Mazda5 vs. Toyota Prius V Wagon - Initial Thoughts, Pictures, and Comparison

[Orangutan]

I stopped by my local Mazda dealer for my weekly free carwash today and ended up on the Toyota side of the dealership. I've seen some of the new Prius V wagons running around and figured I'd glance at one while I was waiting. I spent all of about five minutes looking over the Prius V and taking a couple impromptu pictures of it with the only item I had on me for scale: a Mountain Dew. The pictures are low quality (old cellphone) but they give a general idea of the dimensions. The 5 is dirty inside from carting around lots of dogs and cargo (why I got the 5 instead of a Focus hatchback). I may go drive a Prius V and do a proper comparison next weekend.

• Initial thoughts: The Prius V gets much better gas mileage obviously (44/40 compared to 21/28) but is less attractive and, while the interior materials in the Mazda5 are not the highest quality, the Prius V seems to have much worse materials in appearance and feel. The designs of the materials are ugly and the materials themselves are cheap and low quality. I didn't get a shot of it but the center console in the front is extremely large and looks like it would be obtrusive. I enjoy the open cockpit feel of the Mazda5, which helps it seem bigger than it is. The cargo hold of the Prius V seems pretty wide but the rear deck is much higher than I anticipated. I imagine that's a consequence of the battery pack in the rear of the vehicle. The rear hatch opening therefore is much shorter than the Mazda5 and the overall interior height seems lower in the Prius V. When you lay the seats down in the Prius V there is a gap between the rear seats and the cargo floor just as there is a gap between the front of the seats and the first row of seats. The seatbacks of the second row, though, have hard plastic shells on them, which is both good and bad for carrying cargo. Plastic is less likely to be torn through by dog feet but more likely to be gouged by other cargo, plus the dogs have a hard time standing on plastic. There's no chasm in the middle, though, because the second row seats three instead of having captain's chairs like in the Mazda5.
  
  
• Specifications Mazda5 Sport AT vs. Prius V Two (Taken from Edmunds.com, Toyota.com, and Mazdausa.com):
  

  MSRP
  $20,345 $26,400
  
  Invoice
  $19,052 $24,577
  
  True Market Value
  $20,476 $27,160
  
  Front head room
  40.7 in. 39.6 in.
  
  Front hip room
  53.1 in. 53.5 in.
  
  Front leg room
  40.7 in. 41.3 in.
  
  Front shoulder room
  55.5 in. 55.9 in.
  
  Rear hip Room
  57.8 in. 53.5 in.
  
  Rear head room
  39.4 in. 38.6 in.
  
  Rear leg room
  39.4 in. 35.9 in.
  
  Rear shoulder room
  55.5 in. 55.2 in.
  
  Exterior Width
  68.9 in. 69.9 in.
  
  Exterior Height
  63.6 in. 62.0 in.
  
  Exterior Length
  180.5 in. 181.7 in.
  
  Ground clearance
  5.5 in. 5.7 in.
  
  Front track
  60.2 in. 60.6 in.
  
  Rear track
  59.8 in. 60.8 in.
  
  Wheel base
  108.3 in. 109.4 in.
  
  Curb weight
  3457 lbs. 3274 lbs.
  
  MFR Cargo Volume
  44.4 cu.ft. 34.3 cu.ft.
  
  MFR Passenger Volume
  97.7 cu.ft. 97.2 cu.ft.

• Interior cargo holds:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Cargo door opening:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Rear comparison
  
  

 

[chandlerGTi]

I compared them when I bought mine but all the ones I looked at were around 40k$. No comparison.

 

[professorhank]

I sort of already knew the answer to my question but thanks for the side-to-side comparison. I too was concentrating on cargo hold dimensions because I highly prefer to transport my bike(s) upright with front wheel off inside the cargo area. My 54cm frame fits just right in the Mazda5 and I got the impression that the Prius V wouldn't be tall enough and it's really obvious with the side-to-side pics that my bike won't fit in the V unless I slightly slant the bike or permanently remove the 40% portion of the rear seat (which may not be feasible or possible). Thanks and your old cell phone takes some pretty good pics...

 

[Nurburgringer]

Cool thread - thanks for posting pics and info.
You need to get some kind of carpet/covering for the back of your 5 BTW - the black fabric pics up dirt like crazy doesn't it?!

 

[Orangutan]

You're welcome, hank. I still want to do a proper comparison in the future but I've been too busy lately.

Nurburgringer:
Yeah, I know. You see a bunch of leaf bits in the pictures there, along with a few pine needles from Christmas tree harvesting. I keep a couple dog blankets back there but the fabric in the cargo area/third row doesn't let go of debris. The second-row seatbacks are easier to clean but, man, that back is a pain.

 

[coolmazda5]

There is an old thread on it, it kind of became a butt of jokes at the end . But being serious, it ended being no more than a 5 seater wagon, very small:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123772838-Report-Toyota-Prius-minivan-coming-in-2011

Hey, but at least is a Toyota, I bet the driver-car dynamics are out of this world...

BTW: I hope the free carwash includes interior vacuuming (j/k)

 

[coolmazda5]

GreenReports: 2012 Toyota Prius V Hybrid vs Mazda5: Saving Money On Wagons

Space-wise I don't necessarily agree, but you may not be the only one thinking about comparisons

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...ius-v-hybrid-vs-mazda5-saving-money-on-wagons

 

[JingChuan]

The key items for me (other than the ~$10k price difference for comparable "high end" models, and of course MPG) are:

- 6 passenger seating

- sliding doors.



It doesn't matter if the Prius can get 40mpg, 50 mpg, even 60mpg, but if it can't fit mom, dad, 2 kids, and the in-laws, then it doesn't work for me.

I guess I'll take the mpg hit. (of course, if the 5 gets Skyactiv for 2013, I may wait a bit to buy...)

 

[aha]

We looked at Prius V as well and fit an infant carrier in the middle with 2 booster kids on each side. Not many cars for this size will fit this configuration but Prius V, current Scion xB are fine. However, it's not easy to take the carrier in and out - we have a mazda MPV and we always prefer sliding door anyway. So, we went to Mazda across the street and spoke to the person who sold me the MPV back in 2005, the next day we picked up the 5

We also checked out the Dodge Journey, it's super hard to access the 3rd row esp. for a pregnant wife. Plus, I don't see myself enjoyed driving a dodge....

I originally had the 2010 Mazda5 as a rental, it was a really spunky van - I was amazed. The 2012 is more poised for the lack of better terms and I enjoy it more somehow!

 

[torquelover]

I peeked at the Prius V while looking at a Scion xB Lava and the two they had seemed priced a lot higher than the MZ5. Both were over 30k, when it would be very difficult to get an MZ5 that high. No 3rd row, no Prius V for me.