VenomDesign
Member
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- Mazda 5 GT Pearl White '07
It's a "Micro-van" with class 
What IS the Mazda5, Anyhow?
- Thread starter FYF
- Start date
Wagonbacker9
Member
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- 2004 'Hoe
copycat.It's a "Micro-van" with class
Understand you are saying but IMO I probably wouldn't use the word "Compromise" to describe it. I much prefer the word "versatile".
remarquian
Member
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- 2007 Mazda5 Sport AT
That is a good article. Thanks for the link.
On paper, the Mazda5 is dog slow.... but driving it, it really doesn't feel that way... (well maybe when you are trying to pass on the freeway... lol)
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
I agree that for everyday duty the 5 seems pretty peppy, but it does take some effort to execute the 2-lane highway passes. Then again, that's how it should be in my book. I've never really had fast cars (heck, the 5 has more HP than any car I've owned), but never once felt that I wasn't going to make a pass; I simply had to drive properly and leave enough room.
The car I still miss the most was a 1977 Volvo 4 dr. No power steering, no overdrive, not even A/C! Do the math here as well, about 100 HP in a roughly 3000 lb car isn't all about excitement! But that car got me through college driving some great country roads.
Driving at 55-60MPH easily drifted into corners and the precision of non-assisted steering gave supreme road feel. Sure the power band was just okay and the shifter was a bit notchy, but it was all about precision and momentum.
Also, the one thin I really miss with modern FWD card is snow driving. Sure they get there in the snow and proper use of the E-brake can be fun in a parking lot, but I miss mediocre tires and RWD in the snow. Driving became a total finesse game and that old Volvo was set up well enough that deserted snowy roads made for stuff that would make those tokyo drift guys smile! (I once managed to drive about 4 blocks opposite lock in the snow...)
And of course, no FWD car can ever pull of the classing parking lot donught.
My newer, faster FWD cars just aren't quite as much fun.
-Toyota ECHO is faring quite well with real rims and tires: It's a bit like a street legal Go-Kart (the Montgomery Wards kind, not the true racing karts). Problem, it lacks that great mechanical feedback and does this weird flex to oversteer on poorly banked corners (much better with good tires) or over rough surfaces.
-The 5 feels torquey, but is so smooth that I get going too fast. There is the odd satisfaction however of being able to carve corners with 4 people aboard all with smiles that no other car has given me.
Oh! Oh!
I was going to say Macro Mini Van.
If I'm describing the Mazda5 I tell people it is a bloated Matrix.
I was going to say Macro Mini Van.
If I'm describing the Mazda5 I tell people it is a bloated Matrix.
Rockin03mp5
Member
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- '13 Mazda3 / '13 Edge / Your Mom
i posted this somewhere elso too
a fat fit?
a fat fit?
Last edited:
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
Noooo, blasphemy!! (lol2)
J/k, I've been teasing you guys with the Matrix and the Fit. Reality is that their profiles are very close to the Mazda5, as they have the same "space" cockpit concept (bloated so you can fit people and stuff in a "small" car so to speak).
Wife has confused both of them on a distance when driving around (she is not into cars, so bear with me), that until we get closer and we see the real size
Rockin03mp5
Member
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- '13 Mazda3 / '13 Edge / Your Mom
haha
the roofline is identical!
the roofline is identical!
The Matrix is a bit deceiving space wise... it's versatile and practical but far from spacious. The Fit and 5 probably beat the Matrix in terms of interior space vs. exterior footprint. I think somehow Toyota wanted to shift the buyer demographics to a lower age group but they kinda wrecked a good thing in doing so...
I had an old Honda Civic Wagon that I was able to fit a love seat into!
I had an old Honda Civic Wagon that I was able to fit a love seat into!
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
lol thanks for that accurate model... yea the Civic Wagon is not the prettiest car in the world but I liked it so much I had THREE of them! an 86 Wagovan (failing - loss of compression in one cylinder, sold to a mechanically inclined guy), an 85 DX (the clutch went when I was starting school, didn't have funds to fix so got rid of it, had for almost three years), and an 88 4WD (crashed after 12 days). I did not fall in love because I thought it was beautiful, but I thought it was beautiful because I was in love. lol.
I get bored of cars easy but with the Civic wagons... they were not pretty but they never let me down (other than the fact that the 86 and 85 were close to 400,000km when I got rid of each). They took me where I wanted to go and they carried whatever I needed it to carry. 5 passengers and camping gear. A love seat. A queen size mattress.
The Mazda 5's exactly the car I've been looking for to fill that void since I wasn't really looking to get a 4th Civic wagon. I wanted something new, more refined, just as fuel efficient and spacious, and looks good. The 5 is everything I wanted... plus it's fun to drive!
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
Damn, interesting, you may like this old thread then, which BTW also got kind of off-topic
(my bad I admit):http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123689589
drdiaboloco
Member
It's a....
Well, look left for MY opinion.
Well, look left for MY opinion.
