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What is it?

This is our first chance to drive one of the latest rivals for the Ford Mondeo – as it happens, an “in-house rival”, from Ford subsidiary Mazda, in the 6 hatchback – on UK roads. Our man Steve Cropley returned broadly impressed with the 2.5-litre Mazda 6 after his outing on a Hungarian test track. Now we look at a more affordable model, the entry 1.8-litre petrol in TS trim, on our home turf.

Sat in the car park – next to a conveniently parked new Mondeo – the m...Read the full article

Looks good for a mainstream Mondeo rival, the proportions hide the size well. Love the fact that Mazda are pushing hard to strip weight out of their cars without compromising the product or resorting to exotic and expensive materials.

The car looks very stylish and will benefit from the increase in size when competing with the Mondeo and Passat. Full marks to Mazda for weight and hence CO2 reduction this will help with the tax bill. The cars are well kitted out but it's a real shame that Mazda did not pay more attention to the quality of some of the plastics. Some are really nasty and a long way off the rivals. No brochure as yet and no sign of the diesels or estate even though the car was officially launched over two weeks ago.