Mazda Mazda6 Estate Red

Mazda offers the 6 Tourer with a choice of three petrol and two diesel engines, all with sufficient power to give it decent – if not especially lively – pace. The petrol engines are quite rare in that that they’re not turbocharged, so you have to rev them pretty hard to get the best from them. There’s not a lot to separate the 2.0 models for outright pace, but it goes without saying that the 165-horsepower model feels a bit stronger than the 145-horsepower version, if not by as much as you’d expect. Likewise, the 194-horsepower 2.5 doesn’t feel like a big step up in pace, but that’s partly because it comes with an automatic gearbox as standard. In truth either of the 2.2 diesels are a better bet, especially since they have the extra low-revs responsiveness and superior fuel economy that many estate car drivers are after. Go for either the 150- or 184-horsepower version and you’ll enjoy flexible performance and impressively smooth, quiet progress. A sweet-shifting six-speed manual gearbox is standard for all but the 2.5 petrol, while an automatic gearbox is an option for both diesel engines.