Mazda "Surprising Drives" day at Gleneagles
Discussion
The wife and I had entered a competition with Mazda. They've not drawn it yet, but an email came through asking if we wanted to do something "closer to home". Basically it was a day driving the new Mazda 6 and CX5.
Thought I'd share my experience/thoughts and see if any other PHers went along to one?
Firstly, Gleneagles is unbelievable. I knew it was big in terms of Golf but had no idea just how big the place was. The grounds were huge and well maintained, the village seemed quaint and the hotel was very nice inside and out. We were treated to a 2 course lunch which was lovely... Made me regret having a massive bacon roll before heading up there
The cars. Probably worth me saying that what I would consider an "every day" car, such as a diesel saloon or cross over. Similarly, I've never owned a car which is less than 15 years old. So the experience was fairly new to me, other than a few thousand miles in various hire cars.. But nothing ever drives like a hire car
The Mazda 6 was a 2.2 turbo diesel with (I assume) every option checked. The wife was very impressed with the leather interior. She even said it was nicer than my 15 year old LS400 (she was wrong
). It did feel a nice place to be, though definitely wasn't a barge like our LS400. Took me a while to get the seat comfortable, would've liked a bit more lateral support but it would be fine 90% of the time. Engine was great, didn't tail off like most diesels I've driven and actually sounded half decent for a diesel 4 pot. Biggest thing that hit me (after having a few NA cars) was that turbo lag (as in throttle response at any RPM) is still very much apparent in modern cars. Better than my shed of an Impreza was, but it's still there despite what I've read about it getting better in modern cars. The car felt more refined than my Dad's new 2.0 petrol turbo Insignia SRI and the ride was firm but not overkill at all times. If I was ever in the market for a mile muncher I'd certainly now consider a Mazda.
Then into the CX5 for the return leg. I have a feeling this car wasn't aimed at the likes of me so I will appear over critical. The interior felt very similar to the 6, though a bit more airy. One annoyance was that I couldn't get the seat to slope rearwards enough which meant it constantly felt like I was falling forwards (this is perhaps me being used to bucket seats in the last few cars). The main advantage I can see (no kids, dog or frail hips here..) is the increased vision when on b-roads. Being able to see over hedgerows/blind crests definitely helped progress. Weirdly the ride was actually worse than in the 6 (this is perhaps a complement to just how good the 6 is).
A big plus for me on both cars was no stupid button handbrake.
Sadly I didn't track the route, but it was from the hotel to Dunkeld & Birnam station. The route up had some narrow B-roads and also some of the A9. It was fun, but didn't compare to the route back over the moors (A822). Very similar to the roads to Skye.
All in all - thanks to Mazda for a great day and the chance to drive some of their newest offerings. Their team was great, the cars were good fun and the whole day was very much driver orientated. The wife and I had a great day out. Definitely a positive increase in brand awareness for both of us. I even got a chance to talk to one of the staff about his mk1 mx5 race car... Pity he hadn't brought that up for a go!
Thought I'd share my experience/thoughts and see if any other PHers went along to one?
Firstly, Gleneagles is unbelievable. I knew it was big in terms of Golf but had no idea just how big the place was. The grounds were huge and well maintained, the village seemed quaint and the hotel was very nice inside and out. We were treated to a 2 course lunch which was lovely... Made me regret having a massive bacon roll before heading up there
The cars. Probably worth me saying that what I would consider an "every day" car, such as a diesel saloon or cross over. Similarly, I've never owned a car which is less than 15 years old. So the experience was fairly new to me, other than a few thousand miles in various hire cars.. But nothing ever drives like a hire car
The Mazda 6 was a 2.2 turbo diesel with (I assume) every option checked. The wife was very impressed with the leather interior. She even said it was nicer than my 15 year old LS400 (she was wrong
). It did feel a nice place to be, though definitely wasn't a barge like our LS400. Took me a while to get the seat comfortable, would've liked a bit more lateral support but it would be fine 90% of the time. Engine was great, didn't tail off like most diesels I've driven and actually sounded half decent for a diesel 4 pot. Biggest thing that hit me (after having a few NA cars) was that turbo lag (as in throttle response at any RPM) is still very much apparent in modern cars. Better than my shed of an Impreza was, but it's still there despite what I've read about it getting better in modern cars. The car felt more refined than my Dad's new 2.0 petrol turbo Insignia SRI and the ride was firm but not overkill at all times. If I was ever in the market for a mile muncher I'd certainly now consider a Mazda.Then into the CX5 for the return leg. I have a feeling this car wasn't aimed at the likes of me so I will appear over critical. The interior felt very similar to the 6, though a bit more airy. One annoyance was that I couldn't get the seat to slope rearwards enough which meant it constantly felt like I was falling forwards (this is perhaps me being used to bucket seats in the last few cars). The main advantage I can see (no kids, dog or frail hips here..) is the increased vision when on b-roads. Being able to see over hedgerows/blind crests definitely helped progress. Weirdly the ride was actually worse than in the 6 (this is perhaps a complement to just how good the 6 is).
A big plus for me on both cars was no stupid button handbrake.
Sadly I didn't track the route, but it was from the hotel to Dunkeld & Birnam station. The route up had some narrow B-roads and also some of the A9. It was fun, but didn't compare to the route back over the moors (A822). Very similar to the roads to Skye.
All in all - thanks to Mazda for a great day and the chance to drive some of their newest offerings. Their team was great, the cars were good fun and the whole day was very much driver orientated. The wife and I had a great day out. Definitely a positive increase in brand awareness for both of us. I even got a chance to talk to one of the staff about his mk1 mx5 race car... Pity he hadn't brought that up for a go!
Edited by bicycleshorts on Monday 30th September 13:44
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