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Mazda 5 2.0 Sport
Our
Thoughts
Mmmmm what’s this have we got the photos wrong? Mazda5 shouldn’t it be a two seater sports car like the MX5?
That’s what some of the press were saying on launch day too. No, the Mazda5 is the new compact mpv from Mazda.
The new car replaces
two existing models – the Premacy and MPV. It has a few tricks to make it stand out, or as Mazda calls them ‘Karakuri’. Such as being
the only Mpv in its class to have dual sliding rear doors and a unique seating layout of its seven seats.
Mazda are calling it a Zoom Zoom product it may need to be, because they are going after the likes of the new Vauxhall Zafira and Toyota’s Verso.
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| | | Exterior Styling |
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At first glance I thought it’s just another wedge shape compact mpv. But then I gave it a closer look and I am glad I did because it’s a whole lot more.
The front is the only disappointing angle I think it’s the same as most other cars these days, but it serves it a purpose giving the car a drag factor of
just 0.29. It dose have the smiley face that sells, thanks to the curved Mazda grill and the almost tear drop shaped lights.
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| More than just another wedge |
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The side profile, is what I think, sets the 5 apart from the competition with its high slopping tinted rear windows, five spoke 17inch alloys (on test car) with exaggerated front and rear wheel archers, and of course the distinctive rear sliding door. The later produces a large 700mm opening, big enough to get the mother in law with ease or the kids in the third row. Another result of the sliding doors is that the offside filler cap needs to be quite clever, because when open it needs to prevent the rear sliding door opening more than about six inches. If it didn’t it would hit the filler cap.
Mazda are fitting colour coded door rubbing strips to every model except the base and not rubber which I am not sure is a good idea. It may look great, but this car is a family run-about, so lots of school runs or trips to the supermarket. Lets just say I hope your good with touch up paint.
From the rear of the mazda5 looks good too. With its attractive looking almost V-shaped tailgate window, which reminds me of an Alfa Romeo. It looks very high and is. As a result you have good visibility from the driver’s seat. Apart from that is low down . Mazda has another trick up their sleeves to sort this out. A rear facing camera is positioned just above the number plate and displayed on the dash mounted screen. Unfortunately this is only available on the top of the range nav-sport, which is not due out yet.
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Interior Styling
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Interior styling is very functinal and practical. The 5 feels large and well designed. Grey plastic is used a great deal but is set off with silver surrounds
for the radio, gear lever and along the doors in the front. The controls are set out well and are easy to use. Radio controls are on the steering wheel as well
on the dash and a 6-CD auto changer is standard on everything above the base. The sound quality was good but nothing special. Heater controls are three large
dials below the radio which look good and are easy to use. The only problem I did find with them was that the right hand knob turns the air con off and on.
During the test I kept catching it when changing into 5th gear. This resulted in turning it off or on accidentally. Might be just my driving but it will
probably affect others.
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| All things taken into account a very nice practical interior if a bit grey. |
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Now for the best part of the interior as Mazda put it: - (Superior functionality with innovative karakuri seating concept). In layman’s terms the 7 seats are quite trick, with the centre seat in the second row being able to fold up underneath the seat on the left of it. This gives more room and better access when it is not being used. The two remaining seats on this row can then slide independently and recline much like the front seats on all cars. Both the front seats have fold down trays fitted on their backs for the second row passengers. With this combined with the optional extra ceiling mounted LCD screen and DVD player. Who wants to drive the car? I want to sit in the back in comfort and watch a DVD. The third row seats are a 50/50 split bench-type design.
All the rear seats are able to be folded flat giving a load volume of 1,566 litres, the floor itself becomes 1,700mm long. Another clever feature is that none of the head rests have to be removed to do this because they fold down into the seats.
Finally, something else, I did think was good was that each row of seats are a little higher than the row in front giving theatre-style seating. The seats on the test car were two tone grey cloth/leather and a tiny bit firm after a long drive but am sure they will give a little.
The Mazda5 has a mass of storage compartments: 45 including10 cup holders in all. That’s great unless you’re the one cleaning the car on a Sunday morning.
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Ride,
Handling & Steering | | |  
 
| Push harder and things slot into place | |
The Mazda5 is being marketed as a Zoom Zoom product. Which at first I thought a bit of a joke, because it’s just a wedge shaped mpv. It must be slow, its high so
either body role is severe or the suspension is too hard to compensate. I was wrong, yes if you drive it like an old woman it will chug along. Get the revs up though,
and in the top end of the scale and it goes like a GTI. Not quite the handling because the suspension is a bit softer but it does move well. Body role is present when
cornering fast at the rear end but you have to really push it. I think it would improve with a bit of weight in the rear like a couple of people.
The brakes are very good with a stopping distance of 39 metres at 62mph. Not surprising because it has (ABS) with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and
emergency brake assist (EBA) as standard.
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Engine, Gearbox and Performance |
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| 145bhp punchy but needs to be revved |
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The Mazda5’s 2.0 litre 145bhp engine is very punchy with plenty of pulling power the only downfall is that to keep that performance you have to keep the revs up. This becomes even more apparent on inclines. The gearbox as you would expect from a modern Jap car is very smooth. I do feel that 5th gear is more of an overdrive because on hills you do need to change down to keep the performance. I would like to try it again with seven people to see if the characteristics change greatly.
Mazda5 will have four engines in the range two petrol and two diesel. Both petrol are 16-valve DOHC units. A 1.8-litre produces 115bhp and a 2.0-litre giving out 145bhp.
The two diesel engines are both 2.0-litre SOHC turbo. The one with standard power produces 110 bhp, the other is a high power unit giving out 145bhp.
Traction control is standard on all sport models. .
The Top speed is 122 mph. I did not have chance to do 0-60 or 0-100mph tests. However, the official 0-60 time it quoted as 10.6 seconds. Not bad for a car of this size.
Only the 2.0 litre petrol is being offered at launch with the 5 speed gearbox.
And no auto box is being offered at present on any model.
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Practicality
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| Sliding doors and trick seats and still more |
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Practicality is what the mazda5 is all about with six full seats and a seventh, smaller fold-away extra seat. Theatre-style seating with plenty of leg room on all three rows. Under floor storage area in the rear give 15 litres of space. A further 12.6 litres is found under the seats. In all the Mazda5 has 45 storage compartments in Fold all the seats down and you will have a load volume of 1,566 litres. But with them all up behind the rear seats the space is very limited with only 112 litres. Enough to get a folded baby buggy but not a lot more.
The sliding rear doors give great accessibility and are great for tight car park spaces.
Economy wise mazda5 2.0 will return 25.7mpg on the urban cycle.
Insurance group is low at 6E for the TS, s and 8E for the sports.
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Conclusion
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Mazda have made a great new car with the Mazda5. Its ride and handling are certainly amongst the best in class, if not the benchmark. This all put together with style and practicality should win a lot of very happy owners The rear sliding doors look good and work well. With pricing competitive at £14,300 for the base 1.8TS and going up to £19,550 (2.0 diesel sport nav).
If you get a chance to drive this car do I think you will be presently surprised as I was? It’s well worth a look. It’s not just a kid’s taxi but a fun stylish well put together car.
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Dave
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