We Brits like a good estate car.
This is Mazda's, the Mazda6 Tourer, a car styled with the company's Kodo design ethos
and bristling with a series of efficiency technologies under the SkyActiv banner.
More a collection of principles rather than a focus on any one particular technology,
SkyActiv starts with the creation of a strong yet light-weight body.
It's quite a handsome one in our eyes, with nicely aggressive almost feline headlights
and, for the Tourer, a high window line that tapers towards the rear.
That high waistline creates a sensation of security from inside, and there's a wide range
of adjustment for both seats and steering wheel that makes settling yourself in easy.
Rear seat passengers are well looked after, too.
The controls for the ventilation system are well placed and operate with a satisfying
quality, while the instruments are pleasingly illuminated and elegant in design.
Many of the Mazda's functions are relegated to the colour touch-screen and this is presided
over by an iDrive-style twisty-turny controller mounted just behind the gear lever.
We find these systems a little clunky to use, particularly on the move, but at least with
the Mazda system you can revert to jabbing at the screen or, if you're feeling brave,
venture into the realms of the voice command system.
To be fair, Mazda's part of this system works well, the TomTom satnav is less successful,
though.
Dictating addresses is painful, and there are many strange mispronunciations: ask for
directions to a petrol station and you'll hear: *Navigate to the nearest petal station,
is that correct?* Still, if you are planning on collecting a load of petals, you'll find
the cargo space to be very practical, with cubby holes in the sides, an underfloor compartment
where you can store the retractable cover, and clever hooks for shopping bags that also
double up as supports for the load floor so you don't need three hands.
With the rear seats in place, there's 506 litres of cargo space, rising to 1,648 litres
with the seats folded, a process made easy by a pair of levers in the boot walls.
Four engines are available - two petrol and two diesel - with our test car powered by
the excellent twin-turbo 2.2-litre diesel.
It produces 175PS and 420Nm of torque, and can sprint from 0-62mph in 8.0 seconds dead.
It's not just punchy, though, but incredibly refined, too.
Efficiency is also a strong point, with even our top-spec Sport model with 19-inch wheels
recording 61.4 mpg on the combined cycle, with CO2 emissions of just 121 g/km.
We found it easy to maintain an average around the 45 mpg mark, with long journeys likely
to achieve a figure usefully into the 50s.
Some of this efficiency stems from Mazda's i-stop system, which stops the engine when
waiting at traffic lights but can restart again within 0.4 of a second, as well as their
i-Eloop system which recovers energy during braking and uses it to power the car's electrical
systems.
The six-speed manual gearbox has been given a satisfyingly stubby gear lever and a beautifully
balanced short throw, making it a pleasure to use.
The steering, too, has a sporty theme to it, requiring just 2.57 turns lock-to-lock, making
it faster even than that in an MX-5.
It's effortlessly manoeuvrable, too, with an exceptionally tight turning circle.
Out on the open road, surface imperfections are quietly filtered out, and even larger
bumps and pot-holes are quickly supressed without imposing on the calm of the cabin,
although we will say that the 19-inch wheels of the Sport model do produce a touch more
tyre roar than we'd like.
The handling continues the sporty theme, the Tourer's light weight allowing it to respond
with finesse to changes of direction.
In short, it's easy to have fun - something that can't be said of all estate cars - and
it's particularly surprising how happy the 2.2 diesel is to be revved to its red-line;
and how refined it remains once there.
The Mazda 6 Tourer, then, is efficient, well-engineered, comfortable and refined.
For most estate cars, that ought to be enough.
But Mazda's engineers have gone further: it's also engaging to drive and incredibly easy
to live with.
This isn't just a good estate car.
It's a great one.