Test drive Mazda 626 MK5 Sedan 1997 - 2002 Sedan
Step in the right direction
When it comes to Mazda cars, first I recall the rotary engine. Then - cars with a pronounced personality and letter X in the index. Roadster MX-5, for example. Or a compartment RX-7. And only then - ordinary models, six hundred twenty -sixth including. Why is that? The previous generation of the Mazda 626 sedan company Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd. I released three years. The time for planned cosmetic repairs came - and last fall at the Tokyo Motor Show introduced a modernized model. Now the car has reached Russia: here it is, before us - the new family sedan Mazda 626. What has changed in the car compared to the previous version we tested more than a year ago (motor #1, 1999)?
The easiest way to notice external changes. This is first of all - a new hood with more acute folds of stamping, an altered front bumper, as well as an emblem that went down to the radiator and increased in size - now you can even determine the brand from afar, which is quite useful for the car is useful. We worked on the rear lights, a spoiler with a built-in stop signal appeared on the lid of the trunk. Flight wheels with rubber Michelin Pilot (205/50R16) look good.
A little different body size - the machine has become 15 mm longer, as much wider and 10 mm below. The track and the wheelbase are the same. From the technical description, it follows that the hardness of the body and the diameters of the reptile stability stabilizers have been increased, the gear ratio of the steering mechanism, the main transmission and the first two steps of the box were changed. Other mechanical alterations are not noticed ...
Air was added in the cabin - thanks to not so much increased width as lighter upholstery. Simently, albeit somewhat ascetic. In the dashboard, instead of the previous inserts for natural wood, there are others that imitate some black wood. In nature, this is unlikely to occur, but this solution, along with metallized door handles and buttons of door blocking, the interior revives the order. It is clear to everyone that on cars of this price category (Mazda 626 in the described configuration costs about $ 25,000), a natural tree is not used. On the other hand, the brown plastic with annual rings already scored in order, and here something new. The instrument shield with white round scales looks elegant - this (like black wood) belongs to the Sport version. You can continue to play in the cabin in searching for differences, but it looks a lot of hide and seek. In any case, all the best from Mazda 626 of the previous issue is saved here. The driver’s landing is exactly in the center of the steering wheel, devices and pedals - in the right places, and the child will be able to manage with handles -sknops on the central console. Moreover, there is especially nothing to control - except for the air conditioning control panel and a small display, there is nothing there, and instead of music - a plastic plug -curtain (the machine comes from the factory only with audioquitis).
The car we went to us is assembled in Japan. In this regard, I would like to note an interesting trifle. In the machines that go to the domestic market, deflectors of ventilation holes on the dashboard are equipped with a simple mechanism that makes them turn back and forth - as a result, the air jet travels along the cabin from side to side. A trifle, but nice. The same device is supplied with cars that are assembled in the USA for the American market. But in machines for Europe there is no such device. Or was it only Russians deprived?
For its class, the car is spacious. The inhabitants of the front seats can only complain about the lack of lateral support, and even add a little space above their heads. At the back you feel almost like in a big sedan. Safety belts and headrests are enough for three, but the third passenger is too much, and he will have to sit on a hump - a profiled sofa, for two.
The car is well equipped, given the options - there are APS, and an electronic brake distributor, and external mirrors with electric heating, as well as a 10 CDs and a leather salon.
The back of the front passenger chair can be thrown forward - you get a table. They threw back easily, but it was not immediately possible to return the back to the staffing position - it skewed and got stuck ...
Last time, a car with a 2 l 116-horsepower engine came to our test. This time the motor turned out to be the same volume, but more power - 136 hp. and 178 Nm. However, this is not the result of modernization, both of these engines migrated unchanged from the previous Mazda 626 to the current one. Let's see how the new car will show itself in motion. The dynamics of acceleration with a 136 -horsepower engine is ordinary for a car with a equipped mass of a little more than 1200 kg. The car is gaining a hundred from a place in 9.6 seconds. An even, without failures and thoughtfulness, acceleration, accompanied by a calm sound of the engine, does not provoke the driver to active trampling the gas pedal. To be in combat readiness for overtaking at decent speed, you need to spin the engine and move in reduced gears (it should be taken into account that good noise insulation dulls vigilance - upon completion of the maneuver, you can forget to switch up). There is quite enough stock of torque (178 nm) - in all situations that you can encounter on the road, but it is better to choose another car to the dynamic driving lovers ...
An inconsistent came out with the brakes. Literally on the first meters of the journey it was necessary to sharply slow down - after the car in front. I pressed the pedal so that ABS earned on dry asphalt, but Mazda stopped very reluctantly (it should be noted that it did not leave with the straight line). I stopped all the same. The only explanation that comes to mind is a car from a needle on the odometer only 18 km, and practice shows that a hundred or two kilometers are required to grind new brakes. It is worth keeping in mind when leaving the car dealership on any new car ...
The steering has become a little sharper, the steering wheel is lightweight. The amplifier - with a variable (depending on speed) with a characteristic. Managing this machine in the city stream is simple and pleasant, the same as shooting an automated soap dish: I directed the lens in the right direction, pressed the descent, and that’s it ...
The rigidity of the suspension (Macpherson - Front and behind) is in reasonable limits for a conventional car, the driver and passengers do not have to experience inconvenience either from sharp blows to the body, or from flooding on the side, or from pitching on long wave -like irregularities. Small defects of the coating, the suspension swallows with ease, especially at high speed.
You need to get used to the box. Quite long moves of the lever and not quite intelligible fixation at first raising the driver in doubt: whether he got there. Involuntarily, with caution, you release the clutch, looking at the tachometer - as if not to twist the motor. After you get used to it, you are convinced that under the parameters of the engine the box is picked up quite well ...
Traditionally, the situation with mass cars Mazda was as follows. If we approach the purchase of a family sedan, guided by considerations of a bare mind, Mazda 626 is a very good option. The car, as they say, is well cut and confused. You can talk for hours about his practicality, reliability or assembly, compose lists of classmates - in them he will take a worthy place. But it is worth allowing yourself to at least a little emotion, as other cars come to the fore - it is not necessary better than Mazda ...
With the advent of the new Mazda 626, the situation may change, albeit not much, but in the right direction. Preserving all the positive, utilitarian features of the predecessors, the model has become somewhat more attractive in appearance. Especially in the Sport version.
Fedor is small
Source: Magazine Motor
