Test Drive in Progress...

[chief_wiggum]

Call it halftime, my wife and oldest daughter are out giving it the once over. The local dealership was very good about throwing me the keys to Sport 5AT, copper red. I told him I was in the market to replace a 03 CR-V and wanted to take it home to try out car seats etc..., he said, 'no problem'.

Anyway, my very initial impressions are pretty solid; my immediate concerns about power (see other post) are mostly mitigated, I'm very impressed with the visibility out the front and it drives pretty nice. I've read complaints about interior noise from some reviews, but it's quieter than the CR-V. We spent a good 15 minutes trying out various seat configurations to see how usable the 3rd would be for us. we'd only use it rarely when grandparents come over and we'd put kids and short people in the very back.

Stay tuned...I'll update more later after I return it.

 

[SEHMIATA]

Don't post and drive!

 

[1WICKED6]

Don't post and drive!

(lol)(iagree)

 

[chief_wiggum]

Don't post and drive!

Crazy to me that in this day and age, you're post isn't as ridiculous as it should be!

Anyway; overall my impression is good. I wish they had a GT on the lot to test drive/look over, but dynamically, it's all the same. Now it's a matter of deciding on whether the MZ5 is the best fit or whether we buck up for something bigger at the expense of $$ and MPG. At this point, I'm not sure what that would be. The CX-9 is very nice, but pricey and thirsty--and I can only imagine the door dings swinging those huge doors open in a parking lot (let alone my garage). Curious about the 2011 Odyssey, but that's ~$10K more. I want to like the Flex, but don't; Traverse does nothing for me; the way Toyota handled the recent accelerator issues really turned me off; the Ford C-Max is 18 months away....seems to leave only the 5.

 

[x10dude]

We have both a Mazda5 and Sienna. The Mazda5 is good for about 90% of what we want to do with our vehicles. The only time we really can't use the 5 is when we are transporting 7... legally (lol)

 

[KBrian]

Many who consider the Mazda 5 also look at the Kia Rondo(uhm)

 

[chief_wiggum]

Many who consider the Mazda 5 also look at the Kia Rondo(uhm)

yea, I'm aware of the Rondo. Kia has made some great gains of late, but I'm not there yet.

 

[Tsuru]

For completeness' sake, there's also the Mitsubishi Outlander which features a third row on some of the trim levels.

 

[Snagjim]

Now it's a matter of deciding on whether the MZ5 is the best fit or whether we buck up for something bigger at the expense of $$ and MPG.

For the 20% of the time it's needed, we make our 5 bigger by putting a skibox on the roof rack. Given that 80% of the time there are 1, 2 or 4 people in our car, we figure we can just expand the car for the occasion.

 

[Heat]

...the Ford C-Max is 18 months away....seems to leave only the 5.

The Honda CR-V is a very nice vehicle, unless you need seating for six I'd stick with that and wait to learn more about the Ford C-Max. Besides, you can build up your down payment in the meantime. If the C-Max isn't for you the Mazda5 will still be around.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

We have yet to wish we had something bigger than the 5. Absolutely love the car. A little boring to drive with a speed3 in the driveway but the wife wants nothing but and that is after an 06 Mariner and 07 CX7 AWD. The GT isnt going to change anything but seat material and better sound/navigation. My only complaint on the car is how much noise comes through the slider doors at highway speeds.

 

[kevinmoose]

As an odyssey owner looking to switch to something smaller, I can say that it is a great car if you like BIG cars. It is BIG!! 90% of the time you are transporting 100 cubic feet of air around with you and an extra 1000lbs over a Mazda 5, Honda CRV, RAV4, Escape, etc. I like the 5 a lot - the 2+2+2 seating is the only thing that keeps me thinking about another CRV(we had a 99)...seems like it could be a pain with 3 kids aboard (who gets to sit in the back?!). Oh, and the $5K price difference...and the manual tranny option...anyway...

 

[JBR]

This may be a little more affordable and you could use it on your SPEED when travel time is an issue.