There’s a steep dirt road, strewn with loose rocks, that winds its way from the Witsiehoek resort up and up for 7km to the Sentinel car park at the base of Mont-Aux Source in the Drakensberg. So when the chap and his wife arrived at the car park in their dusty Nissan Navara, he was feeling pretty good, exploring Africa and all that. That is, until he turned and saw the equally dusty Mazda5, loaded with two mountain bikes and luggage for a long weekend. Guess it spoilt his day a bit ....
Mazda’s second reincarnation of their popular people-hauler is an extremely capable vehicle and endeared itself to us for its versatility, comfort and practicality. It has bags of space and on trips we simply folded the rear seats to get a cavernous loading area, and never felt the need for a trailer.
At the heart of the Mazda5’s appeal lies its 6+1 seating arrangement. Essentially it has three rows of two seats, with an additional small seat in the centre of the middle row, which the Mazda chaps in white coats call Karakuri. This seat can be tilted sideways, and with the third row of seats lowered, creates a walk-through space between the second row of seats. Or the two rows of seats in the rear can be lowered to create a large loading area.
The only problem we had with the Mazda was with the electric sliding doors which can be opened and closed via the remote on the key, or by pressing buttons on the dash. The sliding doors are handy as they create a large open space for loading items through the doors, and enable easy loading in confined spaces such as in a garage. But after a few days the powered sliding doors stopped working and we had to open and shut them manually.
There’s always a risk when testing a vehicle of letting one such incident overshadow the good points of the vehicle, so let me add that this would certainly not put me off buying a Mazda5 as it was probably something minor such as a blown fuse.
We had the top-of-the-range 2.0 Individual on test, with all the creature comforts needed for extended trips - leather seats, cruise control, air conditioning, leather-covered steering wheel and gear-knob, overhead console with eyewear holder, six-CD disc player (MP3 compatible), and audio controls on the steering wheel. The cabin has a classy feel, although I would prefer soft-touch plastics on the dashboard.
The Mazda5 is hauled along briskly by a two-litre petrol engine mated to a six-speed gearbox. I never felt a need for more power and on the way to the Drakensberg had to put in some fast distance in order to get to the resort before it closed. Even at higher speeds the Mazda remained stable and inspired confidence on fast sweeps, although it was not as at home on tight bends. Not bad for a heavily-loaded people-hauler.
We had the opportunity to drive over a variety of surfaces and the Mazda soaked up bumps with ease, while not feeling too much like a marshmallow. Our fuel consumption remained pretty steady at about 9.3 litres/100km, a bit heavier than the claimed 8.2, but still a respectable consumption figure.
Essentially a people-hauler is a long box with wheels which probably has designers scratching their heads while trying to think of something different with curves, while keeping the box.
But within these limitations Mazda have come up with a vehicle that is good looking, with what they call the Nagare design concept, meaning “to flow” in Japanese. And flow it does; in fact, the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw the vehicle was “wow, dig those curves”, followed by a second thought “gosh, it must be expensive to replace the panels if someone drives into the car”.
The Mazda5 comes with a five-year or 90 000km service plan, a four year or 120 000km warranty and a three-year MazdaMotion Roadside Assistance plan. Service intervals are 15 000km.
VERDICT:
The Mazda5 2.0 Individual is competitively priced at R280 140, while rivals such as the Peugeot 5008 1.6T Allure come with a slightly higher pricetag of R314 300. Although it has a smaller engine, the Peugeot produces similar power output making it a valid comparison.
Perhaps the closest rival is the Toyota Verso 1.8TX which costs R292 700 and has a 5+2 seating arrangement. So, a good all-round package from Mazda, offering good comfort, space and versatility for the money. - Star Motoring