The redesigned Mazda 6 is one of the more popular underdogs in the hotly-contested mid-sized family sedan market in the United States. It competes with a slew of foreign and domestic mid-range sedans, including the Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, Honda Accord, Subaru Legacy, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Volkswagen Jetta, Kia Optima, and Volkswagen Passat among families interested in safe, affordable transportation that seats up to 5 occupants without straying into minivan or SUV land.
The newest generation of the Mazda 6 is fully stocked with safety features, including good small and moderate overlap front crash scores, good side impact and roof scores, and excellent front crash prevention systems, in addition to standards like side airbags and ESC. In other words, on paper, it’s as safe as a mid-sized sedan gets these days. However, I wanted to figure out how well it did in practice when it came to fitting 3 children in 3 car seats across the back row.
I made it my goal this week to round up a few generations of the Mazda 6 and get up close and personal with their back seats along with a few of my best car seats. Before we take a look at what worked and what didn’t, however, I’d like to review which kinds of car seats (e.g., infant sets, convertibles, combinations, and boosters) are best used with children, and when, and why, in order to keep them as safe as possible.
First of all, car seat safety begins with rear-facing. It’s the safest position for both children and adults, and I recommend rear-facing your kids as long as you possibly can (ideally until 4!) before turning them forward. Once you start forward-facing, I also suggest keeping that up as long as possible (ideally until 6, 7, or 8!) before you start using booster seats. When you do booster, I recommend keeping that up until your kids can pass the 5-step test for using the adult seat belt (which typically happens between 10 and 12). It doesn’t take expensive seats to keep your kids safe; it mostly takes the right restraints for the right amount of time.
With that in mind, I set out to try all of the car seats at my disposal to see which 3 across installations would fit well in a Mazda 6, and put my list below together. The good news is that there are a range of infant, convertible, front-facing harnessed, and booster seats you’ll be able to get into the back row without trouble.
If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Mazda 6 (GJ)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT.
Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Graco Snugride 35, Diono Radian / RXT.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro, Evenflo Triumph.
Tips and Tricks:
The current generation of the Mazda 6 sedan is just under 192 inches long and just over 72 inches wide, making it almost exactly the size of the standard mid-sized family sedan sold today in the US. As a result, the list of car seats that will fit its back row is going to be rather similar to the lists for other similar mid-sized sedans. You’ll be able to make a number of infant, combination, convertible, and booster seats there as long as you’re willing to use your seat belts for all 3 seats instead of relying on the LATCH system.
You can certainly use the LATCH system for a couple of seats, but it will limit your options here, as it does on all but the widest vehicles. LATCH anchors are available on the two outboard seats, and unlike in most vehicle, you’re actually allowed to borrow outboard LATCH anchors to install a seat in the middle seat, as long as the car seat you’re using also permits LATCH borrowing, which admittedly few do.
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Mazda 6 (GH)
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Chicco KeyFit 30, Diono Radian / RXT.
Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Graco Snugride 35, Diono Radian / RXT.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Diono Radian / RXT, Combi Coccoro, Evenflo Triumph.
Tips and Tricks:
The 2007-2012 generation of the Mazda 6 is just under 194 inches long and just over 72 inches wide, which makes it practically the same as the generation that follows it in terms of available space in the back row. As with the following generation, while you’ll be able to fit a decent number of seats in 3 across configurations, you’ll definitely want to use your seat belts to get the most out of the back row, especially if you’ve got at least one wide seat you’re trying to install.
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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.