Large cars like the Mazda6 currently find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place on the local market, with buyers seeming to either go for a premium brand car or a double cab bakkie.

The 2.0 Active version of Mazda's latest 6 is priced just below the entry point for a BMW 3-Series or Audi A4, but it fights back with a massive interior and generous specification.

This latest Mazda6 is also easily the best looking car in the non-premium sedan segment, although with rivals like the Toyota Avensis, VW Passat and Honda Accord to contend with, Mazda's stylists did not have too hard a task. Look, its design won't get your heart racing, but it is likeable. Those bold front wheel arches that flow harmoniously into the bonnet and sharply angled headlights and taillights are pleasing to the eye and if you're really squint or drunk, you might even mistake this car for a Mazda RX-8.

But the most appealing aspect of this car is its interior. Firstly, it's very big — five adults in there will still have space to stretch and swing a few cats, while the 519-litre boot will swallow all but the kitchen sink, or numerous dead bodies if you belong to the mafia or a related profession. While we were expecting Mazda's largest saloon to be big, we weren't expecting it to look so 'premium' inside. It's not quite at Audi level, but very close and that dashboard could have come straight out of a Lexus. It makes you feel like you're in a luxury car, as do the comfortable seats and wide range of driver seat and steering wheel adjustments.

The 'Active' spec level is quite extravagant and gives you leather seats and all the gadgets a lazy person could dream of, like electric adjustment for the driver seat, cruise control, rain-sensing automatic windscreen wipers and automatic climate control. But as soon as performance becomes a luxury, this car gets really stingy. There's really nothing spectacular about the urge offered by this 2.0-litre engine, despite the car being slightly lighter than its predecessor.

With a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engine in a body this big, you get the kind of performance you'd expect from a Toyota Corolla 1.6 and compared with direct rivals like the Toyota Avensis and Subaru Legacy 2.0-litres, the 6 was almost two seconds slower from 0-100km/h, but was a somewhat quicker in overtaking acceleration. According to claims, the Mazda's 2.0-litre engine is 10 percent more economical, also aided by the car's reduced weight.

Strangely, the Mazda6 has a rather sporty chassis that seems wasted by the small engine. While the ride can be a little choppy over bad surfaces, it corners wonderfully and the steering feel is rather good, although perhaps a little too light at higher speeds, but I'm nitpicking.

The Mazda6 2.0-litre might offer little in the way of performance, yet it does offer all the perks of a large and refined luxury sedan for less than the price of a Focus ST.