We were on the road for a 2-day test drive with the the latest Mazda Philippines cars which won the 2013 Car of the Year award for Mazda6 and Best Compact Crossover awards for CX-5 PRO & AWD SPORT, by the Car Awards Group, Inc.
In this 2-day test drive, participants were given the chance to drive the three current models from Mazda – CX-5 AWD, CX5- Pro, and Mazda 6, all equipped with SkyActiv technology that features iStop and i-ELOOP. In the test-drive, both CX-5 and Mazda 6 must pass the regular Manila traffic situation (C5 – McKinley road – Ayala – Buendia – EDSA – ABS-CBN – QC Circle up to Balintawak), and the second leg will be the highway drive at the NLEX and SCTEX.
Nine team were engaged in a fuel economy run, our team had the Mazda 6 AT Soul Red, a luxury looking sedan with sun roof, leather seats, Bluetooth connectivity that requires a full stop before you can initially connect your smartphone, 19-inch tires, powered by a 4-Cylinder DOHC, 16-Valve 2.5 6-Speed Automatic Transmission.
Team 8 – Victor Basa, Abe Olandres, Raffy Pedrajita and Ralph from Mazda PH
This Php 1,721,800 Mazda 6, a sexy medium-sized sedan looks like will drink all your gasoline, but it was proven wrong at the end of the test-drive.
iStop feature on Mazda 6. The iStop feature of Mazda SkyActiv helped a lot in the fuel economy run, the engine stops when you step in the brakes and the car is on full stop. iStop will Start/Stop the engine while on idle. At first it was a little bit disturbing because when I hit the brakes and iStop is engaged, the engine vibrates. Take note though that iStop will work on certain A/C temp only, it will engage only on 21-deg C, lower than that iStop will not work.
The normal Manila traffic run
Guided by a Mazda rep, we filled up our Mazda 6 with Unleaded gas, and we started the run from Shell C5 Taguig. We passed through Market Market, turned right to McKinley road going to Ayala Avenue. This is a Saturday, around 10AM. From Ayala, we turned right to Buendia then to EDSA, and went to a restaurant for our lunch near ABS-CBN. After lunch, we went to proceed to Shell Balintawak. From Quenzon City, we passed the QC Circle, and to Visayas Avenue then to Commonwealth and then to EDSA again. We filled up again in Shell Balintawak to determine our gas consumption.
From Shell C5 to Shell Balintawak we consumed 1.9 liters of Unleaded gas. We thought that it was already very minimal since our run gave us 10.8km/L. But lo and behold, the other Mazda 6 team consumed only 1 liter! Now you do the math.
On the second day, we tested the Mazda 6 on highway, we did two runs in NLEX and SCTEX. Our team got an average of 13.38km/L consumption, but the winning team made an 18.1km/L consumption on a 100km stretch run.
Some photos which are not usually presented. The engine, the interior showing the rear camera which is built-in already, and the sun roof of Mazda 6.
Over-all it was fun driving the Mazda 6 with SkyActiv technology. The car can fit the lifestyle of a young professional, young company officer having a VP rank, or a business owner. Or anybody that has budget, hahaha!
The other cars – the CX-5 AWD and CX-5 Pro had an average of 17.06km/L and 15.45km/L. All drivers are regular car drivers and enthusiasts.
I have more photos of the Mazda 6 and CX 5 in my .
