My 5 door Miata ROCKS!

Just an update on the car we bought last November, as some might find this useful for the never-ending "what car" type questions: Bought a 2009 Mazda 5 GT with leather, nav etc. 5 spd auto (it's mainly my wifes DD). We've piled on 20,000 km already. It's been totally perfect and glitch free. Just got back from a 5 hr drive into the mountains to visit family. Got just a hair over 39 mpg (imp gallon of course), very comfy, quite fun to drive with no problem holding 110-115 km/hr on the long hills with a downshift. Room for 5 with all our stuff for a couple nights stay. Room for 4 with lots of stuff, or room for 6 with just a little stuff. Awesome little car, very practical, great motor, and the 5 spd auto is actually pretty decent.
I can see us keeping this car for a long, long time.

i thought you were talking about a 3 or a protege5. but glad to hear you like the miata minivan.

Yeah, it's like a mini-minivan. The sliding doors are awesome, the kids can't bash other cars in parking lots with them and they have the electric closers that eliminate the need to slam them shut but aren't as complex as the totally electric sliding mechanisms on larger vans

Others may be courious as well so I looked it up...
39 imp gal = 32.4 us gal
well done.

I love those things.. wish i had one.

doc_speeder wrote: Yeah, it's like a mini-minivan.

it's actually just a minivan. the other "minivans" out there these days are really just vans...nothing "mini" about them anymore. the 5 is the same external size as the original chrysler minivans (less interior room, though).

i might have one as well if the 2nd row seats folded flat...alas, that configuration is a minefield of broken dog legs.

Buzz Killington wrote:

doc_speeder wrote: Yeah, it's like a mini-minivan.

it's actually just a minivan. the other "minivans" out there these days are really just vans...nothing "mini" about them anymore. the 5 is the same external size as the original chrysler minivans (less interior room, though). i might have one as well if the 2nd row seats folded flat...alas, that configuration is a minefield of broken dog legs.

The second row folds flat in mine...Not into the floor, but flat.

Buzz Killington wrote: it's actually just a minivan. the other "minivans" out there these days are really just vans...nothing "mini" about them anymore. the 5 is the same external size as the original chrysler minivans (less interior room, though). i might have one as well if the 2nd row seats folded flat...alas, that configuration is a minefield of broken dog legs.

That's not exactly right.

The Mazda 5 is built on the Ford C1 platform. That makes it similar to a Ford Focus, a Mazda 3, a Volvo S40 and C70, and a couple little weird things like the Ford Kuga. But not like a minivan.

It's really a Mazda 3 with an extended roofline so 2 seats can be put in the rear cargo area.

SVreX wrote:

Buzz Killington wrote: it's actually just a minivan. the other "minivans" out there these days are really just vans...nothing "mini" about them anymore. the 5 is the same external size as the original chrysler minivans (less interior room, though). i might have one as well if the 2nd row seats folded flat...alas, that configuration is a minefield of broken dog legs.

That's not exactly right. The Mazda 5 is built on the Ford C1 platform. That makes it similar to a Ford Focus, a Mazda 3, a Volvo S40 and C70, and a couple little weird things like the Ford Kuga. But not like a minivan. It's really a Mazda 3 with an extended roofline so 2 seats can be put in the rear cargo area.

He was saying that the 5 is the same size as the '84 Chrysler Minivans. Which it is. the wheel base is shorter, but overall length is longer than the SWB Chrysler minivans. Width and height is nearly identical as well.

Welcome to the Mazda5 hivemind. We looooove ours. Actually, it's my wife's, but she's out of town for two weeks, so it's ALLL MIIIINNE!

jg

She took the Jeep SRT8 for a road trip didn't she?!

aww,,,,and I fully expected that you had done some true GRM'ing....like this (my photoshop)

haha, that's cool but mine has 5 doors! That one only has 4 plus a trunk lid

my skills are not sufficient to draw a good hatchback without taking up the next hour of my afternoon

And you have better stuff to do? If you're at work, the answer is no.

fastEddie wrote: She took the Jeep SRT8 for a road trip didn't she?!

Nah, took a plane. If she'd taken the Jeep on a joyride she'd have to stop for gas so much she'd be easy to catch.

jg

As I have said many times.........Mazda shoud drop the MS3 drivetrain into the 5. Now that would be a hoot and the coolest vehicle around!!!

mndsm wrote: And you have better stuff to do? If you're at work, the answer is no.

hell no I'm not at work at 3pm on a beautiful friday! are you crazy?

irish44j wrote:

mndsm wrote: And you have better stuff to do? If you're at work, the answer is no.

hell no I'm not at work at 3pm on a beautiful friday! are you crazy?

Yup! I am at work.

At work, but 'work' allows Internet browsing and such as long as we get our assigned duties done, and as long as we don't download porn and such. Pretty cool actually.

The best part is, we HAVE to have internet access if we're to write Work Requests (they moved all the servers to Pennsylvania and we're in eastern Montana) and 'they' have accepted 'browsing' as inevitable if they want full functionality in the rest of the programs being used. Abide by the rules, and you're golden.

irish44j wrote: aww,,,,and I fully expected that you had done some true GRM'ing....like this (my photoshop)

photoshop not needed (from www.paul-davis.com)

RandyS wrote:

So Miata IS the answer if you have kids

I drove one, with a stick. It's pretty decent, reminded me of a rather large Fit.

We love our 5. When we went kid-hauler shopping, it was not only the car that closest matched our needs, it also met most of our wants, and was the CHEAPEST option. Win/win/win.

As this is the wife's DD, we went with the auto, but at least Mazda has the directions for the manual shift mode correct; other manufacturers take note, PULL to upshift, PUSH to downshift (I'm looking at you, Subaru)!

I do wish it had a little bit more power, either the turbo 2.3L from the MS3 or maybe whatever V6 is used in the 6 (though that would probably be a bear to work on down the road), but that's not a deal breaker by any means. The handling more than makes up for it.

but at least Mazda has the directions for the manual shift mode correct; other manufacturers take note, PULL to upshift, PUSH to downshift (I'm looking at you, Subaru)!

TOTALLY agree. Thats one thing i liked a lot about our Mazda3 we just sold, and didnt like about a Legacy i recently drove up pikes peak.

m4ff3w wrote:

SVreX wrote:

Buzz Killington wrote: it's actually just a minivan. the other "minivans" out there these days are really just vans...nothing "mini" about them anymore. the 5 is the same external size as the original chrysler minivans (less interior room, though). i might have one as well if the 2nd row seats folded flat...alas, that configuration is a minefield of broken dog legs.

That's not exactly right. The Mazda 5 is built on the Ford C1 platform. That makes it similar to a Ford Focus, a Mazda 3, a Volvo S40 and C70, and a couple little weird things like the Ford Kuga. But not like a minivan. It's really a Mazda 3 with an extended roofline so 2 seats can be put in the rear cargo area.

He was saying that the 5 is the same size as the '84 Chrysler Minivans. Which it is. the wheel base is shorter, but overall length is longer than the SWB Chrysler minivans. Width and height is nearly identical as well.

yes...i was focusing on the end product, which hews more closely to the original minivan ethos than the current Odessey/Sienna/Caravan, etc.