Brown's Alexandria Mazda

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Walk Around

The Mazda5 looks very much like a shrink-to-fit version of the Mazda MPV minivan, one that has had six grown people belted inside then run through a scalding hot car wash, snuggling it down to its occupants' spatial zones. The MPV is of course built on a different mechanical platform and measures several inches larger than the Mazda5 in every critical dimension. Still, the MPV is smaller than most other minivans, and in styling cues, general outlines and silhouettes, the MPV and Mazda5 are very much in synch.

Mazda5's hood, though expansive, is better proportioned and flows more gracefully into the windshield and A-pillars than the larger MPV's. A single, horizontal bar divides the Mazda5's grille opening and supports the Mazda trademark logo. Fog lamps, when fitted, peer out of oversized recesses outboard of a broad air intake fronted by a crosshatch mesh positioned in the lower half of the wrap-around bumper fascia. Headlight housings slash into the fenders and reach around the sides to touch the front wheel well arches, which are mostly filled by the tires.

From the side, the vista is much busier, although geometrically consistent. A strong wedge influence flares character lines and surface planes from the pinched-down front end rearward to a tall, chopped off, stubby tail rendered even more awkward by a pouting, bulbous rear bumper. Matte black B-pillars and C-pillars play down the height of the glasshouse. Side mirrors attach to the lower half of small, wind-wing-shaped quarter windows. Body-color, full-round handles bridge concave circles in the doors. A gentle bulge crossing the doors' lower extremities ties together the blistered fenders. The slots for the sliding side doors scar the flanks. The optional side sill extensions create a ground-effect look that somehow works, giving the perspective a more complete, more finished touch.

The liftgate extends well into the rear bumper, removing some visual mass from the back end, as well as easing loading with a low cargo floor. Trendy, clear-lens taillight arrays are stacked on each side of the fixed rear window. The optional spoiler drags the roofline back and out above the rear window, adding a bit of edginess to the Mazda5's mostly egg-shaped rear outline.

Interior

2007 Mazda 5

Other than the packaging, there's nothing special, or unique, about the interior of the 2007 Mazda5. This isn't to discount the packaging. Making room for six adults in a vehicle casting a smaller shadow than the company's five-passenger, Mazda6 sedan is no small achievement. But beyond this, the interior is in line with what's to be expected of a vehicle in the Mazda5's price range.

The dashboard is very minivan-ish, with broad reaches of quality plastic spreading far forward beneath the sharply raked windshield. Symmetrical right and left panels belie the Mazda5's international character, as it's easily re-cobbled for right-hand drive countries. The look is sleek and high tech, but with an odd-looking gash splitting the upper and lower halves of the dash. Air vents shutter like window blinds if the cool or warm air gets too much. Metallic-look plastic trims the center stack, shift console and front door handles. The instrument cluster is pleasantly basic, with eye-catching contrasts between the speedometer and supporting gauges. Equally pleasant surprises for a car in this class are the steering wheel-mounted controls for audio and cruise settings. The display screen for the optional navigation system rises out of the dash top above the center stack and offers four angle settings to fight glare. A panel with the system's controls is tacked onto the console on the driver's side of the shift gate.

Audio and climate controls are sublime, with large, round knobs and widely spaced, clearly marked buttons. The navigation system takes some acclimation, what with the controls located down on the shift console, but they're basic enough that the learning curve is relatively short.

Seats are, well, adequate: best in the front row, then losing both comfort and support as you move to the third row. Seat bottoms could be deeper, and bolsters could be more substantive. The driver's seat height adjustment is manual and pivots on the front of the seat bottom. Thus, the higher it's ratcheted, the less leg room it leaves. And be aware the moving up to the moonroof-equipped models shaves off nearly 2 inches of headroom in the first row and about a quarter inch in the second.

Head restraints are adjustable in all three rows, but they, too, diminish in comfort in the second and third rows, especially the rearmost, which are functional, yes, but add nothing to an already minimally accommodating seat. On the other hand, in their lowered position in those two rows they cut so sharply into the upper back that anybody sitting there will be sure to adjust them to an effective height just to avoid the pain. And this is a good thing.

Not many adults will want to park for very long in the third row. There's plenty of head room, measuring only 1.5 inches less than in the Ford Freestyle, another tall station wagon with three rows of seats; and a mere 0.2 inches shy of the Dodge Caravan, which is still something of a benchmark among shorter-wheelbase minivans. It's in leg room and hip room that the Mazda5 cramps third-row occupants. It gives up 2.6 inches of leg room to Freestyle and 3.8 to Caravan; in hip room it falls short of Caravan by a full eight inches. Access to that third row is achieved by yanking on a loop sticking out from between the second-row seat bottom and back and folding the seat bottom forward; then, releasing a lever on the side and the seat back to fold it forward. Suffice to say, climbing into the third row is best left to the truly limber and not very tall.

Visibility is good, as expected in a minivan-type transporter. The outside mirrors could be farther forward, as the reason for those faux wind wings is so the track for the front door windows can be far enough back that they'll roll all the way down. The view forward from the second and third row seats is surprisingly unobstructed, thanks to each row being two inches higher than the row in front, and to t

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