![]() Mazda launched the car in four-wheel-steering form before realising that the asking price forced many would-be owners to look at four-cylinder Toyota Celicas and Honda Preludes. Age and kilometres will have taken their toll on some of the sensors and actuators, although the car does, at least, have a fail-safe mode where any glitch sees the rear wheels fixed straight ahead. Any advantage was minute.Įven then, the electro-hydraulic set-up used computers and motors to decide where to point the rear wheels and when to do it. The theory was that four-wheel-steering gave the car extra stability for lane-changing at speed, and extra manoeuvrability when parking. The car's biggest point of difference from its competitors was its four-wheel-steering, with the rear wheels steering a few degrees in sympathy with the front wheels at speed, and against them at parking speeds. The four-speed automatic is harder to keep spinning and too eager to fall off its power curve. With 121 kW of power, the MX-6 could be wound up to perform, but it was a full-time job keeping the 2.5-litre engine on the boil, and a lack of low- and mid-range urge is apparent when things start to get serious.įor that reason, the five-speed manual is a much nicer car. Neither engine was perfect for this sort of car, with the turbo untamed in its power delivery and the V6 generally a bit limp. ![]() The original ferocious four-cylinder turbo motor was replaced by a V6 engine that on paper would seem to have been a step forward but in retrospect seemed slightly light on. It suffers from a serious lack of knee room if a front seat is occupied by a tall person. The front seats were good but the back seat was little more than a decoration. Inside, the MX-6 was straight early-'90s Japan, with lots of grey plastic and a dashboard that was clear and concise and with adequate ergonomics. Then again, there are a few folks who still think the car is one of the better-looking Japanese efforts of its time. The shape certainly flows, but it doesn't possess a lot of aggression - other Japanese coupes of the time stated their case with more visual authority. With its sculpted silhouette and long front and rear overhangs, it somehow looked a bit too organic to be a true fire-breather. The styling was perhaps the biggest talking point. It was still front-wheel-drive and very much a two-seater, with an occasional rear seat thrown in, but it was more sophisticated and better behaved. In their place, coupe buyers were offered a long, low, two-door body with a silky V6 engine. ![]() Gone were the turbocharged engine, boxy, bulging wheel arches and fearsome reputation of the first MX-6. Not that the 1991 MX-6 was a bad car, or even a poor performer, but it was bland in many respects and merely adequate in others. It was regarded as a performance car, in a straight line, anyway, and driving the replacement revealed that it needed all the marketing help it could get. The outgoing car was also, without wishing to put too fine a point on it, fairly ordinary, with a reputation for fierce power delivery, wilful handling and not much else. The new car was, coupe bodywork aside, nothing like the model it was replacing. When Mazda launched its all-new MX-6 coupe in 1991, it was something of a surprise that it stuck with the MX-6 badge.
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