CD Article: 2008 Mazda5 GT

[CD_Editor]

Test Drive:


With five-speed manual transmission: Changes for 2008, such as new standard side and curtain airbags and rear air vents and fan speed control, have made this six-passenger micro-van even more appealing to it primary customers, parents with young children, says Editor-in-chief, Greg Wilson.

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Read the article | View the photos | All The Test Drives

[Mitlov]

I knew I'd seen those wheels before.  I also just noticed that Mazda's styling and Euro Ford's "kinetic design" styling are remarkably similar.

[2hondas1BMW]

I am a huge fan of the Mazda 5. Looks sleek, roomy, versatile. Perfect for a family of 4.

[Mitlov]

I am a huge fan of the Mazda 5. Looks sleek, roomy, versatile. Perfect for a family of 4.

I think it's really great option too.  Practical seating for four, great access for carseats, and room for the occasional sleep-over buddy.  Throw in a manual transmission and sporty handling and it's a great option.

Maybe I'm a sicko, and I know it wouldn't actually sell, but I'd love to see a Mazdaspeed5...

[tpl]

I am a huge fan of the Mazda 5. Looks sleek, roomy, versatile. Perfect for a family of 4.

I think it's really great option too.  Practical seating for four, great access for carseats, and room for the occasional sleep-over buddy.  Throw in a manual transmission and sporty handling and it's a great option.

Maybe I'm a sicko, and I know it wouldn't actually sell, but I'd love to see a Mazdaspeed5...

Thats not a sicko thing,that's a Euro thing. Make a sensible small light car and then make a fast one for the people who want one.   After all, what is a muscle car but a family sedan with a monster motor... the Americans invented the idea and the euros just applied it to cars with mouse motors.

[Eric Green]

It's all that 99% of "soccer mums" need. Gasoline at $1.50/l by July might make these people look closer at the Mazda5 and their ilk. Nothing looks more idiotic in the city than a mum and two brats in a XC90 or MD or Tahoe or ...

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I hope Mazda USA learns how - or cares - to advertise and sell it somehow.

The guages used to be green, not red. Like this . Still, the white is more fresh and crisp.

The fuel economy boost is the most sellable of the updates IMO. Now there really is an economical advantage to buying this instead of a full-sized minivan, whereas before the difference questioned the wisdom.

Only big flaw for me is the front seat track is not long enough so my knees are nearly hitting the dash.

Regardless, Mazda5 is dynamite.

[Iso Octane]

However, an engine speed of 3,000 r.p.m. at 100 km/h in fifth gear is relatively high

Another low gear high revver from Mazda.   Although on the road and cruising, I doubt it's appreciably harsher than say 2200rpm.   

[stodge]

I expect the auto will spin around 2200rpm at 100km/h?

I do love this little vehicle - it's a great package for a great price. I drove the same drivetrain (I think) in a Mazda 6 I rented and loved it.

I really should have bought a Mazda5 instead of the Sentra. I wanted a spacious commuter car so I bought the Sentra as I didn't need the extra cargo space or seats. Given the small difference in economy and the extremely uncomfortable seats in the Sentra (boy do I feel silly!), I should have just plummed for the '08 5GS instead. Oh well..   If I could trade the Sentra in and end up paying the same for a 5 I'd do it tomorrow. Hindsight.......

[Mitlov]

I am a huge fan of the Mazda 5. Looks sleek, roomy, versatile. Perfect for a family of 4.

I think it's really great option too.  Practical seating for four, great access for carseats, and room for the occasional sleep-over buddy.  Throw in a manual transmission and sporty handling and it's a great option.

Maybe I'm a sicko, and I know it wouldn't actually sell, but I'd love to see a Mazdaspeed5...

Thats not a sicko thing,that's a Euro thing. Make a sensible small light car and then make a fast one for the people who want one.   After all, what is a muscle car but a family sedan with a monster motor... the Americans invented the idea and the euros just applied it to cars with mouse motors.

I was just thinking about it, and there IS actually a microvan with a powerful turbo engine on sale over here.  The HHR SS.  Six inches more headroom than a Cobalt, big rear doors, a big cargo area (thanks in part to the vertical rear)...yet it has Nurburgring-tuned handling and a 260-horsepower turbocharged engine.

[crispin]

I wish this goof had done his homework. I own a 06 Mazda 5 GT. It came with auto A/C, ambient temp display, the instrumentation and backlighting is green, green, green, NOT RED !!!.

[airbalancer]

I wish this goof had done his homework. I own a 06 Mazda 5 GT. It came with auto A/C, ambient temp display, the instrumentation and backlighting is green, green, green, NOT RED !!!.

 
you have no right call the writer a goof, you can point out the error.
Remember writer probably looks at a different car almost every week, it is very easy to make a mistake

[tpl]

I am a huge fan of the Mazda 5. Looks sleek, roomy, versatile. Perfect for a family of 4.

I think it's really great option too.  Practical seating for four, great access for carseats, and room for the occasional sleep-over buddy.  Throw in a manual transmission and sporty handling and it's a great option.

Maybe I'm a sicko, and I know it wouldn't actually sell, but I'd love to see a Mazdaspeed5...

Thats not a sicko thing,that's a Euro thing. Make a sensible small light car and then make a fast one for the people who want one.   After all, what is a muscle car but a family sedan with a monster motor... the Americans invented the idea and the euros just applied it to cars with mouse motors.

I was just thinking about it, and there IS actually a microvan with a powerful turbo engine on sale over here.  The HHR SS.  Six inches more headroom than a Cobalt, big rear doors, a big cargo area (thanks in part to the vertical rear)...yet it has Nurburgring-tuned handling and a 260-horsepower turbocharged engine.

and it is really ugly.  Its  beauty is in the eyes of someone or other but not me.

[Mitlov]

and it is really ugly.  Its  beauty is in the eyes of someone or other but not me.

And the Mazda5 is really ugly in my eyes, but that's because I have an (unfair and irrational) bias against hoods that have the same rake as the windshield, and sliding doors.  I think the HHR SS is dorky, but the Mazda5 is worse.

And the HHR is actually quite nice in black, though other colors are pretty bad.  Check out this black HHR SS:

http://jalopnik.com/photogallery/2008ChevyHHRSSBlack/2399020?viewSize=thumb800x800

[Arctic_White]

One of the best buys for a small family, for sure.

And Mazda5 is very pretty as compared to the HHR!

[Thinking Out Loud]

I didn't know the HHR came in a three row seating config? Not same class otherwise IMO then.

Notwithstanding what someone finds visually exciting, there are really only two cars in this pricing segment, the Rondo and 5.  The Rondo took the crossover path, Mazda a microvan - which is a carryover from other markets anyway.

What made me throw my hat into the ring with the 5 (Rondo was a close second) was several things:

ALL cars in this size range are REALLY 4 passenger vehicles, not 5.  Maybe 6' people will have a problem getting into the third row of a 5/Rondo/similar, but I don't hear a similar noting as similar a refrain that a Civic (for example) "is a 2+3 seater, but expect your three, 200+lb friends into the back seat will be squeezed".     PS:  Black cars look dirty seconds after a car wash. 

Once the REAL seating limitations are accepted, not the PR/marketing spin, I personally could not imagine getting a a traditional wagon or hatch - SX4, Matrix, 3 Sport, Fit, etc because the cars are all effectively sitting in the same footprint within inches - and only the 5 has the utility of 2 additional seats to the real "2+2" seating of the others.

Sure there is no storage space when 6 people are in it - but in regular "2+2" seating mode, the cargo area, thanks to it's high roof, is more substantial than a Matrix etc.

[Minou]

However, an engine speed of 3,000 r.p.m. at 100 km/h in fifth gear is relatively high

Another low gear high revver from Mazda.   Although on the road and cruising, I doubt it's appreciably harsher than say 2200rpm.   

I wonder where the improvement in fuel economy for the manual transmission model comes from?

If I recall correctly, gearing is the same...

Manufacturers twisting numbers in their favors or to get below rebate thresholds maybe...

[quadzilla]

I wonder where the improvement in fuel economy for the manual transmission model comes from?

If I recall correctly, gearing is the same...

Manufacturers twisting numbers in their favors or to get below rebate thresholds maybe...

The Mz5 use to have only a 4 speed and now its a 5 speed. I never checked to see if the ratios match up on the final drive. I've also heard that they never did re-test it when they first put the 5 speed into it and now it has been.

[Mitlov]

I didn't know the HHR came in a three row seating config? Not same class otherwise IMO then.

The HHR is not in the same class if the miniscule third-row seat is a requirement for you.  But if you want a tall-roofed compact MPV which has plenty of room for two adults in the first row, two car seats in the second row, and a ton of cargo in the back, the HHR fills that role just as well as the Mazda5 does.

[Minou]

I wonder where the improvement in fuel economy for the manual transmission model comes from?

If I recall correctly, gearing is the same...

Manufacturers twisting numbers in their favors or to get below rebate thresholds maybe...

The Mz5 use to have only a 4 speed and now its a 5 speed. I never checked to see if the ratios match up on the final drive. I've also heard that they never did re-test it when they first put the 5 speed into it and now it has been.

I meant the manual transmission model not the automatic.  I can believe the improvement in fuel economy with the new 5 speed auto vs the old 4 but for the manual with same gearing???

Same as Honda (and some others) with the manual Civic now just under the 6.5 l/100 km threshold.  A friend test drove an '08 and it still spins 2700 rpm at 100 so I'm a bit skeptical with the "new" figures.