The 2008 Mazda5 is another one of those quirky vehicles that doesn’t quite fit into a defined car mold. It’s got sliding rear doors and a hatchback. Plus, it’s got three rows of seats. That, to me, says minivan. But it’s not. Kind of.
It could be a crossover. It’s definitely not an SUV. It might be considered a wagon. But I kept coming back to the idea of a minivan. A mini minivan. A mini minivan that actually looks cool.
2008 Mazda5
The shape of the Mazda5 somewhat resembles the Pontiac Vibe or Toyota Matrix with the sloping rear roof and blunt rear end. But, because of the third-row seat, the Mazda5 adds about 10 inches to the length and has an overall length of 181.5 inches.
I don’t love the look of the rear sliding doors, but they do provide easy and practical entry to the vehicle. The fact that the rest of this six-passenger vehicle has a pleasing shape distracts from the track grooves on the side and gives the Mazda5 more of a wagon or crossover feel.
While the badging on the Mazda5 clearly identifies the vehicle as a Mazda, it doesn’t quite fall into the classic Mazda design with the flared fenders and rounded lines. The Mazda5 is actually a bit edgy. And a bit cute. Really. If you look at the front, the headlights, grille and curved bumper combine to create a smiley face. If you look at the back, the slick taillights, bumper and large Mazda emblem create, well, a smiley face.
The interior is more clearly Mazda with the black lacquer face plate on the center stack, brightly illuminated gauges and large silver-ringed dials. Everything is easily reachable and intuitively placed. The test car had the comfortable black leather seats, and I was able to find a good driving position with the adjustable seat height. A nice touch is that first- and second-row captains chairs' all had arm rests.
Front passengers will be sitting pretty with 40.7 inches of legroom, but second- and third-row passengers will be increasingly squashed with 35.2 and 30.7 inches of leg room respectively. As you would imagine, I fit fine in all seating positions, but such will not be the case for taller adults. Average adults will fit well in the middle captains' chairs, but the third row is pretty much for children (or me-sized adults) only.
Behind the third row, cargo volume is minimal but enough to fit four to five grocery bags, a gym bag or maybe even a couple small roller board suitcases. With the third row folded flat, cargo volume jumps to 44.4 cubic-feet. With the second and third rows folded flat, cargo volume is a very respectable 70.9 cubic-feet.
The one thing I would like to see in the Mazda5 is more closable, hidden storage space. All the little cubby holes and storage grooves, except for the glove box, were very visible to anyone peering in your windows. After attending a recent self-defense class, coverable storage has become one of my new checklist items. The Chicago police officer leading the class mentioned that he’s seen thieves break into a car over a quarter in the cup holder.
My biggest problem with the Mazda5 centers around the optional navigation system ($2,000). Hate is a strong word, but I think it applies here. I don’t know if this particular system was defective or if all Mazda nav systems are this awful, but I had a horrible time with this feature and cannot recommend that anyone purchase it.
The location of the vehicle within the system habitually became uncalibrated. When I first got the car, I was driving around Logan Square, and the system showed the location of the car somewhere near 95th and Stony Island. Huh? When I contacted the company that delivered the car, they told me I must have hit a button to reset the location and that I would need to recalibrate the location manually. So, I got to well-known cross street, manually recalibrated my location and away I went. This worked for a whole 24 hours. Every day, I noticed that the system would become uncalibrated, and I’d have to manually recalibrate. I tried to get an answer from Mazda, but it was the same as the company who delivered the car: I must have accidentally hit a button that reset the location. I didn’t.
I was driving down to Indianapolis when I figured out what was happening. Because of the construction on I-65, I had programmed my sister’s address into the system, thinking that it would help me get through any detour that popped up. However, when I drove through the roughly constructed detour areas, I noticed that the route I was traveling wasn’t on the map, and I was driving through grass. OK, no big deal; I’ve seen that happen with other systems. Well, as I was looking at the screen, the system automatically snapped the car to the nearest road. It just happened to be the wrong road. So, as I was driving down I-65, it looked like I was floating in Lake Michigan. Not a good thing. I never got a satisfactory answer regarding the system, so all I can say is: Get the car, but buy a Garmin or a TomTom if you need navigation. They cost less, and they actually work.
There are three trim levels for the Mazda5: Sport, Touring and Grand Touring. The base model is equipped with a manual transmission and starts at $18,630. It comes with a 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine that delivers 153 horsepower. At this level, the automatic transmission is an option ($950). The Touring model adds a rear liftgate spoiler, standard automatic transmission, halogen fog lights, moonroof, in-dash six-disc CD changer and about $2K to the bottom line. The Grand Touring model bases at $23,000 and adds leather seating surfaces, heated front seats, rain-sensing windshield wipers, Xenon HID auto on/off headlights, Bluetooth and an antitheft alarm system.
The test vehicle was a Grand Touring model and added few options: rear bumper step plate ($50), Sirius Satellite Radio ($430) and navigation ($2,000). The as-tested price was $25,480. Because the Grand Touring model is so well equipped and it has my two must-have features – auxiliary input jack and heated front seats – I’d probably forgo most options. In fact, the only thing I would add is the interior cargo cover ($150) – see the above reference to thieves and quarters.
Since I took the trip down to Indy during the test week, I spent a lot of time in this car. It was comfortable and incredibly easy to drive. Parallel parking was a breeze with easily visible front and rear edges. Maneuvering through traffic wasn’t a problem. And stop-and-go traffic didn’t bother me since the test vehicle had the five-speed automatic transmission.
Even though 153 horsepower might not seem like a lot, I really thought the Mazda5 was perfectly powered. The Zoom-Zoom is definitely present, as it was peppy off the start and didn’t feel sluggish when passing. Even though it is a couple inches taller than you might expect at 64.2 inches, the Mazda5 doesn’t feel tall while driving. It handles curves and corners well and has a definite carlike ride.
Fuel estimates ring in at 21 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway for the automatic transmission (22/28 mpg for the manual), and I was slightly disappointed by this. Because of the smaller size and lower horsepower, I would like to see the Mazda5 hit 30 mpg on the highway.
The Mazda5 was new in 2006 and refreshed for 2008, yet it still hasn’t quite captured a mass audience. The unfortunate thing about not fitting into a mold – minivan, wagon or crossover – is that people tend to forget about the Mazda5. It’s both practical and attractive, and if you compare it to other utilitarian vehicles, it’s also more fuel efficient. So, whether you’re looking for a wagon or a crossover or a minivan, be sure to add Mazda5 to your test drive list.
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