Dislikes about your MAZDA 5
- Thread starter 90210
- Start date
I own a 2008 M5 GT. The car is very convenient, some minor issues
1) Difficult to find a good driving position for a 6'+ driver. Telescopic steering wheel and driver seat that goes a little further back would help
2) It seems to me the fan speed and temperature dials are inverted. I want to control fan speed more often than temperature and I find it annoying that fan speed is pretty far out
3) Traction control would be nice, especially for our Canadian winter
1) Difficult to find a good driving position for a 6'+ driver. Telescopic steering wheel and driver seat that goes a little further back would help
2) It seems to me the fan speed and temperature dials are inverted. I want to control fan speed more often than temperature and I find it annoying that fan speed is pretty far out
3) Traction control would be nice, especially for our Canadian winter
I think traction control became standard w/ 2010 models. I'm glad I DON'T have it on my '09 manual; traction aids in my experience can work against you when you're driving stick.
was98strat
Member
How different is the 2008 dash from the 2006 dash? on the 2006, the fan control is the closest knob on the climate controls to the driver.
I think Traction control would be a negative feature, at least with a MTX transmission.
I'd agree the driver's seat seems to be optimized for people under 5'10" even I have ( at 5'10" ) the drivers seat all the way back!
dieseldriver
Member
Lots of cars now don't come with coolant temp gauge. My VW Beetle TDI did not have one, which is the reason I installed New South gauge for the coolant temp. There's almost no brainer solution for this dilemma. It's called ScanGaugeE, cost about $95 on Amazon shipped. Problem solved. It plugs right into the OBD-II port and it gets power from there. Just one RJ45 wire runs to where ever you want to mount the ScanGauge.
EDIT: I also monitor the engine load carefully. This is one of the best indicator of what mileage I'm going to get on average. I am very gentle with acceleration. Getting over 26.6MPG on average. Right now I am almost at 2K mark and picked it up about a month ago. For now, I am a happy camper. I am planning to add the Alpine overhead DVD unit -- plus add some side reading lights for the second and third row seats.
EDIT: I also monitor the engine load carefully. This is one of the best indicator of what mileage I'm going to get on average. I am very gentle with acceleration. Getting over 26.6MPG on average. Right now I am almost at 2K mark and picked it up about a month ago. For now, I am a happy camper. I am planning to add the Alpine overhead DVD unit -- plus add some side reading lights for the second and third row seats.
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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
It was swapped on the 2008-2010 models, it is actually noted in the owner's manual. I don't see a reason, it happened when they started offering the 2nd row A/C in some countries. They swapped back for the 2012 though (see thumbnails)
Some of my complaints:
Day to day:
- The 2nd row light switch exists, but the problem is that it cannot be controlled from the front row
- OEM tinting would have been nice, although I like the clear looks better (functionality kills aesthetics with kids on board I'm afraid)
Mazda decision-wise:
- The espresso leather just made it for one year (2007 Grand Touring)
- Clever that they added 6MT for the US, but not for the Grand Touring (US). It is not that they can really mess up production by making 2-3 units per week
- All the best goodies go to the uber sell-able sibling the Mazda3 (sky-activ anyone?), then cascade down to the Mazda5 a few years later (if lucky)
Attachments
I think the steering wheel is a bit on the thin side. Be nice if it were thicker or at least have some thick spots at the 10 and 2 positions. I did buy a aftermarket cover, but even the smallest size fits too loose on the wheel so I returned it.
Also I would have liked it if the rear glass opened separate from the hatch for transporting long items that won't with the hatch closed. My Pontiac Vibe has that feature and has been used quite a bit (for 2x10's and the like).
Also I would have liked it if the rear glass opened separate from the hatch for transporting long items that won't with the hatch closed. My Pontiac Vibe has that feature and has been used quite a bit (for 2x10's and the like).
was98strat
Member
I like the opening window idea, but I suspect that the plactic rear door would not be stong enough to support things that would normally get "stuck out of it" a couple of 2x10's on that plactic door could do some damage to the shape I suspect!
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- 2008 Mazda5 Touring
Yes, an operable rear glass!
The 2012 has a metal hatch and still no operable glass, but this vehicle technically is a van and I've yet to see one with this.
It just makes too much sense for this vehicle with such little room behind the 3rd row. You'd actually be able to fill it up without everything falling back out.
The 2012 has a metal hatch and still no operable glass, but this vehicle technically is a van and I've yet to see one with this.
It just makes too much sense for this vehicle with such little room behind the 3rd row. You'd actually be able to fill it up without everything falling back out.
was98strat
Member
you dont have the ability to adjust the angle of the bottom seat cushion? weird. My Mazda5 (2006) has this feature, just a lever on the left side of the driver's seat that you pump to move the seat.
This seems to the be ABS solenoid test mentioned in other threads here.
the pump only changes the HEIGHT, not the tilt. there is another guy on here who put spacers under the front mounting bolts to tilt the front up higher.
was98strat
Member
It does tilt the bottom of the seat more forward as you pump the handle. It does this by raising the rear of the seat to change the angle of the cushion, pretty normal. I think you want the front of the seat to raise up to INCREASE the angle. that would seem to be an ackward function
Three points (only one of them is related to the topic though(fuoops)):
1. You do not need to spend a lot of money to get an accurate temperature sensor. In fact, I can not think of an existing commercial sensor that is not precise enough for the application at hand.
2. There are good and bad engineers all over the place (i.e. - Honda, Toyota, Mazda, GM, Google, MIT, etc.).
3. Since we seem to have established that automatic climate control is no more than a simple temperature stabilization circuit, I do not see a reason for not letting me decide to when the A/C is needed or where to direct the air flow. If I am stupid enough to try to defrost the windshield or cool the car below the ambient temperature with the A/C off - let it be!(breakn)
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mpg is very driver and area dependent. local mixed driving I get around 23-25. name another 6 passenger non-hybrid that will get that.
hwy rating is 28, and most of us have beat that too. I've gotten as good as 31mpg.
Keep in mind I'm coming off a '99 Civic that even with 180k on the clock did 30-35 regularly (with at least one tank at 40) and still have a Miata that will do 24-26 on the same driving and you can see my frustration. My wife's '05 Altima 2.5 will do about 26 or so highway.
