2004 Mazda6 Sport GT V6 Road Test

A Unique Entry in a Crowded Midsize Segment

I have to admit to being a little on the worried side. I'd driven my Mom and Grandma to the airport in a Mitsubishi Diamante, which is a midsize sedan on the larger end of the scale, but now they would be

On my way to the airport I began to worry about the logistics of fitting all of my mother's and grandmother's luggage into the Mazda6 Sport. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

returning after a month of sightseeing and visiting relatives and friends in England, Scotland and Sweden, and were bound to be carrying more luggage than when they left. What's more my 3-year old son just had to come along for the ride, adding a child seat to the back row. Making matters still worse was the fact the Mazda6 Sport in the parking lot is not as large a car as the Diamante that was previously stuffed to the gills. What to do?!

My heart stopped when they finally cleared customs and made their way out to the airport's massive greeting area, there were more bags than I remembered. Expressing my concern we made our way out to the parking lot, two baggage dollies filled to overflow. I immediately moved the child seat to the 60 percent half of the split folding rear seatbacks, so that I could maximize cargo space by folding the other 40 percent forward if needed.

Opening up the trunk I then realized there might be hope after all. I forgot that the Mazda6 Sport doesn't actually have a trunk at all. Despite looking every bit like its sedan sibling, at least at first glance, the

All my luggage concerns disappeared once I began loading all the suitcases into the hatchback's expansive trunk. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press)

Sport boasts an extremely convenient hatch with an additional 192 liters of cargo capacity over the sedan - 622 L (22 cubic feet) compared to 430 (15.2). It offered just that much more height so that I could stand the bags upright rather than having to lay them on their sides. By doing so I managed to squeeze them all in the back without having to even make use of the 40 percent section of rear seatback, allowing my Mom, the rear seat passenger, more room to stretch out and get comfortable - necessary after such a long flight in the steerage section. After a "quick" trip to the grocery store where Mom bought about eight bags of groceries, which now crowded the front passenger and back seats, we made it home in relative comfort.