Had a 2.0 petrel station wagon, black, 90th anniversary edition. Loved it. Fast enough, refined, great spec and loads of space. Great seats. Amazing Bose stereo. Fuel consumption awful (30 mpg-ish) but we only used to drive in town or 150 kph on motorways (not in the UK, obviously. That’s illegal). Very reliable, nothing broke and we didn’t treat it nice. Cheap enough servicing and no problems with the Mazda dealer. Always thought it was just a little more stylish than equivalent estates, but that’s probably in a middle aged dad sense. Two exhausts = cool, fact. Only sold it because we moved abroad. Couldn’t fault it. Better car than the petrol Ford Kuga we have now.
…and just to ignite a stw favourite, with winter tyres it was great in snow.