2017 Mazda 6 vs 2020

What's the difference?

So, you’re thinking about a wagon? Wow, you’d be one of the very few people left in the world yet to be convinced that SUVs are the answer to everything. That’s what I like about you; you’ve always been your own person, sticking to your guns, not following the crowd.

Problem is, most car makers do follow the crowd. Because crowds equal money. And because everybody has gone crazy for SUVs, the manufacturers have given them what they want. And mostly that means no more wagons.

But there are a few brands who have kept wagons in the lineup. There’s the Ford Mondeo, the Volkswagen Passat, the Skoda Superb, the Subaru Levorg.

And the car we’re testing in this review; the Mazda6 wagon. The version we tested was the GT grade with the petrol engine and an automatic transmission. 

So, is a model that’s been around almost six years starting to show its age? And is that boot going to be big enough? I found out when the Mazda6 GT wagon came to live with my family for a week.

"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?