- minivan 153,683
- Brooksville, FL
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- autoshopper.com
- minivan 153,683 red automatic
2006 mazda mazda5 review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. Six-passenger car blurs line between wagon and minivan. introductionminivans are passe. Station wagons are so outdated. Drivers consider normal. what to do? Why, buy a crossover, or what some used to call a hybrid: a car that's more than a car, but isn't really a minivan or a station wagon, either. Whatever they're called, they fit somewhere in between those two, socially dated vehicles, trying to blend the best of both without mixing in any of the downsides of either. the newest iterations are about the size of a car, but slightly taller, and often share underpinnings with cars. They use the same powertrains, albeit tuned to motivate generally slightly heavier and bulkier packages. But they find room inside for a minimum of six people, sometimes seven. There's generally not much cargo space. But hey, something has to give. into this ballooning fray enters the 2006 mazda5, a six-passenger vehicle built, believe it or not, on the foundation underlying the company's smaller sedan, the mazda3. Equally telling, the mazda5 weighs about the same as the mazda6, but it's more compact than the largest of mazda's five-passenger sedans. See how the game's played? the result is one of those esoteric truisms, where the total is better than the sum of its parts. Just like a minivan, the mazda5 really will accommodate six adults, although a couple might have to make some less-than-comfortable adaptations, again, not unlike with some minivans. With the back two rows of seats folded, it'll hold as much or more than a station wagon. Cruise control, a tilt-and-telescope steering wheel, power outside mirrors and a six-way adjustable driver's seat with inboard armrest facilitate driver-to-car interfacing. An attractive and durable-looking fabric covers seats and door panels with seat side bolsters and insets wearing contrasting textures. Options include a power moonroof 700), a moonroof wind deflector 50), an mp3 player/cd changer 500), and fog lamps 250). Externally, the mirrors get body-color paint, and the side sill extensions, liftgate spoiler and fog lamps are added. The moonroof wind deflector is still an option 50). Also, every seating position gets a three-point seatbelt and an adjustable head restraint. The middle and rear seats have child safety seat anchors (latch). Antilock brakes (abs) with electronic brake-force distribution (ebd) come standard. walkaroundthe mazda5 looks very much like a shrink-to-fit version of the mazda mpv, one that has had six grown people belted inside then run through a scalding hot car wash to snuggle up to its occupants' spatial zones. It didn't have to shrink much, as the mpv is one of the smallest minivans and not that much larger than the mazda5. Only in overall length is the difference between the mpv and mazda5 significant. The mpv measures eight inches longer, most of that being devoted to cargo, not people. But styling cues, general outlines and silhouettes of the two are very much in synch. the hood, though expansive, is better proportioned and flows more gracefully into the windshield and a-pillars than the larger mpv's. A single, horizontal bar divides the mazda5's grille opening and supports the mazda trademark logo. Fog lamps, when fitted, peer out of oversized recesses outboard of a broad air intake fronted by a crosshatch mesh positioned in the lower half of the wrap-around bumper fascia. Headlight housings slashed into the fenders reach around the sides to touch the front wheel well arches, which are mostly filled by the tires. from the side, the vista is much busier, although geometrically consistent. A strong wedge influence flares character lines and surface planes from the pinched-down front end rearward to a tall, chopped off, stubby back end rendered even more awkward by a pouting, bulbous rear bumper. Matte black b-pillars and c-pillars play down the height of the glasshouse. Side mirrors attach to the lower half of small, wind wing-shaped quarter windows. Body-color, full-round handles bridge concave circles in the doors. A gentle bulge crossing the doors' lower extremities ties together the blistered fenders. The slots for the sliding side doors' track scar the flanks. The optional side sill extensions create a ground-effect look that somehow works, giving the perspective a more complete, more finished touch. the liftgate extends well into the rear bumper, removing some visual mass from the back end, as well as easing loading with a low cargo floor. Trendy, clear-lens taillight arrays are stacked on each side of the fixed rear window. The optional spoiler drags the roofline back and out above the rear window, adding a bit of edginess to the mazda5's mostly egg-shaped rear outline. interiorother than the packaging, there's nothing special, or unique, about the 2006 mazda5's interior. This isn't to discount the packaging. Making room for six adults in a vehicle casting a smaller shadow than the company's five-passenger, mazda6 sedan is no small achievement. But beyond this, the interior is in line with what's to be expected in a car in the mazda5's price range. the dashboard is very minivan-ish, with broad reaches of quality plastic spreading far forward beneath the sharply raked windshield. Symmetrical right and left panels belie the mazda5's international character, as it's easily re-cobbled for right-hand drive countries. The look is sleek and high tech, but with an odd-looking gash splitting the upper and lower halves of the dash. Air vents shutter like window blinds if the cool or warm air gets too much. Metallic-look plastic trims the center stack, shift console and front door handles. The instrument cluster is pleasantly basic, with eye-catching contrasts between speedometer and supportive gauges. Equally pleasant surprises for a car in this class are the steering wheel-mounted controls for audio and cruise settings. A panel with the system's controls is tacked onto the console on the driver's side of the shift gate. audio and climate controls are sublime, with large, round knobs and widely spaced, clearly marked buttons. Seat bottoms could be deeper, and bolsters could be more substantive. The driver's seat height adjustment is manual and pivots on the front of the seat bottom. Thus, the higher it's ratcheted, the less leg room it leaves. head restraints are adjustable in all three rows, but they, too, diminish in comfort in the second and third rows, especially the rearmost, which are functional, yes, but add nothing to an already minimally accommodating seat. On the other hand, in their lowered position in those two rows they cut so sharply into the upper back anybody sitting there will be sure to adjust them to an effective height just to avoid the pain. And this is a good thing. not many adults will want to park for very long in the third row. There's plenty of head room, measuring only 1. 4 inches less than that of the ford freestyle, another small minivan-cum-station wagon with three rows of seats, and a mere 0. 2 inches shy of the dodge caravan, a current descendant of the minivan family that created the segment. It's in leg room and hip room that the mazda5 cramps third-row occupants. It gives up three i. Cruise Control✔ Power Windows✔ Anti-lock Brakes✔ CD Changer✔ MP3 Player✔ Sunroof/Moonroof✔ Air Conditioning✔ Navigation System
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