Cargo capacity vs others

S

simonsez

Member
Hi there,

Rookie here, great website and great forum btw. Ok here it goes.

We have a daughter (1 year old) and we planned on having one more child by the end of 2007 (than thats it!). We currently have a 05 Accord thats been trouble-free but are now thinking of possibly switching to something a little more practical, specifically when it comes to carrying cargo. A new 5 would agree with our budget but we are also considering a used CR-V, 6 Wagon and Subaru Forester and Legacy Wagon. Here are some of my concerns:

Coming from a 4-door Accord, would I see a noticeable difference in practicality and cargo carrying capacity with a 5 (3rd row folded)? For those that came from a typical mid-size sedan, I would love to hear comments?

With the 3rd row folded, would the 5 hold more cargo than the 3 vehicles listed above (CR-V, 6 wagon, Forester,Legacy wagon)?

I would like to hear from previous owners of these vehicles as well. Im also confused with the specs on cargo capacity on both Mazda websites (Canada & US). Does anyone know what the official number is with the 3rd row folded. I have visited numerous websites and read many reviews, some say the capacity is 44 cu ft. with BOTH the 2nd and 3rd rows folded while others have it at 44 cu.ft. with only the 3rd row folded, I have also seen 15 cu.ft with the 3rd row folded.

Sorry for all the questions and I apologize if this was mention before.

Thanks a bunch
 
I can't speak on the 5, but my gf has been driving a Forester for a few years now, and she loves it. You can do some decent hauling in their, esp. with the rear seats folded.

My only problem now is, her lease is gonna be up, and she refuses to not get AWD.

I went ahead and looked these up and compared to your #'s for the 5, these all blow it away as far as cargo goes...

Forester: 32 cu.ft / 68.6 cu. ft with seat folded.
CR-V: 33.5 / 72.0
6 wagon: 33.7 / 60.5
Legacy: 32.1 (no mention of seats folded)

They all seem pretty close in capacity. I'd put the Forester on top for price and the practicality & safety of AWD, esp. when you're talking about a family hauler. I think the 6 wagon looks the best.

good luck & welcome to the forums...whoops I guess I was supposed to tell you to buy the Mazda.
 
theice said:
.....I went ahead and looked these up and compared to your #'s for the 5, these all blow it away as far as cargo goes...

Forester: 32 cu.ft / 68.6 cu. ft with seat folded.
CR-V: 33.5 / 72.0
6 wagon: 33.7 / 60.5
Legacy: 32.1 (no mention of seats folded)
.......
Click to expand...

ummm, not so fast. The Mazda5 does a lot better if you read between the lines a bit to get a fair apples to apples comparison. By my reckoning the Mazda5 cargo numbers are:

Mazda5: 44 cu.ft (3rd row folded) / 76 cu.ft with both 2nd and third row folded.

Explanation:

I'm assuming the numbers above for the Subies, the CR-V, and the Mazda6 wagon are the EPA numbers.The EPA spec for Mazda5 cargo volume is 44 cu. ft.

There is also an EPA listing for passenger volume of 98 cu ft - if you conservatively estimate that one third of that volume is available for cargo with the second row folded, you get an additional 32 cu ft. Add 44 and 32 and you get 76 cu. ft, which tops the wagon / small ute competition for "seat folded" cargo space available.

Additional info: I found one review that listed cargo as 11.3 cu ft, that would be behind the third row of seats. Also, Consumer Reports lists the cargo volume for the Mazda5 as 39 cu. ft - must be a more conservative measurement method...

cheers, andrew
 
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sure thing, my #'s were EPA taken directly from the manufacturers' sites.

The Mazda5's is listed as 44cu.ft. I have no idea what that means in regards to which seats are being folded or not. I'd have thought the 5 would hold more anyways, so the 76 would be that higher#.
 
Also something that you may not want to overlook is that when you have a child that is less that 1 year old the child seat have to be installed rear facing. I volunteer with St John Ambulance in the Toronto area to install seats. From my experience most sedans (speciallly the smaller size ones), their front passenger seat becomes almost useless. I have the Mazda5 and if no one is using the 3rd row, you can put the 2nd row all the way back and won't experience this problem with the front seat.
 
I'll throw my two cents in here.

We currently own a first gen CRV and the Mazda5.

So far, I've been able to load more stuff in the Mazda with the 3rd row folded than I can with the CRV. Also keep in mind that the Mazda's loading floor is lower than the CRV, so you can get taller things in.

We cross shopped the Legacy and Forester back when we got the CRV and the CRV had more room than both. Also, with the Forester, you couldn't fold the handle of the infant carrier down. There wasn't enough clearance between the rear seat and the front seats.

Now about the child seats for the Mazda5. We currently have a 3 yr and a 8 weeks old. The older one sits behind the front passenger seat and has to work hard to reach the front seat with his feet. He is in a Britax Marathon seat. The younger one is set up behind the driver, and I don't know if it's the Britax infant seat being bigger than the Graco that we used before or what, but the clearance is tighter than I thought. In order to fold the infant carrier's hand down parallel to the seat (per Britax instructions), I have to move the driver seat up a bit. the infant seat itself fits fine, but it's the stupid handle that is causing me headaches.

Hope this helps.
 
Ok lets see.....

I have two teenagers who take plenty of room and I am happy. I can put full sized downhill pedal bike in the rear no probs. I have a neighbour with a 5 with two kids both in seats and lots of luggage. They seem not to have a problem specially putting in and out the kids in the side sliding doors.

One measurement everyone forgot..... here it comes

GLOVE BOX 11.4 Litres you can put your dog in it damn it.

Ok I vented have a great night buy a 5 (ughdance)
 
We also looked at everything out there before buying a 5. We looked at the Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Outback, Toyota Matrix, Hyundai Tuscon, Kia Sportage and the Mazda 6 wagon. The Mazda 5 was by far the best fit for our family. Two little ones aged 7 and 3.
 
Zoom5Zoom said:
Ok lets see.....

One measurement everyone forgot..... here it comes

GLOVE BOX 11.4 Litres you can put your dog in it damn it.
Click to expand...

Ha! I know, we called it the "magic glovebox of doom" on our trip (we are a little strange). I just kept putting more crap in and it kept fitting. I was literally worried that there was a hole and I was shoving things into the dash...
 
Right now I have an 02 CRV with 45500 miles. Its a really good car by the way. I have a 20 month old son and expecting a daugter in a few weeks. We needed more room. More like a 6 passenger car or van. The 5 seems to fit us best. I like the sliding doors. Its easy to get in and out and to put the kids in and out. Plus the 3rd row has room for 2 more kids or adults. Its also a 4 cylinder with ok power. Im not a V8 fan and will never buy a V8 or American made car. I dont even own a 5 yet, but I talk like I do and I will own one in a few months. But if you like the CRV, Im selling mine so I can get a 5. Post mail me.
 
We currently have a '99 CR-V with 103,000 miles. It has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. Everything works as it did when it was brand new (actually even better since I got rid of the crappy stock tires and went with Yokoham Avids). Nothing on the car has ever failed, ever! I'm meticulous when in comes to maintenance and do most of it myself. All I've ever had to do was routine maintenance (fluids, brakes, etc). However I'm not sure of the Gen II CR-Vs (2002 to present). From what I can tell from the posts on the CR-V board I frequent, the Gen IIs have more problems that the Gen I (1997 to 2001). I did notice that when we had the infant seat in the CR-V behind the driver, there was not much room the recline the front seat (I'm only 5'10").

With that said, the Mazda5 seems to be a better fit for our family of 4 (the wife, 5 year old daughter, 2 year old son, and myself + a 60 pound dog). We'll be purchasing one shortly (I haven't figured out if I want to wait for the '07 model year). Regardless of the 06 or 07, we're keeping the CR-V but the main family car will be the Mazda5.

-Mike
 
My wife drives an 04 diesel Excursion. I can almost park my 5 inside the rear(omg)



Seriously, since we have both the 5 and the land yacht, there are times we leave the yacht in the drive and take the 5 just for the gas mileage. Honestly, if I were going to be in a bad wreck, I'd rather be in the Excursion. Not knocking the 5, but the Excursion is so large, it would take a lot to seriously injure one of us.

Matt
 
MD5 said:
......... I'd rather be in the Excursion. Not knocking the 5, but the Excursion is so large, it would take a lot to seriously injure one of us.

Matt
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying, but by that logic we should all drive Class A RVs for maximum protection. I see so many Excursions, Expeditions, Yukons, Suburbans on the road with just 1 person commuting into RTP (Research Triangle Park, NC) where I work, it just makes me sick. Half the time they're so busy slurping down their Starbucks, with a scone in the one hand and a cell phone in the other. I'm not saying that if you drive a large vehicle you are a bad driver. My point is if you drive a large vehicle you have a duty the rest of the public to drive it more responsibly as these vehicles are not as nimble as smaller cars. However most drivers of these land yachts do not drive them differently than a small sedan.

The NHTSA study concludes that 2,000 people would have survived if their vehicles had been hit by a heavy car instead of a heavy SUV. Two thousand is five percent of the nation's annual traffic fatalities. The study declares that light trucks and SUVs are twice as likely to cause a fatality in the struck car than a passenger car of comparable weight
Click to expand...

It's not just about your safety; it's about everyone's safety in the road. There should be a lot more regulation with regards to issuing licenses and tags for owners of large SUVs, heck really any SUV!

-Mike
 
MD5 said:
My wife drives an 04 diesel Excursion. I can almost park my 5 inside the rear(omg)



Seriously, since we have both the 5 and the land yacht, there are times we leave the yacht in the drive and take the 5 just for the gas mileage. Honestly, if I were going to be in a bad wreck, I'd rather be in the Excursion. Not knocking the 5, but the Excursion is so large, it would take a lot to seriously injure one of us.

Matt
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if you were safer in the Mazda - those big ass SUV's give you a false sense of security because they are so big.

The attached link is just one of many studies...
http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2006/012606/research.html
 
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mazdaFIVEmike said:
I wouldn't be surprised if you were safer in the Mazda - those big ass SUV's give you a false sense of security because they are so big.
Click to expand...

Your risk of injury increases in a SUV/Large Pickup for 3 reasons:

  1. False sense of security, an SUV takes longer to react to road conditions and can lose control much quicker.
  2. SUVs are more prone to roll-overs >> SUVs rollover in 37 percent of fatal crashes, compared to a 15 percent rollover rate for passenger cars. Rollover crashes accounted for 53 percent of all SUV occupant deaths in single vehicle crashes in 1996. Only 19 percent of occupant fatalities in passenger cars occurred in similar crashes.
  3. SUVs do not have to meet the same safety standards as passenger cars, less rigid rules mean occupants of SUVs are not protected by the side-impact crash safety standards or strength requirements for bumpers required on standard passenger cars.

Granted I drive an SUV, but I am more than conscious of that fact when I'm driving. The CR-V has also done very well in crash tests and is more car friendly with a lower front hood.

My wife and I took a little vacation in the Lake Lure/Asheville area of NC this past weekend. While driving through the mountains (on some very twisty roads) I was astonished at how many folks were tailgating me, including some morons in big pickups. I'm by no means a slow driver but I'm not about to drive my CR-V on mountain twisties like it was my old RX-7.

At times I really wish I could pull over people and revoke their license and impound their vehicle on the charge of "possession of stupidity with the intent to distribute!"

-Mike
 
I also looked at all those vehicles you listed. I liked the fit and finish of the CRV very much, it was obviously a mature design with all the finishing touches added, which this first generation 5 really isn't, but that wasn't enough to convince me. With 2 kids and the need to be able to carry them and a friend or an extra adult or 2 occasionally the third row of seats is killer.

The other really deciding factor for me of the 5 vs all the rest of them was the sliding rear doors! i can't tell you how much easier it is to get the kids in and out of their seats with the nice big sliding door.

Not to mention that the 5 fits in the same space in my garage where my saturn sedan fit. It's no bigger which I also love.

I would love to have AWD and a half dozen little things that I could have ordered on the other cars, and I wish that they would have gotten their act together and done things like automatic doors and non-black interior, but after considering the others none of these were show stoppers and the 5 still won.

As far as the engine, I love it. Perhaps it's just coming from a 1995 saturn sedan, but this thing feels like a race car ;) I dont know what the reviewers that claim it's underpowered are used to driving, but I have no trouble passing or merging or accelerating or anything else.
 
Well, I only have like 180 miles on mine so I haven't really tried out my engine yet. But torque seems to be abundant in the lower RPMs.
 
X10James said:
...I wish that they would have gotten their act together and done things like automatic doors ...
Click to expand...

Sneak across the northern border and get one from Canada. You can get automatic doors on the Canadian Mazda5. Auto sensing wipers too...:)
 
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