Front passenger seat doesn't have armrest?

Even the middle row has fold down arm-rests but the front passenger seat doesnt. Is this just on the sport? Touring ppl please help! Its the first thing you notice when you sit in the passenger seat and its quite akward.

It's been mentioned before, I think, but yes, the front passenger seat does not have an arm rest on any model. The theory I heard somewhere is that this may be due to needing room for drivers of the 5-speed to shift, but I haven't tried to experiment and test this in any way. It seems to me that's a fairly weak explanation, but I haven't heard anything better. I asked my wife if it bothered her (as she's the one most likely to be in that seat) and she said it didn't, so I didn't give it much thought after that.

Oh, and can we try not to typ3 in AOL e77t3 speak, because it makes for awkward readability. I took the liberty of editing the subject line to better reflect what your post asked.

(pics)

a great pic of it is here:

http://motortrend.com/roadtests/van/112_0502_first_mazda5/

i guess we have to talk older in a minivan thread lolz.

Yup, I guess I have to admit that I must be getting old - It took me FOREVER to figure out what the original thread title meant!! LOL

lol all of us are on the road to being outdated since most of us have had a kid already that own these 5's.

On further evaluation, i agree IF i had the 5 speed, going into reverse may have been tougher if the non existant arm rest was down and i was strong arming the shifter with my elbow out. The 5 is wonderfully thought out except for that. it wouldnt be hard to say "B#$% move i need to get in reverse!" Im probably going to buy something in the armrests place wither to set on top of the low rider console or something, ill let you know what i work out.

The front passenger seat is also severely limited in space for tall people. I hope that they'll be able to play with the trim and help accomodate longer legged passengers because if I'm not driving and I'm not able to rest comfortably then I'm not going to be very happy. Right now the lack of space there is a real showstopper for us.

Looking said:

The front passenger seat is also severely limited in space for tall people. I hope that they'll be able to play with the trim and help accomodate longer legged passengers because if I'm not driving and I'm not able to rest comfortably then I'm not going to be very happy. Right now the lack of space there is a real showstopper for us.

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Personally, I haven't had any problems or complaints with the front row passenger seat, but if it's not large enough, then sit in the third row. No, don't laugh, I'm serious! Take the seat in the second row, collapse it down and push it all the way up, then sit in the third row and stretch out.

my 6 foot 3 bro in law couldnt fit in the passenger seat, its due to the glove box (yes its huge but it needs to be about 4 inches farther in and all would be well)

Another option that may work is to sit in the 2nd row. Move the front passenger seat all the way forward take off the headrest and recline it all the way. Then the 2nd row seat is like a lounger.

Kaian said:

It's been mentioned before, I think, but yes, the front passenger seat does not have an arm rest on any model. The theory I heard somewhere is that this may be due to needing room for drivers of the 5-speed to shift, but I haven't tried to experiment and test this in any way. It seems to me that's a fairly weak explanation, but I haven't heard anything better. I asked my wife if it bothered her (as she's the one most likely to be in that seat) and she said it didn't, so I didn't give it much thought after that.

Oh, and can we try not to typ3 in AOL e77t3 speak, because it makes for awkward readability. I took the liberty of editing the subject line to better reflect what your post asked.

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Front passenger armrest would interfere with operation of the centre storage lids in the console. This is true for all models. None come with front passenger armrest. :-(

Kaian said:

Personally, I haven't had any problems or complaints with the front row passenger seat, but if it's not large enough, then sit in the third row. No, don't laugh, I'm serious! Take the seat in the second row, collapse it down and push it all the way up, then sit in the third row and stretch out.

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You may be serious, but the front passenger seat room is truly a joke. If they can fit someone 6'6 in the driver's seat, that person should at least be able to fit in the front passenger seat for short periods of time. The other thing that was tough in the sizing department was the clearance between the brake pedal and the left side of the console (where your foot goes through to press the gas peddle). I only had around a half inch or less to spare. I'm not sure if all large winter boots would actually make it to the gas peddle without touching interfering with the brake.

Looking said:

You may be serious, but the front passenger seat room is truly a joke. If they can fit someone 6'6 in the driver's seat, that person should at least be able to fit in the front passenger seat for short periods of time. The other thing that was tough in the sizing department was the clearance between the brake pedal and the left side of the console (where your foot goes through to press the gas peddle). I only had around a half inch or less to spare. I'm not sure if all large winter boots would actually make it to the gas peddle without touching interfering with the brake.

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Those are all valid complaints. Mazda had thought of so many great things but forgot that americans are usually above 5 ft tall
One more complaint is the keyless entry range is a joke if you are on the rear side of the vehicle reason being is a little ledge they put on the dash keeps the signal from reaching the sensor. here is an idea mazda, put the sensor on the protrusive ledge. I was so used to my mazda3, it had an unreal range!

Looking said:

You may be serious, but the front passenger seat room is truly a joke. If they can fit someone 6'6 in the driver's seat, that person should at least be able to fit in the front passenger seat for short periods of time.

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Actually, I'm impressed someone 6'6 could even fit in the driver's seat. And given your problems with the gas/brake pedal, which isn't an issue for me, I wonder if you really do fit? The Mazda5 is a small vehicle, which is one of the reasons I like it, but that smallness generally comes at a cost, and it's impressive to me that the driver can be that big. After all, what percentage of people are 6'6 anyway? I'd expect most 6'6 people to choose other vehicles than the Mazda5, just as I wouldn't expect them to be in a Mini Cooper (they might fit just fine, but most people wouldn't expect to fit before getting in).

I do agree that it is a bit weird to have the situation where the driver's seat can accommodate people that the passenger front seat cannot. That violates some unspoken rule of symmetry I'm sure. However, I may not ever have even noticed that if it hadn't been brought up here. My front passenger seat has held my wife, several colleagues from work during lunch runs, my mother-in-law, and a few other friends, for a total of ... oh, a dozen people total, and not one of them mentioned any problem fitting in the seat. One person did notice the lack of a passenger seat armrest though.

And again, if ever I do get a passenger that has a problem with that seat, I'll just have him or her sit in one of the other seats in back. Meanwhile, the glove compartment has that great shelf where I can put things that most other vehicles don't have.

While I don't mean to dismiss your problem, I do want to note it is not something that everyone will immediately notice, and that the other seats do mitigate the issue. It is something that people should check out for themselves on the test drive. I did sit in all the seats during my testing of the vehicle before I bought it, but my main concern at the time was whether adults could fit in the third row. Now, of course, I'd recommend to anyone considering the Mazda5 to check out all the seats and make sure you're happy with them all.

Kaian said:

Actually, I'm impressed someone 6'6 could even fit in the driver's seat. And given your problems with the gas/brake pedal, which isn't an issue for me, I wonder if you really do fit? The Mazda5 is a small vehicle, which is one of the reasons I like it, but that smallness generally comes at a cost, and it's impressive to me that the driver can be that big. After all, what percentage of people are 6'6 anyway? I'd expect most 6'6 people to choose other vehicles than the Mazda5, just as I wouldn't expect them to be in a Mini Cooper (they might fit just fine, but most people wouldn't expect to fit before getting in).

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Mini Coopers fit (both the original real ones and the portly BMW version) and VW Beetles are simply amazing. The Protege also fits quite well. Why shouldn't the Mazda5? Just because a person is tall doesn't mean they should be relegated to having to drive full sized S class Mercedes or Sports Utes. 6'6 is in the 1 percentile range, but 6'4 increases the percentile greatly and is a difference of just an inch at both ends. If someone is 6'2 and is heavy, their larger butt will mean that they are going to need around the same amount of legroom as I do. BTW, 6'5 / 6'6 is a very common height in the Netherlands and this vehicle is sold there, so Mazda really would do themselves a favour if the resculpted the console and dash so that the lack of passenger seat does not become an issue.

This is a valid criticism. Not all cars are perfect, so you really shouldn't be so defensive just because nobody has complained to you about the space there.

Cheers!

fam said:

Even the middle row has fold down arm-rests but the front passenger seat doesnt. Is this just on the sport? Touring ppl please help! Its the first thing you notice when you sit in the passenger seat and its quite akward.

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That's kinda funny because my girlfriend just noticed it (she's been riding shotgun for a month now and she just noticed it).

the_saint said:

That's kinda funny because my girlfriend just noticed it (she's been riding shotgun for a month now and she just noticed it).

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Well her left hand must have been somewhere else the rest of the time, go Johnny 5!

fam said:

Well her left hand must have been somewhere else the rest of the time, go Johnny 5!

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