2018 Mazda 6 vs 2020

What's the difference?

Mid-size sedans. Remember them? I don't mean premium-brand German ones, I mean the sorts of cars we all bought when we didn't want a Falcon or a Commodore. The kind of cars that used to be made here, like the Camry, Magna (yeah, I know; pipe-down granddad), or the Sigma.

But we've also had a bit of a love affair with one particular Japanese import - Mazda's 6. They were pretty, they went alright, and they were well-priced.

And yet now they're being out-sold by cars double the price. It's a weird world.

Mazda, however, won't let us give up on the 6. For the past few years, the Japanese company has steadily addressed a number of problems the 6 had (more on that in a moment), and a recent facelift came with something even better - a turbocharged 2.5-litre petrol engine.

"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?