Mazda CX-6e testing: Jinba Ittai, chassis tuning and the hidden-speedometer test
Mazda explains how it tests predictable responses: drivers cover the speedometer, hold 100 km/h by feel, and tune the CX-6e in Europe.
Mazda has an unusual way to check how predictable a car feels: at its Japanese proving ground, the driver’s speedometer readout is covered and the driver is asked to hold a set speed — for example, 100 km/h — using only the car’s responses as a guide. Moritz Oswald, Product Manager at Mazda Europe, described the method in an exclusive interview with Motor.es.
“If I need to brake by a certain amount at a particular moment, I know exactly how much the car will slow down. That creates trust. I do not have to do one thing, then another, and wait to see whether the result is right. We also run special tests to check this. We have a very large proving ground in Japan. There, we cover the speedometer with something and drive the car at a certain speed without seeing the actual value,” Oswald explained.
The second part of the test is tied to what Mazda calls Jinba Ittai — a predictable connection between driver and car. “We check how intuitive the pedal response is and whether we can really maintain, for example, 100 km/h without looking at the speedometer. I think Mazda is one of the few brands that carries out tests like this. That is also why we do not chase crazy power figures such as 600 hp in these cars. For us, controllability and predictable response matter more than huge acceleration that is difficult to control,” the Mazda representative said.
In the CX-6e, that philosophy is expressed quite literally. The European crossover uses rear-wheel drive and produces 258 hp and 290 Nm, while the suspension, steering and brakes were separately tuned with the involvement of Mazda’s European center in Oberursel for local road requirements. The manufacturer officially confirms that separate calibration.
For the CX-6e, proving-ground work alone was not enough. According to Oswald, the car had been developed on roads around Turin and Milan, over the Stelvio Pass and in Germany since 2022. This adds to what is already known about the model: the European CX-6e received dedicated work on design, aerodynamics and calibration, even though the underlying technology was developed together with Changan.
The engineers also worked separately on noise and air resistance. Three small aerodynamic elements are hidden around the CX-6e’s C-pillar. “If you look at the airflow in this area, it is quite complex from an aerodynamic point of view, because any place where air passes can create noise. Inside the C-pillar there are small spoilers to reduce it. There is an opening with three little spoilers. They are there not only to improve aerodynamics, but also acoustic comfort,” Oswald said.