Rounding out any truly good sport sedan are confidence inspiring brakes and those in the Mazda 6 are reassuring and firm. The all-wheel disc brakes generate solid, controlled stops - even when pushed hard enough to activate the ABS, the car holds its course and steering control is easy to maintain. No back end slewing or nose-diving, just quick un-dramatic stops. Helping to maintain that balance I keep alluding to is EBFD - Electronic Brake Force Distribution - one of the more useful new technological innovations. EBFD provides an extra measure of safety by monitoring vehicle loads and appropriating brake distribution to the wheels for greatest effectiveness. Very comforting to know the computer is figuring all this out in that instant when hitting the brakes to avoid the SUV driver in front of you who suddenly decided to pull over for a low-fat café latte!
Less satisfying is Mazda's variation on the 'clutch-less manual' transmission theme - the "Sport AT" in Mazda speak - a feature that virtually every manufacturer with (or without) sporting pretensions now offers. While easy and intuitive to operate in the 6 - pull the lever down towards you to move up through the gears, and away to downshift - my biggest complaint centers on the lack of snappy, "right now" shifts that should be in character with the rest of the car. Instead electronically-induced lethargy - just that slight pause that tells you the computer is thinking over your request before issuing orders -dulls an otherwise sharp performer. Of course the answer to this one is easy - leave it in D or order the 5-speed manual - from all accounts a crisp transmission mated to a smooth acting clutch. But in either case, acceleration is still competitive for this class, with 100 km/h coming up in about 7 to 7.5 seconds, depending on which gearbox you choose.
Rounding out any truly good sport sedan are confidence inspiring brakes and those in the Mazda 6 are reassuring and firm. The all-wheel disc brakes generate solid, controlled stops - even when pushed hard enough to activate the ABS, the car holds its course and steering control is easy to maintain. No back end slewing or nose-diving, just quick un-dramatic stops. Helping to maintain that balance I keep alluding to is EBFD - Electronic Brake Force Distribution - one of the more useful new technological innovations. EBFD provides an extra measure of safety by monitoring vehicle loads and appropriating brake distribution to the wheels for greatest effectiveness. Very comforting to know the computer is figuring all this out in that instant when hitting the brakes to avoid the SUV driver in front of you who suddenly decided to pull over for a low-fat café latte! 
Less satisfying is Mazda's variation on the 'clutch-less manual' transmission theme - the "Sport AT" in Mazda speak - a feature that virtually every manufacturer with (or without) sporting pretensions now offers. While easy and intuitive to operate in the 6 - pull the lever down towards you to move up through the gears, and away to downshift - my biggest complaint centers on the lack of snappy, "right now" shifts that should be in character with the rest of the car. Instead electronically-induced lethargy - just that slight pause that tells you the computer is thinking over your request before issuing orders -dulls an otherwise sharp performer. Of course the answer to this one is easy - leave it in D or order the 5-speed manual - from all accounts a crisp transmission mated to a smooth acting clutch. But in either case, acceleration is still competitive for this class, with 100 km/h coming up in about 7 to 7.5 seconds, depending on which gearbox you choose.