The Mazda6 Estate safety record is pretty impressive, and this is illustrated by the five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating.

There’s a whole host of safety systems to shout about including Smart City Brake Support that brakes the car if it thinks an accident is imminent in busy traffic. Then there’s Smart Brake Support that brakes the car at higher speeds if a collision looks likely and other systems including blind-spot warning, lane departure warning and active cruise control on the options list. Automatic high beam control, adaptive front lighting and hill start assist are also available for extra cost.

The loadbay is sizeable and official stats say you can fit 506 litres worth of stuff in there without putting the rear seatbacks down. Total capacity is 1,632 litres but that’s smaller than the previous Mazda6 Estate that had a total capacity of 1,751 litres.

Against the competition the Mazda6 Estate enjoys mid-table respectability. The Ford Mondeo, Hyundai i40 and VW Passat have larger total capacities but the Mazda6 Estate trumps the Vauxhall Insignia in this regard.

There are some nice touches: the rear tonneau cover can be easily removed by pressing a couple of buttons and lifting it out and there’s even a special storage space for it under the loadbay floor.

The rear seatbacks are a cinch to fold down – you just pull on a couple of levers on the side of the loadbay and they flip down. You have to make sure that the front seats are set forward so they don’t hinder the rear headrests to create a flat floor.

There’s a couple of cupholders in the central tunnel behind the gearknob and litre-sized bottleholders in the doorbins. A sunglasses holder is also useful too.