Cargo Space Questions: Family Of 4 & A Dog

Didn't notice any difference, pulled like a diesel as usual.

I was online shopping on hitch carriers. Man it adds up quick, you need #1 the hitch, #2 the carrier, #3 the the carrier bag. I'm preferring avoiding any roof top deal where we would take an MPG hit... Not really wanting to risk scratches with a direct mount cargo bag right on the metal either. I'm just going to hold off for now and think about options.

Rightline gear cargo bag looks interesting.. affordable and MPG friendly but still not sure about the scratches.

http://www.rightlinegear.com/cargo-saddlebag-luggage-carriers.html

forties said:

You know that brings up a good point. It would be interesting to try packing with the 3rd row deployed for cargo... we never tried that! I will try that next time to see which way is better. We only tried packing with the 3rd row folded down.

Not that I am regretting the switch from the minivan, far from it. The CX9 beats it hands down for 9/10ths of what we use it for. This camping trip was simply in that 1/10th where it does not. I will be a little more content with a cargo carrier and a bike rack on there..

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Here's my 2008 packed to the gills for moving a college kid but still allowing me to see over some of the cargo. I removed the tool compartment, 3rd seat, and largest second row seat. Removal was easy except for one bolt which needed extra persuasion.

The refrigerator would not have been able to stand upright without pulling the rear seat.



For comparison, when picking the kid up this year we thought we'd need a little more space, so we rented a Sienna minivan and had more height and room, but still had to pull a second row seat (3rds fold into floor). The Sienna had a nice soft ride, got better mileage, and I love folding the seats into the floor, but I would not trade.

FWIW, the kid will be taking our CX-5 back this year and I told them they could only take what would fit in that vehicle.(spin)

Great post, nice to know it is easy to remove the seats! I should have thought of it. Yeah our stuff was packed so tight against the rear hatch I could barely smash it closed. Zero window visible. Two tents five sleeping bags, 3days of stuff, etc. But hey, the CX9 is able to do this type of work even if not ideal. In our extended family I do have access to a nice big diesel truck I would have taken, but unfortunately it was being used that weekend.

Sienna had a nice soft ride, got better mileage, and I love folding the seats into the floor, but I would not trade.
Yes Sienna's are great cars. Had one for years up until a few months ago. Our v6 did measurably worse on mpg than the CX9. 17.5 vs 20.5. Also no fun to drive, and can be clumsy for tight parking. Better to go for what you do most, camping/moving is what 2 or 3 trips a year, commuting/shopping is 250 trips a year.. reason we switched.

Sienna is great vehicle - if you need a mini-van, I think it's the best out there.
CX-9 is a different beast - really love driving mine.

Yeah, the Sienna had pretty good power but handled like a boat compared to the 9. Nice minivan, but I'm past the point of needing one, so I intend to keep my CX-9 for a good long while.

For the 1% of the time you are traveling with 4 or more people and have to carry gear, get the factory hitch installed which is pretty stealthy and sleek, and add one of these...

https://www.harborfreight.com/300-lb-capacity-atv-cargo-carrier-69858.html

You can still open the hatch no problem and the other 99% of the time when you don't need the cargo space, remove it and go back to being the sleek sporty "7 passenger minivan in disguise" that is the brilliance of the CX-9.

I here many people talking about how they NEED a minivan...and they have 1-2 kids, sometimes still toddlers.
It's BS. Why drive something that you don't enjoy driving just because of some perceived notion that "active families need a minivan" or "it has so much space."

Like most cars, 99% of minivans I see are being driven with only 1-2 occupants.

Coming from a Nissan Quest mini van then a Chevy Traverse 8 passenger SUV to the Mazda CX-9 I will say the 9 has the least amount of space compared to my previous vehicles.

We drove the Quest 15 hours from S. Florida to Mooresville, N.C. with 4 adults and honestly it was a dream. We did several trips with the Traverse, again plenty of room.

We did a road trip from S. Florida to Savannah, GA in April and I'll admit things were tight. My 9 doesn't have the roof racks but if it did I would have put the luggage up there. Would have made things more roomy inside.

The 9 got around 22 MPG the entire trip and had no issues with power. I do have a 2015 Grand Touring with 3.7L V6 / 273HP so power isn't an issue.

Out of most SUV's on the market it seems the 9 has the least amount of leg room in the 3rd row and less cubic feet in total.

I still love my 9 and glad I own it.

Wow 22 is great.. how fast were you going?

BinDerSmokDat said:

..they NEED a minivan...and they have 1-2 kids, sometimes still toddlers.
It's BS.

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Agree with everything you said. I have run three child seats across the back of cars before, no problems, while I watched neighbors with 1 or 2 kids switch to minivans. Cars can work very well with kids, nothing against vans if that is what is desired. IMO Vans are great!.. but anybody feeling forced into one by kids is fooling themselves. Unless you're Kate Gosselin or Octomom

A few contributing factors to this trend.. #1 the ridiculously sized child seats on the market (even worse reverse mounted), #2 The lazy parenting way is to let each child be ruler of their own row, rather than properly discipline them and make them squeeze together and behave, #3 driving is a chore not something to enjoy anymore.. may as well have a huge Sienna or Sequoia.