Following the trend set by a few other manufacturers, Mazda has given the world a sneak peek at the all new Mazda6 which is scheduled to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month. Officially, the wraps will come off at a press conference September 11 in Frankfurt.

Not only is this a full redesign of the sedan, but it is the first model to incorporate Mazda’s new Zoom-Zoom design philosophy. Sadly, the wagon has been dropped from the lineup.

Mazda press release after the break
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A few weeks ago, Ed over at The Car Blog wrote a piece on Why Wagons Rock, detailing why the practicality of wagons has won him over. Well, here in The Garage, we couldn’t agree more. In fact I’m a little surprised that it’s taken so long for so many folks to come to the realization that wagons (or some SUVs by extension) are indeed cool. As one who spent years working for Volvo, with all their boxy, turbo monster wagons I figured this out way back in the early Eighties. There is no reason why a wagon can’t be practical and a blast to drive at the same time.

Enter the Mazda 6 Sport Wagon. Over the past couple of months we’ve racked up about 9,000 km on a pair of these haulers. The first was equipped with the 3.0 l V6 and a 5 speed manual transmission, while the second utilized the same engine coupled to the optional 6 speed automatic. The automatic is tuned for the sporting driver and has a manual shift option. Personally, I’ve never been excited by manumatics so this feature didn’t get much use but it did seem to work smoothly. Just not my thing.

This engine is rated for 212 hp and 197 ft/lb of torque which was more than enough to turn the front tires to smoke off the line when the driver’s inner hooligan is released and sometimes when you’ve got your jacket and tie on too. Everyone who drove the car while in our stable commented that the front tires will squeel when leaving a light, even under moderate throttle. Odd, considering the big sticky boots the Sport Wagon wears.

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Whenever a blogger misses their stride, they always seem to post some sort of apology to their readers. In most cases, life has just caught up with them and the blog suffers. In The Garage, it really isn’t all that much different, except for the fact that it really is garage stuff that has been catching up with things.

Over the last week, I’ve been busy moving from the Nissan store to the Mazda store & the change has been fairly time consuming, not to mention a bit stressful. The up side to this is all the new road test candidates! First up will be my new 2006 Mazda6 wagon. I know it’s got all the toys & a gearbox, but I don’t know what colour it is or even how many gears it has!

Kart racing season truly starts for our house this weekend, with the arrival of the new engine, fresh from Arnold Racing Engines. Both days this weekend will see the Grant family invading Mosport once again.

Last weekend saw me cleaning a winters worth of kid crap out of Mamma’s Protege5.

Occasional contributor Petri has been getting caught up in the IRL world lately. The daily grind of highway management has been interrepted with schmoozing with the likes of Dan Wheldon and Buddy Rice, not to mention Scott Pruett and a certain Nascar champ. Hopefully he’ll have some time to bang off a few words here and there in the near future.

As for The Garage, we should be back up to our normal pace soon, as life settles in at the dealership.

Watch soon for opinions on street racing penalties from The Garage, along with more road tests and maybe an interview or two.