Am I crazy or am I actually enjoying driving a mini-wagon-van?

K

KiddyCarrier

Member
:
2012 Mazda 5 Sport
Just bought a 2012 Mazda 5 Sport in Silver Metallic with 15,000 on the odo. The wife and I decided we needed a kiddy carrier and our BMW 335i coupe wasn't cutting it. (rofl2)

I didn't have high expectations when we bought it, I thought it looked nice (kind of like if a hatch-wagon, van all had a kid together), and I liked the 6 seat layout (we have 2 carseats), but the stat sheet said it had a 2.5L 157 hp engine. I nearly yawned right there.

Then I actually test drove it. Wow. This is one of the sportiest family cars I've driven. After test driving a Sienna, and an Odyssey, both those cars felt like I was driving a mechanized wolly mammoth around when I took corners. Just heavy and slow. But dare I say, the Mazda 5 felt very nimble? How can this be possible? (scratch)

Took the car home using the "long route", had a few hills, a few long sweeping corners, and I must say I am impressed. This must be one of Mazda's best kept secrets because they don't sell a lot of them. This is the best handling kiddy carrier I've ever driven, bar none. Great steering feel, felt confident & planted, awesome gear ratios, peppy 4 banger, and just overall a great driving experience. This is coming from someone who enjoys how the germans do tuning & suspension, but Mazda has impressed me.
 
Last edited:
No kidding.

Can you imagine what this car would be like if they had simply thrown in the SkyActiv 2.5L 4 banger from the Mazda 6? This car would be insane to drive. 184hp with 184lbs of torque at the low end? Why Mazda?! Why couldn't you do a SkyActiv Mazda 5?! I'd get one right now.
 
I live up the highway from you. Had our 2012 since new in 2011 summer. Due to it sharing the chassis with the Mazda3, it is very nimble.

The reason it is a "best kept secret" and doesn't compete with the Odyssey/Sienna, is how small it is.

We too have 2 child seats. If you lower it and put MS3 wheels like many here, it will even be better.

But if you have rear seat up, no trunk space, and people have to use the roof carrier. When you have more than 2 kids with more car seats, there is a reason people buy oddyssey/sienna.

I am happy with my 5, then again I have 3 hatchbacks, and American's in general hate hatchbacks.


Welcome to the club.
 
90210 said:
I live up the highway from you. Had our 2012 since new in 2011 summer. Due to it sharing the chassis with the Mazda3, it is very nimble.

The reason it is a "best kept secret" and doesn't compete with the Odyssey/Sienna, is how small it is.

We too have 2 child seats. If you lower it and put MS3 wheels like many here, it will even be better.

But if you have rear seat up, no trunk space, and people have to use the roof carrier. When you have more than 2 kids with more car seats, there is a reason people buy oddyssey/sienna.

I am happy with my 5, then again I have 3 hatchbacks, and American's in general hate hatchbacks.


Welcome to the club.
Click to expand...

Yes that's a valid point. If I had 3 car seats or 3 kids in general, I'm not sure if the Mazda 5 would be the car for us. We might have gone for a Sienna or Odyssey. I just hated how those cars felt. They are boats in van form. Just very soft, and too nose-divey for my taste.
 
Welcome. Even many car journalists rarely mention Mazda5 - if they yap about it it's because it's micro size and it's not directly compete with other minivans.
 
I have the automatic, and while I agree that the maneuverability vs. the bigger minivans is welcome, I'm underwhelmed by the drivetrain performance and fuel saving gear ratios. It's also squirrelly at highway speeds, especially when the winds pick up.

Of course, I have an automatic transmission. It seems drivers of manuals more often offer positive comments on the peppy performance of the 2.5.
 
Last edited:
Its the perfect car for a family of four. We bought a 2011 VW cRoutan after our first kid thinking we would need more room. We didn't, so I picked up the 5 because it was what we wanted to get in the first place but the dealers didn't have any Grand Touring's back then. Financing incentives weren't as good either so we got the cRoutan for $29,500 + 0% for 72 months. That's the wife's car. Glad I held out because I picked up a 2014 6MT, which has been awesome.

aha said:
Welcome. Even many car journalists rarely mention Mazda5 - if they yap about it it's because it's micro size and it's not directly compete with other minivans.
Click to expand...

I am an auto journalist and have one. There are two others that I know of with 5's. But do note, most automotive journalists can't afford to buy the cars they write about, not to mention a completely new car in general.
 
KiddyCarrier said:
No kidding.

Can you imagine what this car would be like if they had simply thrown in the SkyActiv 2.5L 4 banger from the Mazda 6? This car would be insane to drive. 184hp with 184lbs of torque at the low end? Why Mazda?! Why couldn't you do a SkyActiv Mazda 5?! I'd get one right now.
Click to expand...

Well I own both a 2012 Mazda 5 sport auto and a 2014 CX5 Touring with the 184 horsepower 2.5 Skyactiv motor. Although the Skyactive motor is more powerful at the limits, it's not much different in everyday driving because they both make good low end torque. In fact I find the powertrain in the 5 to be quit enjoyable and responsive. The Skyactiv engine is also noticeably noisier than the 2.5 in my 5 because of the direct injection and direct lockup transmission. Explained another way the old school 2.5 in my 2012 5 is smoother, quieter, and just more refined than the Skyactive 2.5. Don't get me wrong though as from an enthusiast point of view the Skyactive 2.5, and especially the 6 speed auto are great together; it's just that they have more NVH than the older MRZ MPFI engines.

The Mazda 5 also handles slightly better and rides noticeably better than my CX5 does with less wind noise and engine noise. The Mazda 5 has slightly more road noise on the highway when I measure it with a DB meter but perceived noise is better in the 5 probably because of the lack of wind and engine noise. I also owned a 2013 CX5 Sport with the 2.0 Skyactiv engine and that engine was even noisier.

0-60 times measured on my G-tech were:

2012 Mazda 5 Sport auto 8.88 seconds
2013 FWD CX5 sport auto 8.44 seconds
2014 FWD CX5 Touring 7.5 seconds with the traction control intervening.

Even though the 2013 CX5 was quicker at the limits the 2012 5 just felt peppier and more responsive around town with its greater low end torque. Considering I paid $21,490 for the 2013, $24,600 for the 2014, and just $17,775 for the 5 new tells me the Mazda 5 is one of the most under appreciated vehicles ever.

AMKiddyCarrier, I thoroughly enjoyed your review, especially the comment about the mechanized wolly mammoth, LOL.
 
Last edited:
lesbihonest, the 5's praise here on the board is really the result of constant cognitive dissonance within ball-wearing parentals (ie, daddy hooligans).

i loved it the first 6MO of ownership (after being harassed by SWMBO for nearly half a year for a minivan), but I'm really absolutely done with it. it is, literally, the least fun "fun" car i've had in the last.. i dunno.. dozen years? last night, a e63 tt wagon parked in front my office. today, a douchey red 993tt.

basically, god's telling me I need 2 turbos to replace both the balls I've lost. or, if in another german rwd, 1 turbo is acceptable when paired with a folding top. i'm telling the nanny to feed the kids more food so these underweight runts can graduate into booster chairs ASAP, cuz this car is really destroying my mid-life crisised psyche. alternatively, if i get divorced, i'd just give her the car, yes?

also, I can't believe someone would pay $30K for a Routan... a rebadged caravan... I mean... you must love your wife. a LOT.
 
I am also an auto-journalist/photographer (well mostly "ex" on the journalist part now) and all the car mag people I know love the 5 and recommend it to their friends, it's just that most Americans don't love the idea of it, and it doesn't fit in on comparison tests so there isn't much opportunity to talk about it in publication. It's the car everyone needs but nobody wants.
In addition, there has been no real updates to the car, so no reason to write about it.

My 5 is actually an ex Mazda press car that I bought directly off them ( I do some work for Mazda).




tuanies said:
I am an auto journalist and have one. There are two others that I know of with 5's. But do note, most automotive journalists can't afford to buy the cars they write about, not to mention a completely new car in general.
Click to expand...


Somewhat true, but depends a lot on the journalists position on the totem pole per say. Also a lot of journalists don't need a car because they have access to press cars all the time. One of my good friends doesn't have a daily driver but has a small collection of vintage cars, some motorcycles and an SUV he uses for camping trips.


.
 
On a side note I think the Honda Fit is more like a mini Mazda 5, and they sell a ton of them. The Mazda 5 should have the same or more appeal than the Fit, don't you think?
 
TonyC said:
lesbihonest, the 5's praise here on the board is really the result of constant cognitive dissonance within ball-wearing parentals (ie, daddy hooligans).

i loved it the first 6MO of ownership (after being harassed by SWMBO for nearly half a year for a minivan), but I'm really absolutely done with it. it is, literally, the least fun "fun" car i've had in the last.. i dunno.. dozen years? last night, a e63 tt wagon parked in front my office. today, a douchey red 993tt.

basically, god's telling me I need 2 turbos to replace both the balls I've lost. or, if in another german rwd, 1 turbo is acceptable when paired with a folding top. i'm telling the nanny to feed the kids more food so these underweight runts can graduate into booster chairs ASAP, cuz this car is really destroying my mid-life crisised psyche. alternatively, if i get divorced, i'd just give her the car, yes?

also, I can't believe someone would pay $30K for a Routan... a rebadged caravan... I mean... you must love your wife. a LOT.
Click to expand...


Well the 5 is my car and the wife doesn't drive it at all but I have another toy for taking care of the mid life crisis. I bought mine more because I need to haul camera gear around than because of the kid and after Mazda lent the car to me for a week to use I had to have it. Lowering it and the mazdaspeed wheels made the car feel a lot more sporty and fun, helped with any ego issues and I really enjoy driving it. The sliding doors are definitely a bonus for getting the kid and gear in and out.

After years of getting to drive really fast and sometimes exotics cars (see above post) I realized I am very much over having something fast as a daily driver, it's just more trouble than it's worth. You will spend more time trying to stay out of trouble with that e63 or 993tt than you would get to enjoy it's performance.
 
TonyC said:
... it is, literally, the least fun "fun" car i've had in the last.. i dunno.. dozen years
Click to expand...

You're either being melodramatic, or totally missing the point. The mz5 isn't meant to be the most fun car you've ever driven. (and I don't think anyone here is claiming it is)

What it is meant to be, is the most fun 6 passenger, dual sliding door, decent gas mileage, family hauler available.

And it is pretty much universally agreed that it succeeds in that purpose (bias of this board notwithstanding).
 
Mopho said:
I am also an auto-journalist/photographer (well mostly "ex" on the journalist part now) and all the car mag people I know love the 5 and recommend it to their friends, it's just that most Americans don't love the idea of it, and it doesn't fit in on comparison tests so there isn't much opportunity to talk about it in publication. It's the car everyone needs but nobody wants.
In addition, there has been no real updates to the car, so no reason to write about it.

My 5 is actually an ex Mazda press car that I bought directly off them ( I do some work for Mazda).




.
Click to expand...

You must be the other journalist Andrew Ganz was talking about then :). We had a discussion during Mudfest and it was me + another journalist that had a 5. The guy that writes GeekDad for Wired has a first gen too iirc.

I was trying to buy an ex press car but there were none :(. Also financing a new car was easier.

TonyC said:
i loved it the first 6MO of ownership (after being harassed by SWMBO for nearly half a year for a minivan), but I'm really absolutely done with it. it is, literally, the least fun "fun" car i've had in the last.. i dunno.. dozen years? last night, a e63 tt wagon parked in front my office. today, a douchey red 993tt.

basically, god's telling me I need 2 turbos to replace both the balls I've lost. or, if in another german rwd, 1 turbo is acceptable when paired with a folding top. i'm telling the nanny to feed the kids more food so these underweight runts can graduate into booster chairs ASAP, cuz this car is really destroying my mid-life crisised psyche. alternatively, if i get divorced, i'd just give her the car, yes?

also, I can't believe someone would pay $30K for a Routan... a rebadged caravan... I mean... you must love your wife. a LOT.
Click to expand...

$30k for a Routan is pretty cheap, they stickered for $37k and the 0% for 72 months made it a better overall deal than buying a 2012 5 GT at the time for $25k + higher interest rates. We got a decent deal for what would've cost us close to $40k from Toyota or Honda.

You must be really insecure with yourself just by saying you lost your balls by driving a minivan. I drive whatever I want, regardless of what other people think. The 5 is the perfect car for a family of four and I'm quite happy with it. Its fun to toss around. The last couple press cars I've had have been a BMW 535d, 2015 STI, WRX, Fiesta ST, even drove 24 SUVs or so during an event. Yet every time I got back into my 5, it made me happy because its a well balanced car that satisfies the needs of a family. The other cars had plenty of power, but its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. Not to mention the STI/WRX were painfully stiff, the ST was tiny, the 535d was just grossly overpriced and didn't have a backup camera. Did I have fun in those cars? Sure, would I drop my own money to buy one? No. However, I'd spend my own money on every new Mazda I've driven. They are very balanced vehicles that satisfy fun, practicality, economy and comfort.
 
tuanies said:
You must be the other journalist Andrew Ganz was talking about then :). We had a discussion during Mudfest and it was me + another journalist that had a 5. The guy that writes GeekDad for Wired has a first gen too iirc.
Click to expand...


Probably not me, I don't think I know Andrew.
 
V8toilet said:
Well I own both a 2012 Mazda 5 sport auto and a 2014 CX5 Touring with the 184 horsepower 2.5 Skyactiv motor. Although the Skyactive motor is more powerful at the limits, it's not much different in everyday driving because they both make good low end torque. In fact I find the powertrain in the 5 to be quit enjoyable and responsive. The Skyactiv engine is also noticeably noisier than the 2.5 in my 5 because of the direct injection and direct lockup transmission. Explained another way the old school 2.5 in my 2012 5 is smoother, quieter, and just more refined than the Skyactive 2.5. Don't get me wrong though as from an enthusiast point of view the Skyactive 2.5, and especially the 6 speed auto are great together; it's just that they have more NVH than the older MRZ MPFI engines.

The Mazda 5 also handles slightly better and rides noticeably better than my CX5 does with less wind noise and engine noise. The Mazda 5 has slightly more road noise on the highway when I measure it with a DB meter but perceived noise is better in the 5 probably because of the lack of wind and engine noise. I also owned a 2013 CX5 Sport with the 2.0 Skyactiv engine and that engine was even noisier.

0-60 times measured on my G-tech were:

2012 Mazda 5 Sport auto 8.88 seconds
2013 FWD CX5 sport auto 8.44 seconds
2014 FWD CX5 Touring 7.5 seconds with the traction control intervening.

Even though the 2013 CX5 was quicker at the limits the 2012 5 just felt peppier and more responsive around town with its greater low end torque. Considering I paid $21,490 for the 2013, $24,600 for the 2014, and just $17,775 for the 5 new tells me the Mazda 5 is one of the most under appreciated vehicles ever.

AMKiddyCarrier, I thoroughly enjoyed your review, especially the comment about the mechanized wolly mammoth, LOL.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for the comparison. So it seems the 2.5L in the Mazda5 is actually just a grunty as the SkyActiv 2.5. That's great to hear because with this car I don't care about top speed, just the low end grunt when going around town.
 
TonyC said:
lesbihonest, the 5's praise here on the board is really the result of constant cognitive dissonance within ball-wearing parentals (ie, daddy hooligans).

i loved it the first 6MO of ownership (after being harassed by SWMBO for nearly half a year for a minivan), but I'm really absolutely done with it. it is, literally, the least fun "fun" car i've had in the last.. i dunno.. dozen years? last night, a e63 tt wagon parked in front my office. today, a douchey red 993tt.

basically, god's telling me I need 2 turbos to replace both the balls I've lost. or, if in another german rwd, 1 turbo is acceptable when paired with a folding top. i'm telling the nanny to feed the kids more food so these underweight runts can graduate into booster chairs ASAP, cuz this car is really destroying my mid-life crisised psyche. alternatively, if i get divorced, i'd just give her the car, yes?

also, I can't believe someone would pay $30K for a Routan... a rebadged caravan... I mean... you must love your wife. a LOT.
Click to expand...

I already have a rwd E92 335i twin turbo german coupe with 300hp/300tq (actually a bit more since I have a Dinan tune). The Mazda5 and the E92 fulfill two totally different roles. Can you comfortably manage 2 car seats in an E92? Nope. Can you pack a families worth of stuff for a long trip? Nope. Can it seat 6 people? Maybe gnomes.

The point being, if you want to get your jollies off on a fast, sports car, go buy a freaking sports car and use it for that purpose.

The Mazda5 will never match a 335i, or a 911, or even an RX-8, I don't think anyone here is claiming that it can fill that role. It's meant to haul people, and it does it in a sportier way than any of the mini-vans currently out there.
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

possumvan
    • Wow
New Mazda5 owner, general Mazda questions
2 3
Replies
42
Views
7K
Jack Rabbit
J
A
Mazda 5 Community in Hong Kong
Replies
3
Views
3K
90210
9
L
    • Like
New CX-5 Owner!
Replies
2
Views
1K
Pitter
Pitter

Latest posts

Back