Review
It’s a mark of the fine time I’m having with my Mazda6 that I really don’t have a great deal to say about it.
Nothing has gone wrong, it has not needed any oil, there have been no bumps or scrapes.
It starts every time, drives superbly and has remained as comfortable as when it first arrived.
So I guess the only thing left for me to do is nit-pick.
My target is the trip computer.
Located in the centre of the dashboard, the trip computer information is included on a narrow display along with pretty much everything that isn’t included in the main dials above the steering wheel.
The air conditioning settings, radio station and so on are all listed, along with the time on the far right-hand side.
On most cars with trip computers, information about average fuel consumption or the distance until you run out of fuel is cycled through by pressing a button on the steering wheel or one of the stalks.
Usually you click it to progress to the next bit of information, meaning you can do the bulk of the work by feel rather than having to take your eyes off the road for prolonged periods of time.
Mazda, though, seems to have made the system for looking at trip info on the 6 overly complicated.
A set of four directional arrow buttons on the steering wheel control the display in the centre of the dash, but they control absolutely everything.
In order to view different trip information, you need to scroll across past the air conditioning and radio details to the time, and then scroll again to see the various different nuggets of info relating to your journey.
It requires quite a lot of looking away from the road just to get to the information you need, and as most of the other information is also controlled from elsewhere, it all seems a bit unnecessary.
In other news, the editor borrowed the car and noticed some rather irregular idling from the engine when parked.
I must confess to not hearing anything that caused me any concern, but will keep an eye (or ear) on things.
Lastly, I’ve undertaken my first modification of the Mazda.
Don’t fret, I’m not talking sideskirts and neon underlighting.
Trafficmaster has sent me a navigation unit to test, which requires hardwiring into the car.
As I write this, a man in a van is taking the dash apart to fit a box of tricks and a display, which should provide me with directions to wherever I want to go and warn me of impending traffic situations.
Trafficmaster has assured me that the installation is completely reversible and will not damage or mark the car in any way.
As my first trip with the new system will be into Europe on holiday, it’ll be thrown in at the deep end.
I shall update you all on the progress of it and the Mazda next time. Until then, bonnet de douche to you all.
