The 2015 Mazda Atenza Sedan XD L Package is probably one of the saddest looking cars in the game.
#hiroshima #carp #taxi
Originally a part of Gran Turismo Sport's anorexic car list at launch, the third–generation "GJ" Atenza was arguably only included in the e–sports centric title only to serve as the base for the fictional Atenza Gr.4 and Gr.3 racecars, itself having no real purpose in the barebones single–player campaign even after taking all the updates into account. Being a semi–luxury product, the Atenza's credit–to–performance ratio is understandably horrendous—Its 39,690 Credit asking price will net curious players merely 172HP (128kW) with which to push around 1,600kg (3,527lbs). For just over 2 grand more, players could have a brand spanking new 2014 WRX STi in their garage. To add insult to an old injury, with Mazda officially becoming a business partner of PD, more up–to–date Mazda racecars, namely, the Mazda3 Gr.4 and the RX-Vision GT3 Concept, were added into the game and given very competitive performance via BoP right out of the gate—something neither Atenza racecar got at any point in their existence, and most likely will never get in the future so as not to take the lustre off the newer models.
So, it's March of 2024. The Atenza, now known as the Mazda6 worldwide, is slated to be quietly discontinued in its home market this coming April, and in Gran Turismo 7, the digital Atenza is still not a very compelling buy. It has no engine swap options, no wide bodies, no roll cages, and what little aero parts it does get in GT Auto are mostly ugly, uninspired items that look completely off–the–shelf, frankly ruining this beautiful car. It doesn't even get an Ultra–High RPM turbo to help breathe more life into the ever–important top end if one fancies tuning it. Drive this to GT Café, and you'll get precisely zero people come up to ogle at and lecture you about your own car. Brand Central's sleazy salesman, Martin, even erroneously claims the thing has a 6 speed manual and "Skyactive" Technology... whatever that is. There's just this sense that nobody, from the fans or developers themselves, gives much of a flying hoot about the car, but is such treatment at all deserved?
Taken as–is from the Brand Central, the Atenza can be a very boring drive. After all, with just 172HP and a frankly overkill AWD system to distribute that meagre power to each of its 225/45R19 Comfort Medium tyres, the Atenza won't be threatening any shenanigans, defaulting to very gradual understeer if an overzealous driver overspeeds into a corner, or otherwise asks too much of the Atenza. But, considering that this thing has a tall and heavy diesel block nestled in a chassis with a lopsided weight distribution of 67:37, the fact that it can even manage to be a boring instead of a torrid drive is itself worthy of praise. While the default Comfort Medium tyres do feel a little under specced to deal with the Atenza's sheer heft, the car itself lets go very linearly and with very tactile warnings, and is such a predictable drive at all times even when raced wheel–to–wheel. The supple suspension setup completely soaks up and trivialises notoriously "jumpy" kerbs, such as those on Alsace Test Course, which will bounce the Atenza like a TOMICA in an inflatable bounce party house just once, before settling back down seamlessly into assuring composure, never losing traction with the road at any time. Said stock suspension setup feels right at home even when upgraded to much gripper Sports Hard tyres, too! The 6–Speed flappy paddle gearbox is both quick and satisfyingly smooth, though the gear spacing is a little all over the place for track driving, necessitating revving out 3rd and 4th gears just a bit longer than others. I love that Mazda insists on physical buttons and dials for everything in the car, with the distracting touchscreen optional. My favourite feature however, is the pop–up glass on top of the dashboard onto which vital information, such as instantaneous speed and nav directions, are projected, making sure the driver's eyes never need to veer too far off the road ahead. It's such a useful feature that I'm surprised more cars don't have! It's just seemingly little things like these that reassures me Mazda knows and cares about driving, something I wish were the norm instead of the exception.
I had really pleasant and calming drives in the Atenza throughout the week, even finding myself in a sort of "zone" in the Saturday lobby at Grand Valley and Red Bull Ring, where I feel like I became truly as one with the car, and drove so much better than I usually do as a result. It's so rare that I ever find myself trusting an intuitive car that much to enter that trance, and the fact that RX8 extended his gap to me in both those races I think must mean he found himself in a similar "zone", too. That is to say, the Atenza is one of those mostly faultless cars that can just seemingly melt into the background, letting drivers simply concentrate on battling or simply driving. And that is praise that I'm stingy to give out even to bona–fide racecars.
Mostly faultless. While I can't back this claim up with any numbers, the Atenza's diesel block feels really heavy and sat up high, and it's something that the default Comfort Medium tyres really highlight under trail braking, oftentimes needing the driver to point the car towards an apex before slamming on the brakes if the corner allows for it. While the diesel Atenza drives well, I just can't help but to imagine what the petrol version of the car must feel like to drive. After all, the 2.2L diesel Atenzas suffer a hefty 60 kilo (132lbs) mass handicap to even the larger 2.5L petrol Atenzas. And while on the subject of braking, the Atenza will take a small—but notable nonetheless—moment to plomp down fully onto its front springs when the brakes are applied, which can add some five metres of the braking distance to what would be intuitive. The big one to watch out for however, is braking on downhill switchbacks, as its unladen rear end can get more than a little airy, regardless of tyre compounds.
But of course, the entirety of the above 3 paragraphs is mostly a rehash of my review of the car I wrote back in November of 2022, when we tested the car in GT Sport. So from here on out, allow me to largely rehash Obelisk's review of the car instead, by taking another Atenza of mine to Understeer and seeing what names it can take with it as it sails off into the sunset.
With the full catalogue of parts and works thrown at it on Sports Hard tyres, my Atenza sits at a slightly awkward 582.85PP, falling just shy of the all–important 600PP benchmark. The thing about the PP system though, is that I believe the PP value of a car is calculated with automatic shifting ill–suited for short shift cars, of which the diesel Atenza is the poster child. I believe that's why the stock Atenza completely smashes any car with comparable PP levels, and if shifted optimally, my tuned Atenza can perform at comparable levels to cars natively around 600PP, such as the VX Viper and LFA. Of course, a performance–focused, money–no–object, regs–be–damned tuner car running roughly the same lap times as bone stock supercars really isn't a super big revelation, but I'm willing to bet that no bone stock 600PP car has the fuel efficiency to no–stop the WTC600 Tokyo money–making race :)
With a Mid–Range RPM Turbo and moderate fuel saving, I was able to no–stop this notoriously stupid race, completely trivialising the chore with a total time of just under 27 minutes, with my lap times in clean air being around the low to mid 2:12 range. For some context, I could barely get a 600PP Alphard with 8 gears to last 6 laps, and finished a lowly fifth. The best part about no–stopping the event is that I didn't even have to race anyone for the win and risk losing the Clean Race Bonus; I just sat behind the AI cars in their slipstream until they disappeared into the pit lane one by one, never to reappear even in my rear view mirrors. That video is probably the most boring one of that race you'll ever watch, but I just wanted to prove that I did it, and show how I did it.
On gripper SS tyres and less powerful brakes, I managed to get my Atenza sitting precisely at 600.00PP, which saw it completely decimate the spicy Clubman Cup+ race at Watkins Glen, taking the lead at the end of lap 2 and giving me almost 2 whole laps to myself to the end of the race. I'm not even good at tuning, but I'm a little proud of my slightly problematic tune, as is plenty evident in the video, but it does make for a fun time :)
In conclusion, the Atenza looks unassuming at best and completely overshadowed at worst, but that subtle beauty hides something that is truly sublime when driven bone stock, and utterly terrifying when its full potential is unleashed. For those in the playerbase lamenting the lack of understated German performance sedans, the Atenza isn't quite that, but I argue comes pretty damn close. After all, it's been stealthily staring the playerbase right in their faces since 2017, and I'm willing to bet most haven't even noticed.
It is a Sleeper in every sense of the word.
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