2020 Mazda 3 vs Mazda 6

What's the difference?

You get exposed to a lot of cutting-edge technology doing this job.

We get to drive new drivetrain technology all the time as manufacturers are racing to get their emissions down – usually it has to do with electrification or hybridization.

What’s especially rare about the new tech sitting under the bonnet of this unassuming Mazda3 is its sole purpose seems to be extending the life of the combustion engine beyond its previously imagined use-by date.

It does so by blending some of the principles of diesel combustion technology with the latest in computer-controlled fuel-injection methods.

It’s a distinctly different approach to the future from the Japanese brand, so what’s ‘SkyActiv-X’ all about? Will you notice a difference? Does it drive well? And, what else is in the box?

We tested a Mazda3 SkyActiv-X for several days at its Australian launch to answer these questions, and more.

"Here comes my Mum. Oh, sorry, Richard." Hilarious. I was waiting in a line of cars to pay my entrance fee to a hot-rod festival and a mate working on the gate was having a go at the Mazda6 wagon I was driving.

He was wrong on a few levels. First, his Mum drives an SUV like all the other Mums, and second, his insinuation that the mighty Mazda6 wagon in the Atenza grade was perhaps a bit dull was entirely inaccurate.

Also, he didn't realise I was sneaking into the campground with a mattress in the back and was going to sleep in it that night after the show. Who's laughing now, eh?

Apart from doubling as a caravan, the Mazda6 wagon spent the week as our family car, with preschool drop offs, trips to the grandparents and daily commutes. So, could this be the ultimate Mum or Dad car? Why would you SUV when you can wagon instead?