LIKE all midsized sedans (and wagons), the Mazda6 has been reduced from a key family car force to bit-part player in this post-SUV world.

But that hasn’t stopped the Japanese car-maker from honing the tried and true formula, and the results make the six-year-old third-generation series as competitive as ever.

There’s much to like about this striking low-slung sporty sedan, driven here in well-specified and gutsier Touring turbo-diesel guise.

Note: Images are of the Mazda6 Atenza sedan