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Mazda 6 at the motor show

The newcomer is taller, wider and longer - at almost 4.9m.

Ten years since it revitalised the moribund mid-size class, the Mazda 6 has never looked so good.

Fresh from its appearances in Moscow and Paris, generation three of the driver and designer favourite makes its southern hemisphere debut at the show.

The 6 is the second new-generation Mazda, after the CX-5 SUV, to carry the full arsenal of Skyactiv body and drivetrain technologies, including electric power steering and a fuel-saving stop-start system with an engine re-start time of 0.35 seconds. 

It will be the first model to employ the unique brake energy regeneration system i-Eloop, a world-first  use of a capacitor to store kinetic energy from deceleration and use it to power the vehicle’s electrical system - including the climate control and sound system - which reduces  the engine load and saves fuel.

The 6 range comes with choice Skyactiv engines: The grunty Skyactiv-D 2.2 litre 129kW/420Nm turbo diesel and the new 2.5 litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 138kW and 250Nm, between 10 and 11 per cent more than the current car. Despite its relative sophistication, its runs on basic unleaded. The 6 is literally growing up - and out.

The newcomer is taller, wider and longer - at almost 4.9m. Yet it’s a little lighter than the current car thanks to ultra-high tensile steel, which also strengthens rigidity and should boost driving pleasure.