Review: 2009 Mazda5 Touring
12-03-08, 02:50 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Review: 2009 Mazda5 Touring
By CL-member request, a review of the 2009 Mazda5
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...ehicleCode=MZ5
In a Nutshell: A nice small people/cargo mover, good competition for the Kia Rondo, but perhaps borderline underpowered.
(NAV interior shown)
While waiting for the big annual Holiday review coming up (that car has not arrived yet), I got a CL request to review the new 2009 Mazda5, so I decided to do that today. It was a very interesting vehicle, with quite a few notations in both the PLUS and MINUS columns, as you will see down below. Currently, there is little else in the American market, size-wise and seat-wise, that competes directly with it: the Kia Rondo, which I also recently reviewed, probably comes closest.
The Mazda5 is the smallest and least expensive of the Mazda SUV/people-mover series, being eclipsed in size and price by the larger Tribute, CX-7, and CX-9. The Mazda5, however, differs from its larger brothers in having three rows of 2+2+2 seating instead of three-across rear seats. Its repair/reliability record (average, according to Consumer Reports) has also been somewhat better than that of its worse-then-average bigger brothers. Like the more-or-less-similiar Kia Rondo, the Mazda5 is based on a compact-car platform, but differs markedly from the Rondo in having minivan-type rear sliding doors instead of conventional car-based doors. Its ride-handling combination, although with some body roll, is noticeably more responsive than that of the Rondo (Mazda, of course, basing much of its public image on the "Zoom-Zoom" marketing line). The rather low-powered four-cylinder under the hood, though, seems like it's there more for gas mileage than for meeting the needs of a load of six people with cargo....also more on that below. Perhaps as a result of the engine's rather low torque level, AWD is not available in the Mazda5 like in the larger Mazda people-movers (it is not available in the Kia Rondo either).
In the American market, like with the larger CX-7 and CX-9, three trim lines of the Mazda5 are offered: Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring. All three come with FWD, a 2.3L, 153 HP 4cylinder engine. Sport versions offer a conventional 5-speed manual and a 5-speed Sport-shift automatic; Touring and Grand Touring versions come only with the automatic. I selected a silver Touring version for the review, as I thought that, for a number of reasons, both the Sport and Touring versions offered more value than the Grand Touring, unless you wanted the NAV, leather, and a couple opf high-tech features that only come with the Grand Touring model.
As I stated above, the Mazda5 is an interesting vehicle, and you tend to develop polarizing opinions about it as you review and drive it. I took a lot of notes with this car; more so than usual. Details coming up.
Model Reviewed: 2009 Mazda5 Touring
Base Price: $20,920
Major Options: None
Minor Options:
Cargo Net: $40
All-weather Floor mats: $78
Rear Bumper Step Plate: $50
Wheel Locks: $50
Destination/Freight: $670
List price as reviewed: $21,808
Drivetrain: FWD, transversely-mounted, 2.3L DOHC VVT in-line four cylinder, 153 HP @ 6500 RPM, Torque, 148 Ft-lbs. @ 4500 RPM,
5-speed automatic Sport-Shift transmission.
EPA Mileage Rating: 21 City, 27 Highway
Exterior Color: Sunlight Silver Metallic
Interior: Black cloth
PLUSSES:
Good space efficiency.
Relatively good handling/steering response for this type of vehicle.
Well-done brakes.
Excellent paint job.
Relatively smooth, quiet four cylinder engine.
Relatively good underhood layout.
Easy, snap-off plastic engine cover with insulation.
Underhood insulation pad.
Engine timing chain instead of a belt.
Easy-fold side mirrors.
Nice-looking, but visually complex alloy wheels.
Easy-pull-down liftgate.
Solid exterior sheet metal, doors, and hood.
Sliding side doors a help in loading/unloading and in tight parking areas.
Solid interior hardware.
Nice clear gauges.
Rock-solid closing glove box latch.
Good headroom/legroom in first/second-row seats.
Good headroom in third-row seat.
Good rear visibility.
Well-designed, solid folding mechanisms for seats to expand cargo area.
High-mounted but classy-looking LED taillights.
Comfortable, form-fitting front seats.
Comfortable, well-designed steering wheel.
Nice, plush, quality seat fabric.
Nicely-done stereo/climate-control *****.
MINUSES:
Annoying zig-zag shift-lever pattern.
No shift paddles, and manual Sport-Shift (+) (-) gate pattern opposite of normal.
OK but not particularly smooth transmission shifts.
Engine torque level marginal for heavier loads.
High road/tire noise on grainy asphalt; OK on other surfaces.
Noticeable body roll in corners.
Cheap, rough, unpleasant sun visors.
Rather cheap plastic side-mirror housings.
Large front A-pillars affect outward visibility some.
Tricky parking; front of vehicle not visible from drivers' seat.
Poorly-designed rear wiper arm difficult to change.
OK but not exceptional stereo sound.
Stereo/climate-control readouts too high on the dash in relation to the controls.
Cheap-looking flat-black honeycomb plastic lower grille.
Low ground clearance from lower-body fairings.
Rather poorly-finished cargo area.
Third-seat headroom OK but legroom inadequate for adults.
Higher-priced Grand Touring version, IMO, not much better-looking inside than Sport/Touring versions.
Leather in Grand Touring version more vinyl-like than leather.
Only six paint colors offered.
AWD not available.
Wood-tone trim not available inside, and the metallic trim is not particularly impressive.
Poorly-placed brake/gas pedals for big feet.
EXTERIOR:
The Mazda5, as you walk up to it, has the typical Mazda styling up front with the headlights, front fenders, and grille, but, from the windshield back, bears almost no resemblance to any other U.S-market Mazda product, even its larger brothers. It is high, narrow, rather boxy (good for space efficiency), and the rear end and high-mounted tailights are reminiscent of some Volvo wagons and the Honda CR-V. The taillights themselves are quite classy and ornate, with dozens of small LED units in them (standard on Touring/Grand Touring models). The handsome but unusual-looking alloy wheels have a mag-type 5-spoke design, but with Y-shaped outer spokes. Ground clearance is rather low from the drop-down body side fairings.....this means not only care over speed bumps (the body will, of course, ride even lower with a load in it) but also a difficult reach with the hose in the wintertime to rinse the salt/dirt off the undercarriage. All of the body sheet metal, doors, hood, and liftgate were well-done and solid, and exterior trim generally solid and well-done except for the cheesy, flimsy, flat-black, honeycomb-plastic front lower grille that looked/felt like something out of a toy store. The paint job was excellent for a lower-priced vehicle, bordering on superb....smooth, even, and glossy, with almost no orange peel. Only six exterior colors, however, are offered,...silver, gray, black, white, red, and medium-dark blue, but three of those are good pearl or mica paint jobs. The exterior mirrors were a mixed bag: adequate in size, easy-swiveling and folding, but with somewhat flimsy and light weight plastic housings not as solid-feeling as on Hondas and Subarus. Still, they felt more solid than those on many domestic, American-designed vehicles. The two solid-feeling front doors are conventional; the two rear doors, as mentioned above, are minivan-type sliding doors that open wide enough for easy access to the second-row seat, but require a little
pretzel-twisting to reach the third-row seats....the second-row seats slide up a little to help.
UNDERHOOD:
Open the strong, heavy, solid hood (it felt and sounded like steel rather then aluminum), and unfortunately, you have to hold up that hood while you manually prop it up with a rod, which can be difficult for some frail people. But, I did not list that as a MINUS, because gas struts are not usually expected on a vehicle in this price class ($21,000). Underneath, the hood has a nice insulation pad that helps dampen out engine noise, but slopes down rather sharply so you cannot see the front of the car from the drivers' seat......parking is sometimes guesswork. Underhood, the basic layout is not bad at all. The transverse-mounted, 2.3L in-line four fits in rather nicely, with good room on the back of the block to reach things and a little less room on the front and sides. There are large plastic covers on top of both the the engine and battery that block access to them.......or so it seems at first. But.........there are some surprises here; things I totally unexpected. The salespeople showed how all you have to so is snap a couple of clips, and the entire engine cover just pops right off, so you can reach anything you need on top of the block. Ditto for the battery...a plastic cover and cooling-tube nornally black it, but just snap the cover right off in one or two easy steps and you have the battery terminals right there in plain access for servicing, cleaning or jump-starts. What's more, the plastic engine cover has its OWN thick layer of insulation under it (in addition to the one under the hood, of course). I don't think I've seen this on any other vehicle, and Mazda deserves credit for this feature. The dipsticks, filler-caps, and reservoirs are, of course, easily reachable without removing the covers at all.
INTERIOR:
The dash is generally a little more easily recogizable as a Mazda than the exterior three-quarters of the car. A typical-Mazda well-designed, comfortable, leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel, with stereo/phone controls, sits behind the usual, clear, semi-race-type Mazda gauges. Tilt/telescope finctions are manual, but work rather smoothly except for a little friction while pulling the wheel out. Digital read-outs between the gauges show the transmision gear-mode/positions. There is plenty of headroom, front and rear, thanks to the high roofline. Legoom, front, and rear, is fine for most adults. Headroom is fine in the third-row seat except for tall adults, but legroom is rather tight. Still, the third-row seat is useful enough, for short hauls, for humans up to medium-adult size.....unusual for a vehicle this size. As mentioned before, seating is an unusual 2+2+2 pattern, rather than the more usual 2 up front and 2-3 small people rear. In this, it is like a mini-sized version of the Chrysler Pacifica or Mercedes R-Class, with similiar seating arrangements, but without the Madza5's rear-sliding doors.
The front seats are comfortable, supportive, and fit like a glove almost the way Recaro do, although my wide torso was about at the limits of the cushion and bolsters. They lack power controls, even on the top-line Grand Touring version, but the manual controls generally work smoothly and without hang-ups. The fabric (black on the Touring version, but sand/beige is available) was nice, plush-feeling, and appeared to be durable as well as plush. Though I drove a black-fabric version, I think the beige was better-looking because it gave the interior and door panels a two-tone black/beige look. Leather, of course, comes on the top-line Grand touring model, but, as with many other "leather" interiors these days, I wasn't impressed with it.
The stereo sound quality is so-so, even with the bass cranked up. I've heard worse, but this is clearly no Harmon-Kardon or Mark Levinson unit. Stereo controls themelves are OK, with a conventional round **** for off/on/volume and other round ***** and buttons for stereo and climate control functions, but the green-video readout for these stereo/climate control functions is, IMO, too high on the dash above the controls. I prefer the readouts right above the controls, where you don't have to keep shifting your eyes up and down between split control/readouts. It appears, like on some other vehicles, to be an interior styling gimmick and a form-over function design. The ***** themselves range from solid and securely-mounted for the stereo to rather loose and wobbly for the larger climate-dials. All of rest the interior hardware, however, is solid and durable; the glove-box latch unusually so....it felt like a Middle-Eastern bomb couldn't blow it off.
Thye interior trim was not exactly unattractive, but the metallic trim was not the best-looking I've seen, and no wood-tone trim appears to be available on any of the three versions, even with the beige interior, where many manufacturers have wood instead of metallic trim. .....a Mazda marketing oversight, IMO. Yet, while you couldn't call it a luxury interior by any means, the plush fabric, comfortable seats, good space efficiency, and reasonably decent trim (if not Audi-ornate) made for a generally pleasant interior.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
Open the solid, well-constructed liftgate, and there are two reach-up, pull/down grips built into the lower edge (some vehicles have only one, for right-handed people). The cargo area itself is not very well-finished, with hard black plastic on the sidewalls and thin black carpet on the floor. The jack is inside a snap-off panel on the left wall; the temporary-spare tire under a lift-up, styrofoam-compartmented panel under the floor. Again, I did not complain about the temporary spare tire, as it was not out of place in this rather low-priced vehicle.
The roofline is high enough so that the cargo area can accept rather tall and bulky items, but the third-row seat, when up, robs most of the available space. But, no problem....there are handy little pull-straps in the backs of the seats that drop them right down flush-flat with the floor. The second-row seats are folded, also flat with the floor, by two or three solid lever-mechanisms (no cheap hardware here) that release the bottom cushions to tilt forward, rear seat console to flip-fold to the right into (yes, INTO) the right-rear seat, and then both seatbacks over and forward.
ON THE ROAD:
Start up the 2.3L inline four with a conventional metal transponder-key and side-column ignition switch, and it's clear that the underhood insulation pad and the special pad under the engine cover do their work...the 2.3L seems as smooth and quiet on the idle as a Honda/Toyota four, and clearly lacks the traditional coarse, agricultural sound of many Mazda fours. Put it in gear and take off, however, and the engine is considerably less impressive.....its wimpy 148 lbs. of torque, at a not-so-low 4500 RPM, while adequate for a compact car or an econobox, is borderline underpowered in a vehicle designed to carry up to six people and luggage. It's OK with just one or two aboard, on relatively level surfaces, but if you have to cross the Rockies, with several people on board, good luck, especially on grades and at higher altitudes where the air density (and engine power) thins out. There is no turbo up there with the engine, either, to help compress the intake air at higher altitudes. Mazda, IMO, would be wise to consider either a turbo version of this engine or a V6, even with stricter CAFE fuel-mileage standards coming up. But, power questions aside, the engine remains almost as smooth and quiet under load as it does at idle...exhaust noise is audible, but muted and not intrusive.
The 5-speed automatic transmission has one of those annoying zig-zag shift patterns I strongly dislike (those zig-zag patterns were started on the theory that it would be harder for airheads to put the car in Park or Reverse while moving forward). Mazda is not alone in this, however...a number of manufacturers, including my favorite one (Subaru), also do. What Mazda, however, IS almost alone in (only BMW follows suit) is in reversing the
manual bump-shift pattern in the sport-shift gate to (-) downshift forward and (+) upshift back. Most manufacturers do it the opposite....forward for upshift and back for downshift. So, unless you have been driving a Mazda or BMW product and are used to it, remember that.....otherwise, you could get a big jolt and maybe red-line the engine if you bump the lever forward for an upshift and get a downshift instead. Shift quality, in the Mazda tradition, was not necessarily rough but less than silky-smooth....Mazda automatics have never been as buttery-smooth as, say, GM, Toyota, or Lexus automatics (the well-known occasional Lexus shift-flares excluded). In the Mazda5, contrary to many vehicles, the full-automatic shifts did not feel quite as smooth as the manual sport bump-shifts.....usually it is the other way around. There are no paddle-shifters on the steering wheel, so all manual-shifting is done with the lever, in the sport-shift gate.
The chassis/suspension, in the Mazda tradition, is pretty well-done....here, the "Zoom-Zoom" advertising means something. Despite some FWD understeer and body roll from the high center of gravity, handling and cornering, in general, is pretty good for a vehicle of this type. While the Mazda5 is no sports car, it clearly outperforms the rival (and more sluggish-handling) Kia Rondo in the twisties. Steering feel is on the firm side (not as firm or telepathic, of course, as a BMW), but the power steering, at least, doesn't feel like it's shot full of novicaine. Ride comfort is a nice balance between softness and control, though lacking the superb combination found in the typical BMW or Mercedes chassis. The fairly low-profile all-season tires and suspension let you feel bumps but do a generlly good job of absorbing them as well. Wind noise is well-muted. Road/tire noise is loud and noticeable on coarse-grained asphalt, but, surprisingly, is well-muted on concrete (where tires usually are loud), and also well-muted on other surfaces. I couldn't explain that one....it might have been in this tire's particular tread pattern.
Brakes, except for the lousy pedal placement that let my big size-15 feet (once again) hang up on the edge of the brake pedal shifting back and forth from brake to gas, were pretty well-done.....I had no other complaints. Response was quick, immediate, linear, and effective, with almost no sponginess. Except for the poor pedal spacing, these brakes would not have felt out of place in some German sports sedans, though, with the Mazda5's high center of gravity, FWD nose-heavy layout, and non-aggressive tires, don't look for Porsche 911-type stopping distances.
THE VERDICT:
This vehicle was quite interesting to review, evaluate, and drive. It has some interesting features on it as well. IMO, it is a generally good value for the money, though not quite as low-priced as its rival Kia Rondo (Kia, of course, having some of the lowest prices in the auto industry). Its chassis/suspension easily outperforms the Rondo in corners. It has sliding doors that help loading and parking in tight spaces, nice seat-folding hardware, clip-off devices that help with underhood accessability, better-than-average brakes for a vehicle of this type, a slick paint job, room for six decently-sized people (if the engine isn't overtaxed), solid body panels/trim/hardware (except for the cheesy lower-grille), an OK reliability record if not Honda-reliable, a nicely-done, fairly comfortable interior, and better-then-average space efficiency.
But the engine is questionable for heavier loads/steep grades. The automatic transmission is not the smoothest on the market, and has an unusual sport-shift pattern. The rather mediocre stereo is OK for news, weather, etc.... but is not the best for your favorite music. The paint color choice is worse thaon some econoboxes. The split stereo/climate-control *****/readouts are, IMO, annoying. And some of the climate ***** feel silky, but a little wobbly.
It is, however, an excellent small people/cargo mover, as long as you don't overtax the engine on hills and with big loads (the rival Kia Rondo doesn't have a huge amount of power, either). I recommend this vehicle, at least for driving in the more level parts of the country, and maybe with a full load on just a short trip. For the money (generally 20-25K, depending on the version), it's hard to beat for its purpose. Unless you specifically want NAV and leather seats, though (or at least what is called "leather"), and a few other high-tech features, I'd avoid the Grand Touring model, and save money with the Sport or Touring version.
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...ehicleCode=MZ5
In a Nutshell: A nice small people/cargo mover, good competition for the Kia Rondo, but perhaps borderline underpowered.
(NAV interior shown)
While waiting for the big annual Holiday review coming up (that car has not arrived yet), I got a CL request to review the new 2009 Mazda5, so I decided to do that today. It was a very interesting vehicle, with quite a few notations in both the PLUS and MINUS columns, as you will see down below. Currently, there is little else in the American market, size-wise and seat-wise, that competes directly with it: the Kia Rondo, which I also recently reviewed, probably comes closest.
The Mazda5 is the smallest and least expensive of the Mazda SUV/people-mover series, being eclipsed in size and price by the larger Tribute, CX-7, and CX-9. The Mazda5, however, differs from its larger brothers in having three rows of 2+2+2 seating instead of three-across rear seats. Its repair/reliability record (average, according to Consumer Reports) has also been somewhat better than that of its worse-then-average bigger brothers. Like the more-or-less-similiar Kia Rondo, the Mazda5 is based on a compact-car platform, but differs markedly from the Rondo in having minivan-type rear sliding doors instead of conventional car-based doors. Its ride-handling combination, although with some body roll, is noticeably more responsive than that of the Rondo (Mazda, of course, basing much of its public image on the "Zoom-Zoom" marketing line). The rather low-powered four-cylinder under the hood, though, seems like it's there more for gas mileage than for meeting the needs of a load of six people with cargo....also more on that below. Perhaps as a result of the engine's rather low torque level, AWD is not available in the Mazda5 like in the larger Mazda people-movers (it is not available in the Kia Rondo either).
In the American market, like with the larger CX-7 and CX-9, three trim lines of the Mazda5 are offered: Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring. All three come with FWD, a 2.3L, 153 HP 4cylinder engine. Sport versions offer a conventional 5-speed manual and a 5-speed Sport-shift automatic; Touring and Grand Touring versions come only with the automatic. I selected a silver Touring version for the review, as I thought that, for a number of reasons, both the Sport and Touring versions offered more value than the Grand Touring, unless you wanted the NAV, leather, and a couple opf high-tech features that only come with the Grand Touring model.
As I stated above, the Mazda5 is an interesting vehicle, and you tend to develop polarizing opinions about it as you review and drive it. I took a lot of notes with this car; more so than usual. Details coming up.
Model Reviewed: 2009 Mazda5 Touring
Base Price: $20,920
Major Options: None
Minor Options:
Cargo Net: $40
All-weather Floor mats: $78
Rear Bumper Step Plate: $50
Wheel Locks: $50
Destination/Freight: $670
List price as reviewed: $21,808
Drivetrain: FWD, transversely-mounted, 2.3L DOHC VVT in-line four cylinder, 153 HP @ 6500 RPM, Torque, 148 Ft-lbs. @ 4500 RPM,
5-speed automatic Sport-Shift transmission.
EPA Mileage Rating: 21 City, 27 Highway
Exterior Color: Sunlight Silver Metallic
Interior: Black cloth
PLUSSES:
Good space efficiency.
Relatively good handling/steering response for this type of vehicle.
Well-done brakes.
Excellent paint job.
Relatively smooth, quiet four cylinder engine.
Relatively good underhood layout.
Easy, snap-off plastic engine cover with insulation.
Underhood insulation pad.
Engine timing chain instead of a belt.
Easy-fold side mirrors.
Nice-looking, but visually complex alloy wheels.
Easy-pull-down liftgate.
Solid exterior sheet metal, doors, and hood.
Sliding side doors a help in loading/unloading and in tight parking areas.
Solid interior hardware.
Nice clear gauges.
Rock-solid closing glove box latch.
Good headroom/legroom in first/second-row seats.
Good headroom in third-row seat.
Good rear visibility.
Well-designed, solid folding mechanisms for seats to expand cargo area.
High-mounted but classy-looking LED taillights.
Comfortable, form-fitting front seats.
Comfortable, well-designed steering wheel.
Nice, plush, quality seat fabric.
Nicely-done stereo/climate-control *****.
MINUSES:
Annoying zig-zag shift-lever pattern.
No shift paddles, and manual Sport-Shift (+) (-) gate pattern opposite of normal.
OK but not particularly smooth transmission shifts.
Engine torque level marginal for heavier loads.
High road/tire noise on grainy asphalt; OK on other surfaces.
Noticeable body roll in corners.
Cheap, rough, unpleasant sun visors.
Rather cheap plastic side-mirror housings.
Large front A-pillars affect outward visibility some.
Tricky parking; front of vehicle not visible from drivers' seat.
Poorly-designed rear wiper arm difficult to change.
OK but not exceptional stereo sound.
Stereo/climate-control readouts too high on the dash in relation to the controls.
Cheap-looking flat-black honeycomb plastic lower grille.
Low ground clearance from lower-body fairings.
Rather poorly-finished cargo area.
Third-seat headroom OK but legroom inadequate for adults.
Higher-priced Grand Touring version, IMO, not much better-looking inside than Sport/Touring versions.
Leather in Grand Touring version more vinyl-like than leather.
Only six paint colors offered.
AWD not available.
Wood-tone trim not available inside, and the metallic trim is not particularly impressive.
Poorly-placed brake/gas pedals for big feet.
EXTERIOR:
The Mazda5, as you walk up to it, has the typical Mazda styling up front with the headlights, front fenders, and grille, but, from the windshield back, bears almost no resemblance to any other U.S-market Mazda product, even its larger brothers. It is high, narrow, rather boxy (good for space efficiency), and the rear end and high-mounted tailights are reminiscent of some Volvo wagons and the Honda CR-V. The taillights themselves are quite classy and ornate, with dozens of small LED units in them (standard on Touring/Grand Touring models). The handsome but unusual-looking alloy wheels have a mag-type 5-spoke design, but with Y-shaped outer spokes. Ground clearance is rather low from the drop-down body side fairings.....this means not only care over speed bumps (the body will, of course, ride even lower with a load in it) but also a difficult reach with the hose in the wintertime to rinse the salt/dirt off the undercarriage. All of the body sheet metal, doors, hood, and liftgate were well-done and solid, and exterior trim generally solid and well-done except for the cheesy, flimsy, flat-black, honeycomb-plastic front lower grille that looked/felt like something out of a toy store. The paint job was excellent for a lower-priced vehicle, bordering on superb....smooth, even, and glossy, with almost no orange peel. Only six exterior colors, however, are offered,...silver, gray, black, white, red, and medium-dark blue, but three of those are good pearl or mica paint jobs. The exterior mirrors were a mixed bag: adequate in size, easy-swiveling and folding, but with somewhat flimsy and light weight plastic housings not as solid-feeling as on Hondas and Subarus. Still, they felt more solid than those on many domestic, American-designed vehicles. The two solid-feeling front doors are conventional; the two rear doors, as mentioned above, are minivan-type sliding doors that open wide enough for easy access to the second-row seat, but require a little
pretzel-twisting to reach the third-row seats....the second-row seats slide up a little to help.
UNDERHOOD:
Open the strong, heavy, solid hood (it felt and sounded like steel rather then aluminum), and unfortunately, you have to hold up that hood while you manually prop it up with a rod, which can be difficult for some frail people. But, I did not list that as a MINUS, because gas struts are not usually expected on a vehicle in this price class ($21,000). Underneath, the hood has a nice insulation pad that helps dampen out engine noise, but slopes down rather sharply so you cannot see the front of the car from the drivers' seat......parking is sometimes guesswork. Underhood, the basic layout is not bad at all. The transverse-mounted, 2.3L in-line four fits in rather nicely, with good room on the back of the block to reach things and a little less room on the front and sides. There are large plastic covers on top of both the the engine and battery that block access to them.......or so it seems at first. But.........there are some surprises here; things I totally unexpected. The salespeople showed how all you have to so is snap a couple of clips, and the entire engine cover just pops right off, so you can reach anything you need on top of the block. Ditto for the battery...a plastic cover and cooling-tube nornally black it, but just snap the cover right off in one or two easy steps and you have the battery terminals right there in plain access for servicing, cleaning or jump-starts. What's more, the plastic engine cover has its OWN thick layer of insulation under it (in addition to the one under the hood, of course). I don't think I've seen this on any other vehicle, and Mazda deserves credit for this feature. The dipsticks, filler-caps, and reservoirs are, of course, easily reachable without removing the covers at all.
INTERIOR:
The dash is generally a little more easily recogizable as a Mazda than the exterior three-quarters of the car. A typical-Mazda well-designed, comfortable, leather-wrapped three-spoke steering wheel, with stereo/phone controls, sits behind the usual, clear, semi-race-type Mazda gauges. Tilt/telescope finctions are manual, but work rather smoothly except for a little friction while pulling the wheel out. Digital read-outs between the gauges show the transmision gear-mode/positions. There is plenty of headroom, front and rear, thanks to the high roofline. Legoom, front, and rear, is fine for most adults. Headroom is fine in the third-row seat except for tall adults, but legroom is rather tight. Still, the third-row seat is useful enough, for short hauls, for humans up to medium-adult size.....unusual for a vehicle this size. As mentioned before, seating is an unusual 2+2+2 pattern, rather than the more usual 2 up front and 2-3 small people rear. In this, it is like a mini-sized version of the Chrysler Pacifica or Mercedes R-Class, with similiar seating arrangements, but without the Madza5's rear-sliding doors.
The front seats are comfortable, supportive, and fit like a glove almost the way Recaro do, although my wide torso was about at the limits of the cushion and bolsters. They lack power controls, even on the top-line Grand Touring version, but the manual controls generally work smoothly and without hang-ups. The fabric (black on the Touring version, but sand/beige is available) was nice, plush-feeling, and appeared to be durable as well as plush. Though I drove a black-fabric version, I think the beige was better-looking because it gave the interior and door panels a two-tone black/beige look. Leather, of course, comes on the top-line Grand touring model, but, as with many other "leather" interiors these days, I wasn't impressed with it.
The stereo sound quality is so-so, even with the bass cranked up. I've heard worse, but this is clearly no Harmon-Kardon or Mark Levinson unit. Stereo controls themelves are OK, with a conventional round **** for off/on/volume and other round ***** and buttons for stereo and climate control functions, but the green-video readout for these stereo/climate control functions is, IMO, too high on the dash above the controls. I prefer the readouts right above the controls, where you don't have to keep shifting your eyes up and down between split control/readouts. It appears, like on some other vehicles, to be an interior styling gimmick and a form-over function design. The ***** themselves range from solid and securely-mounted for the stereo to rather loose and wobbly for the larger climate-dials. All of rest the interior hardware, however, is solid and durable; the glove-box latch unusually so....it felt like a Middle-Eastern bomb couldn't blow it off.
Thye interior trim was not exactly unattractive, but the metallic trim was not the best-looking I've seen, and no wood-tone trim appears to be available on any of the three versions, even with the beige interior, where many manufacturers have wood instead of metallic trim. .....a Mazda marketing oversight, IMO. Yet, while you couldn't call it a luxury interior by any means, the plush fabric, comfortable seats, good space efficiency, and reasonably decent trim (if not Audi-ornate) made for a generally pleasant interior.
CARGO AREA/TRUNK:
Open the solid, well-constructed liftgate, and there are two reach-up, pull/down grips built into the lower edge (some vehicles have only one, for right-handed people). The cargo area itself is not very well-finished, with hard black plastic on the sidewalls and thin black carpet on the floor. The jack is inside a snap-off panel on the left wall; the temporary-spare tire under a lift-up, styrofoam-compartmented panel under the floor. Again, I did not complain about the temporary spare tire, as it was not out of place in this rather low-priced vehicle.
The roofline is high enough so that the cargo area can accept rather tall and bulky items, but the third-row seat, when up, robs most of the available space. But, no problem....there are handy little pull-straps in the backs of the seats that drop them right down flush-flat with the floor. The second-row seats are folded, also flat with the floor, by two or three solid lever-mechanisms (no cheap hardware here) that release the bottom cushions to tilt forward, rear seat console to flip-fold to the right into (yes, INTO) the right-rear seat, and then both seatbacks over and forward.
ON THE ROAD:
Start up the 2.3L inline four with a conventional metal transponder-key and side-column ignition switch, and it's clear that the underhood insulation pad and the special pad under the engine cover do their work...the 2.3L seems as smooth and quiet on the idle as a Honda/Toyota four, and clearly lacks the traditional coarse, agricultural sound of many Mazda fours. Put it in gear and take off, however, and the engine is considerably less impressive.....its wimpy 148 lbs. of torque, at a not-so-low 4500 RPM, while adequate for a compact car or an econobox, is borderline underpowered in a vehicle designed to carry up to six people and luggage. It's OK with just one or two aboard, on relatively level surfaces, but if you have to cross the Rockies, with several people on board, good luck, especially on grades and at higher altitudes where the air density (and engine power) thins out. There is no turbo up there with the engine, either, to help compress the intake air at higher altitudes. Mazda, IMO, would be wise to consider either a turbo version of this engine or a V6, even with stricter CAFE fuel-mileage standards coming up. But, power questions aside, the engine remains almost as smooth and quiet under load as it does at idle...exhaust noise is audible, but muted and not intrusive.
The 5-speed automatic transmission has one of those annoying zig-zag shift patterns I strongly dislike (those zig-zag patterns were started on the theory that it would be harder for airheads to put the car in Park or Reverse while moving forward). Mazda is not alone in this, however...a number of manufacturers, including my favorite one (Subaru), also do. What Mazda, however, IS almost alone in (only BMW follows suit) is in reversing the
manual bump-shift pattern in the sport-shift gate to (-) downshift forward and (+) upshift back. Most manufacturers do it the opposite....forward for upshift and back for downshift. So, unless you have been driving a Mazda or BMW product and are used to it, remember that.....otherwise, you could get a big jolt and maybe red-line the engine if you bump the lever forward for an upshift and get a downshift instead. Shift quality, in the Mazda tradition, was not necessarily rough but less than silky-smooth....Mazda automatics have never been as buttery-smooth as, say, GM, Toyota, or Lexus automatics (the well-known occasional Lexus shift-flares excluded). In the Mazda5, contrary to many vehicles, the full-automatic shifts did not feel quite as smooth as the manual sport bump-shifts.....usually it is the other way around. There are no paddle-shifters on the steering wheel, so all manual-shifting is done with the lever, in the sport-shift gate.
The chassis/suspension, in the Mazda tradition, is pretty well-done....here, the "Zoom-Zoom" advertising means something. Despite some FWD understeer and body roll from the high center of gravity, handling and cornering, in general, is pretty good for a vehicle of this type. While the Mazda5 is no sports car, it clearly outperforms the rival (and more sluggish-handling) Kia Rondo in the twisties. Steering feel is on the firm side (not as firm or telepathic, of course, as a BMW), but the power steering, at least, doesn't feel like it's shot full of novicaine. Ride comfort is a nice balance between softness and control, though lacking the superb combination found in the typical BMW or Mercedes chassis. The fairly low-profile all-season tires and suspension let you feel bumps but do a generlly good job of absorbing them as well. Wind noise is well-muted. Road/tire noise is loud and noticeable on coarse-grained asphalt, but, surprisingly, is well-muted on concrete (where tires usually are loud), and also well-muted on other surfaces. I couldn't explain that one....it might have been in this tire's particular tread pattern.
Brakes, except for the lousy pedal placement that let my big size-15 feet (once again) hang up on the edge of the brake pedal shifting back and forth from brake to gas, were pretty well-done.....I had no other complaints. Response was quick, immediate, linear, and effective, with almost no sponginess. Except for the poor pedal spacing, these brakes would not have felt out of place in some German sports sedans, though, with the Mazda5's high center of gravity, FWD nose-heavy layout, and non-aggressive tires, don't look for Porsche 911-type stopping distances.
THE VERDICT:
This vehicle was quite interesting to review, evaluate, and drive. It has some interesting features on it as well. IMO, it is a generally good value for the money, though not quite as low-priced as its rival Kia Rondo (Kia, of course, having some of the lowest prices in the auto industry). Its chassis/suspension easily outperforms the Rondo in corners. It has sliding doors that help loading and parking in tight spaces, nice seat-folding hardware, clip-off devices that help with underhood accessability, better-than-average brakes for a vehicle of this type, a slick paint job, room for six decently-sized people (if the engine isn't overtaxed), solid body panels/trim/hardware (except for the cheesy lower-grille), an OK reliability record if not Honda-reliable, a nicely-done, fairly comfortable interior, and better-then-average space efficiency.
But the engine is questionable for heavier loads/steep grades. The automatic transmission is not the smoothest on the market, and has an unusual sport-shift pattern. The rather mediocre stereo is OK for news, weather, etc.... but is not the best for your favorite music. The paint color choice is worse thaon some econoboxes. The split stereo/climate-control *****/readouts are, IMO, annoying. And some of the climate ***** feel silky, but a little wobbly.
It is, however, an excellent small people/cargo mover, as long as you don't overtax the engine on hills and with big loads (the rival Kia Rondo doesn't have a huge amount of power, either). I recommend this vehicle, at least for driving in the more level parts of the country, and maybe with a full load on just a short trip. For the money (generally 20-25K, depending on the version), it's hard to beat for its purpose. Unless you specifically want NAV and leather seats, though (or at least what is called "leather"), and a few other high-tech features, I'd avoid the Grand Touring model, and save money with the Sport or Touring version.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-03-08 at 03:30 PM.
12-03-08, 03:04 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Thanks. Anytime. 
A family? Well, pop the queston to her, and get rolling. 
A small family, I think, is all the Mazda5's engine could handle. Unless you are on a flat surface, the torque is questionable for heavy loads.
The gf and I were very impressed when we saw it at the LA auto show last year. If I had a small family, I would definitely consider this car
A small family, I think, is all the Mazda5's engine could handle. Unless you are on a flat surface, the torque is questionable for heavy loads.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-03-08 at 03:08 PM.
12-03-08, 04:15 PM
#7
Thanks for the review MMarshall, I had one as a rental vehicle over the summer. I took my GF and parents to Yosemite in it. I think I agree with you on all accounts. The combination of size, space, and economy has me considering one as a vehicle for the whole family. I also intend to use it on trips to Home Depot too. I think it suites me well, but I will look at the Kia Rhondo as well as the Toyota Matrix before making any decisions.
Trending Topics
12-03-08, 05:38 PM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Sure.
The Matrix does not compete directly with the Rondo and Mazda5. It is one size smaller, has only two rows of seats, making it effectively a four-seater, and has the AWD option that both the Rondo and Mazda5 lack. The Pontiac Vibe is a rebadged version of the Matrix, marketed under the Pontiac name, but is mechanically identical.
If you are seriously considering the purchase or lease of either a Rondo or Mazda5, for a family, make sure the engine has enough power for whatever load you are going to have in it, and that it can handle the hills you are likely to drive on (I see you've already been to Yosemite). Power under load is not these two vehicles' strong suit.
, I had one as a rental vehicle over the summer. I took my GF and parents to Yosemite in it. I think I agree with you on all accounts. The combination of size, space, and economy has me considering one as a vehicle for the whole family. I also intend to use it on trips to Home Depot too. I think it suites me well, but I will look at the Kia Rhondo as well as the Toyota Matrix before making any decisions.
If you are seriously considering the purchase or lease of either a Rondo or Mazda5, for a family, make sure the engine has enough power for whatever load you are going to have in it, and that it can handle the hills you are likely to drive on (I see you've already been to Yosemite). Power under load is not these two vehicles' strong suit.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-03-08 at 06:25 PM.
12-03-08, 07:27 PM
#10
The 2.3 I-4 might struggle a bit, but it can still get you where you need to go. I wasn't the happiest camper when I took a Mazda 3 up to the mountains for some snow fun, but it got us there in one piece (although I did make sure to utilize the turn offs when I saw trucks ripping up the side of the mountain). I can only imagine how the engine would struggle with the extra girth of the 5
12-04-08, 05:49 AM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
The 2.3 I-4 might struggle a bit, but it can still get you where you need to go. I wasn't the happiest camper when I took a Mazda 3 up to the mountains for some snow fun, but it got us there in one piece (although I did make sure to utilize the turn offs when I saw trucks ripping up the side of the mountain). I can only imagine how the engine would struggle with the extra girth of the 5
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-04-08 at 05:53 AM.
12-06-08, 11:29 PM
#12
A very thorough review! I did a review myself of a 2007 model (so before the midlife update). I thought the ride was firm but comfortable and handling was great for this type of vehicle. I appreciated the auto-closing sliding door (I don't mean full power but that they close shut if you didn't shut them tight) and my mum appreciated the two-tiered rear hatch door opening (and I appreciated the fact that I could push it another inch or so higher cause the default height will have me banging my head).
I thought the radio was crap. The audio was something out of a mid 90s Camry. Bass was non-existent even at max boost. Sadly, the 2.3 litre is actually the more powerful of the two engines avaiable for the Mazda5 abroard. Oye!
Otherwise, I too enjoyed my time with the Mazda5. It doesn't have excess space like other minivans but it's not cramped either. I thought it was "just right" even in the 3rd row after adjusting the driver's and 2nd row seat to my liking.
I thought the radio was crap. The audio was something out of a mid 90s Camry. Bass was non-existent even at max boost. Sadly, the 2.3 litre is actually the more powerful of the two engines avaiable for the Mazda5 abroard. Oye!
Otherwise, I too enjoyed my time with the Mazda5. It doesn't have excess space like other minivans but it's not cramped either. I thought it was "just right" even in the 3rd row after adjusting the driver's and 2nd row seat to my liking.
12-07-08, 05:25 AM
#13
Thanks for the Mazda review nice to see a review on Mazda peoplehauler, seems like the Mazda5 is slightly underpowered like my 01 MPV. I wish Mazda would have kept the MPV and 5 together, they are both the right size for traveling through some of the narrow streets of NYC, unlike the Sienna and the other current minivans. If only the Mazda 5 had a bit more power and AWD i'm sure it will spark some more interest. Should note I believe sales are up this year for it.
12-07-08, 12:54 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Tyanks.
Agreed. I was not impressed with the factory stereo either.
Fortunately, most non-Americans aren't as big or heavy as we are here in the U.S.
I thought the radio was crap. The audio was something out of a mid 90s Camry. Bass was non-existent even at max boost.
Sadly, the 2.3 litre is actually the more powerful of the two engines avaiable for the Mazda5 abroard. Oye!