The 929 is not easily pigeonholed. We drove our test car for several - 1988 Mazda 929 Review
3From the Archive: Despite its sleepy design, Mazda's new 929 makes a credible upmarket presentation.
From the March 1988 issue of Car and Driver.
The market in bucks-up sedans is rich with choice these days. No matter what expensive automotive personality you prefer—from tautly muscled freeway runner to cushy metropolitan carriage—you can have it your way exactly. Off the shelf and no waiting.
The only problem is sorting through all the possibilities. You'd think the economy was booming or something, given the emergence of all the $20,000-plus sedans over the last few years.
We'll attempt to ease you through the process of elimination by staking out the Mazda 929's place on the spectrum. This four-door is on the reserved side: highly filtered in its machine sensations and very well behaved. Mostly, it minds its own business, rather like an Oldsmobile: it's there when you need it, but it doesn't bother you with small talk. You come away from it with little to say except, "Hmmm, this car is in very good taste."
The 929 is new, introduced last fall. Marketing sedans to affluent Americans is unfamiliar territory for Mazda: until the current model year it had reserved its large carriages for Japanese buyers. But everybody wants a piece of the high-end American market now, because that's where the money is; the weak dollar merely added desperation to a move that Mazda had already planned. Similar plans, made by car builders around the world, are providing the wealth of choice in this end of the market today.
The 929 is a thoroughly international design except in one dimension: in width, it's pure Japanese. Its body is exactly 1.7 meters (66.9 inches) wide, which is the upper limit for one of the Japanese tax classes. Go a fraction over 1.7 meters and the price gets serious. Other makers respond the same way. For example, the Japanese-market base version of the Acura Legend is just barely less than 1.7 meters wide.
The result, in the 929's case, is a car rather narrower than you would expect for its overall length. At 193.1 inches long, the new Mazda is only 3.3 inches shorter than the Oldsmobile Ninety Eight, yet it's 5.5 inches narrower. So the 929 is a relatively long but narrow car.
The interior capacity reflects the shape. The 929 offers plenty of legroom even for back-seat passengers and a reasonable 15 cubic feet of trunk. But three-across rear seating is clearly the limit; forget the Little League.
Although the machinery under the 929's skin tends not to draw notice to itself, there is plenty to talk about. This is a rear-drive car (surprise!), with a fully independent suspension in back. Mazda calls the rear arrangement "E-Link" because the transverse links, one upper and two lower, resemble the letter "E" when viewed from above. Struts suspend the front end. Disc brakes are on duty at all four corners, though they are vented in front only. Anti-lock brakes are optional.
The engine is an all-new 60-degree V-6 of 3.0 liters. It has electronic fuel injection, an overhead camshaft for each bank, and two intake valves and one exhaust valve for each cylinder. It produces 158 horsepower at 5500 rpm.
That's a decent number of horses for this class, and the 929 performs well, with a zero-to-60-mph time of 8.9 seconds and a quarter-mile pass of 16.6 seconds at 82 mph. Actually, these times are a bit slower than you expect until you hear of the 929's 3348-pound curb weight. Rear drive is heavy. Moreover, the engineers speak of "upgauging" sections of the unit body where a little extra weight would provide big increments of stiffness. They managed to build a notably solid car, but the 158 horses have a load of work to do.
The performance numbers are actually a bit quicker than you might expect from the driver's seat. The mannerly behavior of the mechanicals suggests a more leisurely pace. While the 929 is in no way an Oldsmobile imitation, it does share the values expected of upper-price Detroiters. For example, the velour-covered front buckets are cushy, meant strictly for straight ahead. And you can pushbutton the Auto Adjusting Suspension into "Soft," which makes the shocks go as limp as grocery-store string. Then you can float down the Interstate tributaries in traditional American style.
Of course, you don't have to put the shocks on "Soft." You can push "Sport," which provides nicely controlled body motions, certainly not too aggressive for anyone we know. Or push "Auto" and let Mazda decide what's right for the moment. No matter which setting you choose, the 929 never strikes an athletic pose. This is a good-citizen sedan.
Some aspects of the 929 approach excellence. The anti-lock brakes stopped our test car from 70 mph in only 175 feet, consistently and with no fade. Another 929 we tested, an automatic-transmission version, stopped in 179 feet.
Short stops are made of two components: impending lockup achieved simultaneously at all four tires, and the tires' traction.