hARD dRIVEby J.J. Gertler

One for the Road

1992 Mazda 929

Let us now speak praise of the touring car.

Perhaps you remember when the Packard Phaeton featured 16 cylinders beneath a hood the length of the Nimitz, or later, when Buick Roadmasters sported portholes and sofas for seats. Each was, for its day, the epitome of a tourer. The keyword was plush, with the emphasis on comfort so cossetting that a gentleman could arrive after a daylong drive with the crease still in his spats, brilliantined moustache in perfect array.

In the Sixties, the touring class was redefined in the European idiom. Tourers were still long-legged, to be sure, but they also carried a frisson of spirit, an eagerness to their task. The stately carriage gave way to the athletic saloon; the Jaguar XJ6 and BMW 5-series were tourers, while cushier Caprices and Imperials were emphatically not.

Then the Europeans were supplanted by cars from the East, and Japanese models, once rattly econoboxes, grew larger and more sophisticated. First Acura, then Lexus and Infiniti, showed that they knew the way to create touring cars in the grand style.

Comes now the Mazda 929. This represents yet another wave of touring car; while it does not redefine the genre, it represents instead an attempt by one Japanese carmaker to create an accessible touring car. No more need one walk into the rarefied atmosphere of a high-line, high-price dealership to find elegance crossbred with competence; you can get a 929 at the same dealer who will gladly change the oil in your GLC.

If that strikes you a bit like buying a three-piece suit at The Gap, consider that the finest suit, like the finest touring car, is one you can afford. And consider, too, that the Mazda 929 is no amateur tailor's effort.

The good folks at Mazda are preparing the launch of their own upscale line, Amati. The 929 shows every indication of being a stalking horse for that introduction. It is a competent car in every respect, and downright exciting in others. But there are a few oddities, a few quirks of personality, which make the 929 stand out from the crowd. Whether this is a good or bad trait is up to your individual taste.

The 929 passes the oldest test of a true tourer: It eats miles with ease. A 1200-mile weekend trip to Mid-Ohio proved the big Mazda to be incredibly, almost electric-car smooth and quiet; indeed, shortly after picking up the car, I was surprised to find the speedometer reading 80, with absolutely no indication that the car was doing any more work than idling at a drive-thru window. This deceptive nature is quite in keeping with the BMWs, Audis, and other Japanese makes at which the 929 is aimed.

That speedometer was, like the tachometer, gas and temperature gauges which flanked it, large, simple, and quite readable. Instruments are set into a wide pod ahead of the driver, with climate controls above the center console inclined toward the driver to form a cockpit. I happen to like driver-oriented controls, although they seem to be something of an individual taste.

That climate control system is also an individual taste, and one of the areas in which Mazda chose to show off its technical virtuosity. Set the desired temperature via a shuttle ring, press Auto, and the big Mazda determines fan speed, which vents to activate, whether to engage air conditioning, and whether to recirculate the air. Change any one of these settings, and the car will adjust the others to compensate, with little complaint and VERY rapid effect. Our only reservation is that it seems difficult to get fresh air to circulate through the car; it has a strong predilection for air conditioning, and when the a/c is commanded to stand down, even high levels of fan fail to produce a very satisfying flow of air.

Breeze or no, the inside of the 929 is a very nice place to be. The Splendid Codriver notes the appeal of real metal door handles, and finds the driver-oriented cockpit design of great appeal. Curves predominate in the clean interior design, and are reflected in details like the oval air vent dedicated to the passenger.

The optional leather-covered seats are magnificent for long trips; firm without being harsh on the posterior, with plenty of lateral grip. The eight-hour runs from Washington to Mid-Ohio and return were accomplished with almost no fatigue. And when the season turns to snowmobile racing, the seats are available with electric heat. The drivers' position can be had with four-way power adjustment, with separate motors to lift the front and back of the seat, tilt the seatback, and move the seat fore and aft. The Splendid Codriver, at 5'4", credited the seat's adjustability with easing her transition from a CRX to a car with twice the weight. You'll need that adjustability; due to the standard airbag, the steering wheel has no adjustment available. But the absence of electric mice makes the airbag worthwhile.

The back seat is comfortable for two and worked fine with three while running from the motel to the track, but we wouldn't try tripling up for an extended period.

What keeps the 929 from being a more satisfying car are the aforementioned quirks, a number of which are in the interior. First off, this touring car assumes you won't be touring alone. You may need a co-driver to handle beverages, change, sunglasses and the like; there is an almost un-Japanese lack of cubbyholes, cupholders, compartments and the like. The standard passenger-side airbag takes the place of the glove compartment, so the commodious center console becomes the only storage space available to the driver. On the Interior Utility Scale, the 929 thus rates 1/2 Golden Cupholder out of a possible 4. The console presents its own quirk: the cover, a natural place to rest arms, is one of the few hard surfaces in the car.

Other interior oddities include a lack of adjustable lumbar support in the otherwise adaptable seats, a few bits of oddly cheap-looking interior plastic, a top center air vent raked so sharply that it is only truly effective when pointed at the driver's right knee, and a window design which, coupled with the car's tumblehome, guarantees that if the car has stood in rain -- or while driving in drizzle -- opening a front window even a crack will deliver a stream of water to the nearest leg. And why on Earth would the standard driving lights be connected so that they can only be used when the headlights are on?

Other innovations are more successful. The overhead map lights are keen; to activate them, you press on the lens. They're focused well, and the navigator can consult maps at night without distracting the driver. Radio and cruise-control buttons are on the steering wheel, by the thumbs. The cruise control rekindled my faith in such devices by being eerily smooth and featuring a "cancel" button which disengages cruise without forgetting the set speed. As one who believes that brake lights cause trouble on highways, the ability to suspend cruise without touching the brake pedal is a nice addition.

The optional sunroof includes the most blatantly trick piece of gadgetry: a solar panel which can either run vent fans when the car is parked, to keep the interior cool, or recharge the battery. It's one of those obvious ideas which seems cute and exotic just because nobody ever thought of it.

The 929's exterior shape is rounded, almost feline, and shows evidence of many hours in the wind tunnel. It recalls the Jaguar XJ12L in some details, but the forms are fuller and more voluptuous. The Jag similarity was enhanced on our test car by the color; called "Black Forest," it appeared black straight on, but when the light struck at an angle, a deep, almost British green came through. The shape recalls more recent marques as well; the second most commonly asked question from passers-by was, "Is that a Lexus?" A second look at the greenhouse, and particularly the side window profile, does reflect the LS-400.

The whole is something less than the sum of the details. The reaction of our various passengers and co-drivers was, curiously, that the shape became less interesting over time. On the road, the Cranial Rotation Factor averaged "Mild Curiosity". (The CRF, which will be used in all of our road tests, is based on the reactions of other motorists, and runs as follows: Zero deflection, mild curiosity, trying not to look, impending whiplash, Full Linda Blair.) Construction is solid, and the quirk bug bit only on the side window trim, which is one big piece -- with two seams within a few inches.

ON THE ROAD 

Remember the first time you saw Mary Ellen in an evening gown? Maybe it was the Junior Prom. For a moment, you couldn't believe that this was the same young woman who looked so natural in T-shirt and jeans two rows back in Social Studies. But, as the evening went on, you realized that while this seemed to be an entirely different woman, she filled the other role admirably.

The 929 is like that. (You didn't think I just brought her up to reminisce, did you?) If the exterior styling seems ambiguous, on the road the 929 is downright schizophrenic. But that's not all bad, by any measure.

On the highway, the 929 is a refined, all-day cruiser. The atmosphere is comfortable, and the seats are firm without being harsh. Mazda's cruise control is so smooth, it changed my mind about the value of cruise as an option. Even with the sunroof open, the cabin is quiet. Kick on the Panasonic 6-disc CD player, and miles just melt away.

Like other large cars, the highway ride is a bit floaty, which could be helped by a bit more on-center feel in the steering. "It's a nice car for a long trip," says the Splendid Co-driver. "But I don't know if I'd feel anesthetized if I drove it for a long period."

The way to avoid anesthesia is to get this car onto a twisty road. U.S. 250 rises up out of Brookside, Ohio in a series of switchbacks more reminiscent of the Col de Tende than the popular conception of Ohio. The 929 asks to be handled carefully on these turns. But as the road opens out just a bit, toward Cadiz, the 929 comes into its own as a road car.

You can feel that this is a lot of car to hustle. But as speed rises, the Mazda's suspension actually improves. Standard anti-lock braking is smooth and linear, very controllable, and the damping rates are very good, minimizing rebound. With the big Yokohama 376s making oodles of grip, the 929 takes a set and holds it. Lifting the throttle in a corner doesn't point the nose so much as nudge it; you can feel the suspension working, but the car stays steady and unruffled. The big car's quickness came as quite a surprise to the kids in a Corolla who thought they'd blow by in the twisty bits, but instead faded in the mirror.

The real secret is another bit of Mazda technology. No, it's not the 24-valve 3.0-liter V6; the motor is smooth and quiet (except on kickdown, when -- quirk -- it suddenly hammers like a four), but it is overmatched trying to pull almost 3600 pounds of car out of a corner. So Mazda responded with a trick transmission that lets you feel like Ayrton Senna for 1/100000 the price of a McLaren. The four-speed automatic has an extra button on the shift lever, right beneath your thumb, marked "Hold." This forces the trans into a specific gear. If the shift lever is set for Drive, it holds 3rd; in Second, second; in Low, 1st.

The effect of this feature on performance driving is wondrous. Dump the 929 into a corner in Drive, clip the apex, and a flick of your thumb drops the transmission into third. The engine hits the sweet range and you power out of the corner on the cam. If you're thinking that's just how ol' Nige does it, you're right.

There's enough car here that you won't get neck-snapping acceleration in any gear. But the result is a true touring machine, and something of a surprising one. I knew that BMWs, cars with years of breeding, could act this way, but you need years of breeding to afford them. This is a large, roomy, comfortable car that can be hustled hard.

And it's one you can buy. The most commonly-asked question, from the Pennsylvania rest stops to the paddock at Mid-Ohio, wasn't "What is it?" or "Do you like it?". "What does it cost?" was the constant inquiry.

Go down to your BMW dealer and check out the sticker on a 5-series. Heck, look at what Infiniti wants for a Q45. Then consider that a base 929 will set you back $28,500, and you can see why some of the high-line dealers are losing sleep.

And it won't bankrupt you to run. Our test car began the Washington to Mid-Ohio journey with just 800 miles on the clock, so the engine was barely broken in. But with a/c on and mostly in a slightly illegal level of cruise, we still averaged 24.5 mpg. Not a CRX, to be sure, but for this much metal, them's good numbers. A city/highway mix dropped that to 23.2. And fuses and replensihables are all easily accessible.

In short, the Mazda 929 overcomes some odd traits to be a very good car at an excellent price. Of course, you'll have to live up to it; this is the sort of car in which one feels self- conscious pulling up to a Burger King. One feels the car will be disappointed in you. It deserves better; it would rather be touring.

Copyright 1992, Backyard Aerospace.

Hard Drive is a trademark of Backyard Aerospace.