Does the 5 AT have an OD on top of the 5 speeds?

[SuperJETT]

Overdrive is just a term for either a gear that turns faster than the input or top gear, there are only 5 gears in the Mz5 auto (2008+).

BTW, fwd minivans have the entire drivetrain in front of the passengers/firewall. The reason they have more interior room is you are in a more upright seating position so you use the vertical space and need less fore/aft space resulting in more room between/behind seats.

 

[flcruising]

twintrbo - I think you are remembering the Chevy Astro minvan (if you can call it that). Those were RWD that had the engine cover on the inside like a full size van. Every minivan (other than the Astro) that my family/friends have owned, are/were FWD that had an engine compartment just like the Mz5 that SuperJETT describes. IOW, like a car.

The Mz5 is just small. If you stretch this vehicle in all directions to the dimensions of the Sienna, you could certainly gain the interior room that it has. 20" doesn't seem like much in 1 direction, but enlarge it in every direction keeping the same drivetrain layout, you certainly would have a fullsize minivan (oxymoron). My mother's Odyssey has all the room that the Sienna has I'm sure, but the engine/passenger compartments are not arranged any differently than the Mz5, it's just big. The fact that the Mz5 is built upon the Mz3, simply makes it drive more like a car. Maybe the Mz8 is based on the Mz6?

 

[Robotazky]

If they changed the programming to combat heat, then it makes no sense that they would remove the TC lockup when in manual mode as that does the exact opposite. TC unlock = friction = heat!

20" is almost 2 feet, that's alot of leg room. I would be oh so happy if they added 6-12" to the Mz5. I have Mz8 envy at times.

?? I have not heard anything about heat being the reason. I am not sure why the had an update.

 

[twintrbo]

twintrbo - I think you are remembering the Chevy Astro minvan (if you can call it that). Those were RWD that had the engine cover on the inside like a full size van. Every minivan (other than the Astro) that my family/friends have owned, are/were FWD that had an engine compartment just like the Mz5 that SuperJETT describes. IOW, like a car.

The Mz5 is just small. If you stretch this vehicle in all directions to the dimensions of the Sienna, you could certainly gain the interior room that it has. 20" doesn't seem like much in 1 direction, but enlarge it in every direction keeping the same drivetrain layout, you certainly would have a fullsize minivan (oxymoron). My mother's Odyssey has all the room that the Sienna has I'm sure, but the engine/passenger compartments are not arranged any differently than the Mz5, it's just big. The fact that the Mz5 is built upon the Mz3, simply makes it drive more like a car. Maybe the Mz8 is based on the Mz6?

I'm telling you, there is something different about how its packaged because the space behind the 3rd row took our full size umbrella stroller without folding it. The well back there was easily 18 inches on its own. The number stack up like this(I guessed our rear luggage space, couldn't find it):

front legroom middle legroom 3rd row legroom Luggage Overall length
Mazda 40.7 35.3 30.7 ~7 cu ft 181.5
Toyota 40.5 37.6 36.3 39 cu ft! 200.2

So about 8" more passenger leg room. Thats about the distance, pinky to thumb, of a spread hand. Which would mean only 10" more for the luggage area. Now go look and sit in one and tell me thats all the difference there is. There is a reclining seat option for the second row with a fold out ottoman, tell me that fits into the 2" more legroom it has.

Maybe I'm wrong about the engine thing, but the space comes from somewhere!

 

[SuperJETT]

Again, there is more room in a minivan because you are in a more upright seating position. Leg room is not a horizontal measurement.

 

[twintrbo]

Again, there is more room in a minivan because you are in a more upright seating position. Leg room is not a horizontal measurement.

I dont really see that a minivan is more upright, but if you say so.....How is legroom measured then?

 

[Robotazky]

I dont really see that a minivan is more upright, but if you say so.....How is legroom measured then?

Probably from a couple of inches from where the bottom and back of the seat come together(approximate location of hips), to the furthest point you can extend your legs. I'm sure there is some sort of clarification somewhere. I'll help dig around to try and find it, as I am curious now, too.

 

[SuperJETT]

Found this in a few places, but who knows if that's accurate.

Front leg room is the distance from the heel of the driver's accelerator foot to the seatback. Rear leg room is the horizontal distance between the rear and front seatback, with front leg room set at 40 inches.

So, put the front seat at 40" legroom then measure from the bottom of each seatback to get the middle row then rear row legroom. Since the front seats in a minivan (we just sold our's last week) are very upright, it's going to be set fairly far forward to get 40" since a good portion is vertical distance compared to a Mz5.

 

[twintrbo]

I'm digging really deep to find out how they measure the seating. You would not believe how hard this is to find but I will try my best to get it. Its either NHTSA or SAE standards from what I've got so far but I need to read the individual articles to see whats what. This could take awhile!

 

[Robotazky]

I'm digging really deep to find out how they measure the seating. You would not believe how hard this is to find but I will try my best to get it. Its either NHTSA or SAE standards from what I've got so far but I need to read the individual articles to see whats what. This could take awhile!

You'll probably find, like everything else, that there are multiple bodies of tax-paid idiots determining meaningless information for companies and governments to use in order to justify their bloated, overpaid jobs. I wouldn't doubt it one bit it there's one standards agency that favors vertical and one that favors horizontal measurements. It's all just a fabricated mess making money off of laws (overgrown, useless government).