FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 MAZDA6 ATENZA WAGON

How big is the boot of the Mazda6 Wagon?

From empty, I could fit 15 shopping bags in the boot, which is one less than both the Holden Commodore Tourer and VW Passat Alltrack Wagon and three less than the Subaru Outback which holds eighteen bags. The boot space is a nice uniform shape and there is a bag hook on both sides.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted in the boot with four shopping bags beside it.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with eleven shopping bags beside it.

Or you could fit a large sized dog in the boot if you remove the retractable roller blind.

The boot floor is nice and flat and a good spot for an emergency nappy change!

My favourite BabyDrive friendly boot feature is the retractable roller blind, which connects onto the boot door and stays up in the air when you open the boot, so it doesn't get in your way when loading and unloading the boot.

Storage in the cabin of the Mazda 6 is good in the front, where there are two cup holders in the central console that are well sized to hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and my large refillable water bottle fitted in there too. The central console storage box is quite small but has two USB ports and AUX and 12V socket in there.

There is a wireless phone charging well in front of the gear lever which was a great size for my phone.

The glove box in the Mazda6 wagon is quite small but it does fit my wallet and iPad in with the large Mazda manual and is nicely felt lined.

The door pockets in the front are a good size for holding a large refillable water bottle and there are little storage wells in the handles of the doors, which I find really useful for putting little things out of my daughter's hands into while I'm strapping her into her car seat.

In the back of the Mazda6 wagon's front seats are map pockets they are quite shallow, so they will hold an iPad but not conceal it.

The central seatback has a fold-down armrest has a lined compartment for storing and charging phones which is great. When the lid is closed in front of that are two cup holders that are well sized to hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fits in there too. The bad design is the heated seat buttons are positioned here so you can't use the cup holders to hold your child's cup or bottle while you're driving along because little fingers find the heated seat buttons irresistible and, as I discovered, heat themselves up even more on a hot summers day!!!

The door bins in the back will hold a large refillable water bottle too.

How noisy is the Mazda6 wagon?

The media system in the Mazda6 wagon I tested did not have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto however if you bought a new one now it would come with both and Mazda will add these smartphone systems to a used model for about $500. I found it really easy to connect my phone to and my music did not play straight away as soon as I started the car. The Mazda media system is easy to navigate but I found the round knob in the central console frustrating. That said, it may become second-nature if you're using it every day.

The sat-nav in the Mazda6 wagon is really simple to use, however, to mute the sat-nav voice you do have to go through a few screens until you reach the guidance volume option, which is disappointing.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

There is lane departure warning in the Mazda6 wagon, which is a vibration rather than a beeping and you can turn it off with a button by your right knee. The indicators are LOVELY and quiet too and would not disturb a sleeping baby onboard.

The cruise control is really easy to use, the controls are on the right on the steering wheel and I found it to be accurate for motorway driving at fast speeds on straight roads, but at slower speeds on undulating roads it did get around 6km/h over and under the set speed when going up and down hills. There is a head-up display, projected in the windscreen, which I found really useful for watching my speed.

The reversing camera has an excellent quality image in the Mazda6 wagon. You can change the camera view with a button by your right knee and the overhead camera view is especially useful when parking, because the Mazda6 wagon has a low roofline and it's long, making visibility tricky out of the back when child seats are installed.

There is not a one press button on the screen to mute the parking sensors while maneuvering but there is a button by your right knee to turn the parking sensors off.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The doors and windows are lovely and quiet to open and close in the Mazda6 wagon, so I don't think you'd need to worry about them waking a bub that's asleep in the back and you get in or out. I found you can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

There are seatbelt reminders for both rows so if seatbelts are undone while driving an alarm sounds and a visual is displayed in the screen in front of the steering wheel.

Auto engine cut-out is called i-stop in Mazdas, and the button to turn this off is by your right knee.

I find this function really disturbing for sleeping babies, you have just got your baby to sleep in the car and you stop at lights and the engine turns off sometimes they will stay asleep but when the engine shudders to a start again it shakes baby awake and all your efforts are ruined!! Even coming to a stop at lights with the engine running can be enough to wake a sleeping child so turning the engine off and on again will definitely do it! I have driven routes I know have roundabouts rather than lights just to avoid coming to a stop for any length of time!!

How many child seats fit on the Mazda 6?

I found I could only fit two child seats in the back of the Mazda6 wagon as there just wasn't enough room for a third child seat between them. It's odd because the Mazda6 sedan surprised me by taking three child seats quite easily.

I installed the rear-facing Britax Graphene and the forward facing Britax Platinum Pro, both in the outer seats using IsoFix and top tethers. The child seats were nice and easy to install and there are ISOFix points within plastic guides on both the outer seats that are easy to connect to.

There are top tethers within clearly labelled plastic guides, on the back of all three rear seat backrests, and they are nice and high up which makes them easy to connect to over the back of the seats without the need for extension straps.

Posting bub into their child seat from outside the car is not as bad as in some wagons, however, the roofline is still quite low which means you are bending down to post bub in. From inside the car, the roofline is low so you do have to be careful when lifting bubs into their child seats.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

With rear-facing child seats installed in the back, legroom for the front passenger was not as good as I had expected, a 180cm passenger could fit but was a snug fit for both head and legroom.

There is room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the Mazda6 wagon?

One of the highlights of the Mazda6 wagon was how comfy I found it! In the front the brown leather seats have electronic adjustment and are very comfortable, both seats are heated and cooled which we found a must because the seats got soooo hot when the car was parked outside in the summer.

I found I couldn't have a ponytail in the front seats because the headrests were not adjustable or at a good angle to allow for it!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable, the headroom was fine for me at 162cm but for taller passengers of more than 180cm, they are brushing the ceiling. In the central seat, but you can feel the hard central backrest because of the fold-down armrest and cup holders in the central seat back.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The cruise control is on the right on the steering wheel, I found it very easy to use and accurate on straight, fast motorways but it did go about 6km/h over and under the set speed at 60km/h on undulating roads.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and one at either end. One of the things I enjoyed most in the Mazda6 wagon was the gentle airconditioning that really cooled the cabin without huffing and blowing loudly.

There are rear air vents in the back of the central console box that are reachable from the front while driving. My forward-facing toddler did enjoy turning them on and off with her toes!!

The controls for the aircon are in a panel on the central dashboard, I found them nice and easy to locate and use while driving.

The high-spec Mazda6 Atenza wagon I tested also had heated and cooled front seats as well as heated rear seats. The rear seat controls are behind the cup holders in the fold-down armrest. In a BabyDrive context, they are really badly positioned because when you have kids in the back they can fiddle with the buttons and turn their seat heating on without you being able to control it and they are slowly cooking in the back without you knowing!!

The interior lights in the rear are in the ceiling centrally behind the sunroof and I found I could reach them while I was driving!

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

There are handles above both rear doors, which are well positioned to hold a baby toy for rear-facing passengers.

There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors and there is a lined glasses case in the ceiling too.

Visibility in the Mazda6 wagon is quite difficult for the driver especially with two child seats installed in the back. The roofline is low being a wagon and the windows aren't particularly deep, especially towards the back. This affects vision for the driver and for rear-facing passengers to see out.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Mazda 6 was okay to park, the visibility was limited but the excellent reversing camera definately helped make it easier!

The Mazda6 wagon has a beautiful interior with a quality feel, although the perforated seats of the Atenza model I tested would make it harder to keep them clean.

There are carpet floor mats throughout the Mazda6 wagon.

The Mazda6 wagon really is a pleasure to drive, it's very smooth, silent and relaxed, both around town and out on the faster roads.

The Mazda6 Atenza wagon I tested did have keyless entry.

How safe is the Mazda 6 wagon?

The Mazda 6 scoured a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2018.

For child occupancy, it scored 91%, for adult occupancy it scored 95% and for pedestrians 66%.

Six airbags come as standard; there are dual frontal airbags and side chest-protecting airbags for the front passengers and side head-protecting curtain airbags for the rear side passengers.

All models of the Mazda6 come with front and rear seatbelt reminders.

As standard, all models of the Mazda6 come with adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) city, interurban and VRU, automatic headlights, automatic high beam, blind-spot monitoring (BSM), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic data recorder (EDR), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, forward collision warning (FCW), hill launch assist, lane departure warning LDW, lane keep assist (LKA), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), speed assistance manual and auto/intelligent speed limiter, speed sign recognition and warning.

Additional safety features daytime running lights (DRL) and adaptive headlights are both standard on all but not the base variant.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!