consumption.

If past models are anything to go by, durability shouldn't be an issue. The roads are still crawling with first-gen 3s. For common faults, check our Mazda3 problems page for an idea of its general reliability rating.

The 3 enjoys good resale value, with a check of the price guide suggesting a 2014 Neo will fetch between 65 and 75 per cent on a private sale, suggesting few issues when you need to shift a second hand machine. Dealer trade-ins will yield around 51 and 60 percent of the new car price of $22,490.

The Mazda6 wagon is covered by Mazda’s three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 12 months or 10,000km and is capped at $305 for the first service, $333 for the second, $305 for the next, then $333 and back to $305.