MazdaSpeed6: Hot, yet respectable

You’ve been eyeing a Lancer Evo or a Subaru WRX STi.

You love the power, the computer-managed all-wheel-drive system, the splash, pizzazz and attitude. The sheer beauty of a no-holds-barred four-season sports car has you hooked.

But there’s a problem. It’s a self-image issue: you can’t see yourself tooling around town in a couple of tons of sheet metal accessorized with wings and scoops and boy-racer attitude.

How could you ever convince your boss you deserve a raise when your car has sprouted an appendage that looks like a suitcase handle?

It’s not an uncommon problem; you’re experiencing telltale pangs of maturity. It happens to the best of us.

Even so, you can’t get your mind off the thrills offered by a high-strung turbocharged four and a set of grippy racing tires.

Well, Bucky, if that’s your problem, we may have the car for you.

Mazda’s new MazdaSpeed6 approaches life with a zest similar to that of the Evo and STi, but does so with an emphasis on comfort and, well, a certain calm absent from the urgent Evo and only marginally more grown-up STi.

It has at its heart a 2.3-liter four that makes 274 horsepower and 280 foot-pounds of torque, which is more than enough to move its 3,600 pounds with conviction. Its all-wheel-drive system measures wheel slip, steering angle, throttle position, lateral G-forces and yaw rates and shifts the power ratio forward and rearward accordingly.

Capable of 0-60 times in the mid-5-second range, it also offers a usable rear seat and a real trunk, albeit one with limited capacity, due largely to the presence of the AWD mechanicals.

More to the point, though, the MazdaSpeed6 has a veneer of respectability absent its more gung-ho competitors.

“We do not want to be classified as part of the pocket-rocket set,” a Mazda spokesman said at the product launch by way of explaining the absence of hood scoops and wings.

“Our aim is for the more mature sports-sedan enthusiast. That’s why we went with this hood shape. It’s aggressive yet keeps the lines of the car smooth and flowing.”

Indeed, were it not for the aggressively restyled front fascia, elevated hood line and 18-inch wheels housed within subtly flared wells, the MazdaSpeed6 looks not all that different from the mainstream, midsize Mazda6 sedan on which it’s based.

Deeper skirting has been applied to the lower sills, but it blends so well with the fenders and door panels it hardly counts.

Inside the cabin, only the deeply bolstered seats, aluminum pedals, leather-covered shift boot and a few odd color choices hint at the car’s hidden personality. I found the stark, dark-gray-and-white coloration of the leather-covered seats in our tester a touch garish and the faux wood trim unnecessary, but all else was typically Mazda — practical, well built and attractive.

Whereas the Mazda6 offers fold-down rear seats, those in the MazdaSpeed6 are fixed. To produce a body shell that’s 50-percent stiffer than the base car, Mazda added bracing between cabin and trunk, pre-empting the folding seats.

There are two trim levels of the MazdaSpeed6, Sport ($28,555, including destination) and Grand Touring ($30,485). They are mechanically identical, with the Grand Touring adding leather seats, an eight-way power driver’s seat, heated front seats and keyless start.

Despite Mazda’s rich history at the track, there is no track-ready version of the MazdaSpeed6. Even the base Sport trim comes equipped with high-intensity-discharge headlights, automatic climate control, 200-watt Bose audio system with six-disc changer, tilt-and-telescoping steering with satellite audio controls, one-touch power windows and cruise control.

A DVD-based navigation system is available on both trims and the Grand Touring trim offers an optional moonroof.

Neither trim can be had with an automatic transmission; a six-speed box is all that’s available. Its ratios are closely spaced, its gates tight and its throws short and crisp.

Mazda has taken something of a middle road regarding engine performance. Rather than mounting the small-diameter turbocharger up front, where it more quickly benefits from air intake, it’s mounted back near the firewall, a configuration that is more readily ported to other applications.

Power begins coming on at around 2,000 rpm, with a lazy climb to about 3,000, where the 2.3-liter four begins to really cook, and drops off fairly dramatically well short of the red line, at around 6,000 rpm, primarily because the turbocharger was designed to boost low- and mid-range power.

The engine proper is a nice piece of work. Like VW/Audi, Mazda uses a technique here called direct injection, in which gasoline is injected under high pressure directly into the cylinder. It’s a complex and split-second process that produces higher compression ratios for improved performance, without a negative impact on fuel economy.

Underneath, recalibrated springs and shocks minimized body lean without imposing a harshness penalty; true to its calling as a civilized sports-sedan, the MazdaSpeed6 went about its daily duties with composure and — here’s that word again — maturity.

The cost of that maturity is a slightly reduced opportunity for engagement with the car’s heartbeat. This is the inevitable outcome of the civilizing process. One reason I fell headlong for the recently reviewed EVO MR was its insistence on being flogged at every opportunity – and it’s one of those cars that doesn’t mask its mechanicals; it’s loud, rude and crude. It can be exhilarating to drive a car like that, but doing it every day can take a toll on the owner’s sanity.

That’s not likely to ever be a problem with the MazdaSpeed6, which has gentrified the pocket-rocket set.