A Bi-polar Review of the 2014 Mazda 6 GT

I've been driving the 2014 Mazda 6 GT w/ Mazda's SkyActive Technology Package for about a week now. It's a stunner, looking for all the world like the kind of sports sedan Aston Martin would build if it had any stones. On top of that, the car has some seriously trick fuel-savings features and, I must admit, handles brilliantly (even on my tester's Blizzak winter tires). For each of the Mazda's highs, however, there is a low, and I will do my very best to remain objective as I share these, leaving you, dear reader, to decide whether the highs outweigh the lows.

Get comfy, then. We're about to get weird.

2014 Mazda 6 GT: Highs and Lows

The 2014 Mazda 6 GT is a study in compromises. As I alluded to above, the Mazda is the best car I've tested in some ways. In other ways, it's the very worst. Let's start, then, on a high note: the Mazda's muscle-car styling.

The 2014 Mazda 6 is, simply, one of the best-looking cars ever built. That may sound like it's one of those "opinion" things, but it's not. It's a fact, and anyone with even the slightest hint of soul will see it immediately. The 2014 Mazda 6 GT combines the same sort of long hood/short deck sort of rear-drive proportions that made the original Mustang a classic, and combines those with a sexy, flowing curviness that is both subtly European and very, very Japanese in the best possible sense of the word.

There is only 1 (one) thing wrong with the Mazda's look: it's fake.

Granted, being 1 step away from perfection seems pretty good on paper, but the fact that the car draws you in with a long-hooded Muscle-car vibe then sticks you with the same basic mechanical front drive layout as a minivan is, at best, disappointing.

Let's move on to the next "good" thing, then, shall we?

My 2014 Mazda 6 tester was equipped with the company's highly lauded SkyActiv Technology Package. That includes Mazda's i-ELOOP energy recovery system, active grille shutters, and radar-assisted cruise control, along with a few other goodies. The system is supposed to give back 28 city and 40 highway MPG and do all kinds of cool things like maintain a distance from the car in front of you, matching speed, accelerating back to your set speed once the "blocking" car moves, etc. It works amazingly well, and is almost totally invisible. It works so well, in fact, that I would almost suggest Mazda's Technology Package be held out as the "gold standard" by which automotive electronics are measured by.

Almost, that is, because as well as the Mazda 6′s Technology Package worked, I didn't get anywhere near 40 MPG. On several drives, even re-tracing the same route that gave back 51 MPG in the Toyota Corolla I tested earlier this month, I never saw more than 29.5 MPG, according to the car's computer.

Worse than the fuel economy letdown, however, was the Mazda's infotainment system. It is, without question, the worst part of this, or any other car I have ever driven. Keep in mind, that list includes a Renault 5 (LeCar) that required me to, more than once, spray the fusebox with a fire extinguisher while driving.

What, exactly, made the infotainment system in the 2014 Mazda 6 so infuriating? It's hard to explain, I think, but I'll give it a try. Take a look at the photos of the system in in play, below, then read on as I explain the issues I had.

I was listening to the radio on a drive from my home in Oak Park to see a man about a guitar out in Plano, and wanted to change the station. Not wanting to take my hands off the wheel or my eyes off the road, I pressed the button on the left of the steering wheel that looks like it would have a "seek" function. Rather than going to the next station, it went to the next pre-set station.

"OK," I thought. "That's not what I expected, but it's not the end of the world.

Next, I tried the BMW iDrive-syle knobule in the center console- and that's when things really went sideways between me and the Mazda. Literally not a single input produced a sensible response. Turning the knob, pushing it left or right, pressing down on it, all seemed to have different functions depending on what screen I was in. In Nav mode, for example, I turned the knob thinking that it would take me back to audio or, at least, allow me to select a Navigation menu.

No dice.

Instead, turning the knob on the center console in the Mazda's Nav screen zoomed in and out. Quickly. Distressingly quickly, in fact, going from "this is what is in your pores" close to "see what Lake Michigan looks like from deep space" far in seconds.

I'm sure I would, eventually, figure out the radio's controls- but after nearly two decades of driving all manner of different cars, I'd like to think I'm pretty good at figuring out how an infotainment system works. In the 2014 Mazda 6, however, I was no closer to intuiting any of its supposed "features", even after a week of trying. On the bright side, however, the Mazda's sound system delivered fantastic sound quality- a fact I discovered after giving up entirely on the radio and playing songs through my phone's BT connection. It was crisp, clear, and had decent bass.

So, where does that leave the Mazda 6?

2014 Mazda 6 GT: the Verdict

I couldn't decide how I felt about the thing. In fact, the 2014 Mazda 6 GT seemed a little like a woman I used to date years ago- which is to say "beautiful, but incredibly frustrating". Like the car, I used to love looking at her. She was an excellent playmate, too, but I couldn't really figure her out and never managed to convince her to do anything productive with herself. In my twenties, that seemed OK- in my thirties?

Utterly stymied by the Mazda and unable to decide what I thought of it, I turned to the wife. While highly educated and extremely intelligent, the wife has almost no knowledge of car culture. She was, then, totally unaware of the fact that, as an automotive journalist, I am "supposed to" love the 2014 Mazda 6 GT. I asked her about the car, and she had generally positive things to say. Good-looking, roomy, yadda-yadda. It was when I asked her what she thought a car like the 2014 Mazda 6 GT might cost that she dropped a bomb on me: "I think more than the Corolla," she said, referring to my last tester. "So, I dunno, $18,000 or $18,500."

Hoo-boy.

My wife is pretty good at guessing prices. She was within 10% of the sticker of both the Toyota Avalon and Lexus CT200h we tested, and nailed the Chevy Sonic with such precision that I'm convinced she peeked at the sticker while I wasn't looking. Still, the price she put on the 2014 Mazda 6 was nearly $15K shy of the car's $32,845 sticker.

So, where does that leave the 2014 Mazda 6 GT? I think it leaves it exactly where I have it, which is to say in a weird sort of "Why is this a thing?" limbo that it will never, ever escape- at least, not without some kind of massive infotainment overhaul, all-wheel drive, or a 35% price cut. There is, however, an alternative. A product that gives you all of the benefits of the 2014 Mazda 6 GT's sexy curves, brilliant handling, and 40-ish (claimed) MPG fuel economy while getting fairly close to the car's $18,000 "feels like" price.

That alternative? The 37 MPG 2014 Mazda 6 Sport with manual transmission, which stickers at just $20,990.

If you stick to your guns, drive a hard bargain, and show up at your nearest Mazda dealer an hour before closing time on the last day of the month, you'll get to drive home the best looking $18,000 car cash money can buy.