I've had a few Mazdas in the past and they were sportier numbers. I was very impressed by these cars as I saw them as something practical and safe but also great fun, fun to drive, fun to own, even fun to look at. So I was very surprised to find that the Mazda 626 is none of these things!
Probably the most boring car on the planet actually! However, it's a good, practical family car, well-built, sturdy, straightforward in the cabin. The engine is predictable and very good at plodding along in a traffic jam or something equally boring!
Sometimes this boringness can be a problem - the suspension is far too firm and not to my taste at all. But the handling on the Mazda 626 is forgiving and responsive in a dull, risk-free kind of way and the car lacks much refinement and so gets pretty noisy. All-round, uninteresting but commendable.