| COMFORT AND EQUIPMENT RATING: |
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The suspension soaks up bumps and changes in the road surface well, and it rides smoothly and quietly on the motorway with little wind, tyre or intrusive engine noise (Mazda says that its low level of road noise is, guess what, "best in class", for the petrol engines at least: the diesels are on the harsh, loud side compared to cars like the Laguna dCi and Mondeo TDCi). The roomy cabin is light and airy, and there's a full complement of comfort kit including standard air conditioning, four electric windows, seat height adjustment and so on. The new cabin fabrics and plastics are much nicer to look at and touch than those of the 626 - and abolishing the grey cabins was a great idea. The black interior is very VW-like, with its metal-look fascia trim and dial surrounds, and even the beige interior is quite tasteful. The only cheapo note is the ribbed-effect nylon cabin headlining and corduroy door panel inserts; the velour seats are soft to touch, as well as being supportive and comfortable over long journeys. Leather seats - of good quality leather - are a £1000 option. The 6 is a large car, and Mazda claims that it has "best in class" (again) leg-, shoulder- and head-room, as well as boot space. We didn't get our tape measure out to verify these statements, but it certainly seems spacious enough. Tall front seat occupants are particularly well served, and rear seat passengers do well too. The saloon's boot is pretty cavernous, and the hatch practical. The rear bench seat also folds completely flat, without the need to remove the headrests. The Wagon estate is comfortably family-sized. Decent sound quality from the audio equipment, but given the otherwise high levels of standard specification and the not-quite-bargain pricing, only putting a radio/cassette in the S models seems stingy. The TS has a single-slot CD player (which wouldn't have been expensive to put in the S) and TS" and Sport models have an uprated Bose multi-CD system. DVD-based satellite navigation, with a generously-sized colour screen, is an expensive £1500 option.
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