MAZDA 6:Quality, Durability, and Reliability Story

 The challenge

With the MAZDA6, our goal was to design, engineer, and manufacture the best Mazda ever while creating one of the most fun-to-drive and reliable vehicles available. So we called upon 400 engineers to put over 100 test vehicles through their paces.

Some vehicles were driven hard, while others had hundreds of thousands of test cycles performed on various components, simulating up to 10 years of extreme use. And through it all, we spent countless hours and drove over 1 million miles, all to ensure that every MAZDA6 has quality, dependability, and reliability built in from the ground up.

More than 6000 tests were conducted on more than 50 different types of driving surfaces in seven different countries. It was three years of testing that included:

• Full Throttle

A desire to push dependability to its limits drove engineers to do something we hope you never do. The engine was run at high rpm while in neutral, and then the transmission was slammed into first gear in a controlled environment. It was the best way to really put stress on the MAZDA6’s entire drivetrain to test for overall durability.

• Engineered To Extremes

Extreme temperatures were the norm for Mazda engineers as they pushed the engines to red line on dynamometers and on the road in sub-zero and triple-digit temperatures. Then they tore the engines down to check the wear. Any sub-par components were reengineered and retested, until Mazda’s high standards of engineering were met.

• Driving Across Ditches

Mazda engineers built their own ditch with two paved lanes on either side. Why? To drive the MAZDA6 across at an angle over and over again, of course.

They wanted to see how the body’s torsional rigidity and hundreds of welds would hold up to repeated twists and jars over time. They also looked at how the drivetrain would hold up to such a beating and monitored for any interior squeaks and rattles that developed.

MILLIONMILE TESTED, MILLIONMILE PROVEN MAZDA6.*