Competing for Space
The interior is well-engineered and well-executed, but there's no avoiding the fact that there are six seats in a relatively small space. This isn't uncommon, but many models sacrifice space in just the rear seats, while the Mazda5 distributes legroom more evenly. As the table farther down this page reflects, the Mazda5 has less front-seat legroom than the Rondo and a few compact crossovers. The Mazda5's dimensions seem only slightly smaller — 1.1 inches at most compared with seven-seat versions of the Rondo and Toyota RAV4 — but at 6 feet tall I felt more crowded behind the wheel than the specifications suggest.
Lowering the driver's seat also moves it rearward, but I preferred to ride higher to improve forward visibility. (The A-pillars extend pretty far forward, and it's hard to tell where the car's nose ends.) I'm not suggesting I was crowded to an unsafe degree, but it was tight enough that I personally wouldn't invest in a Mazda5. It's a shame, because letting the front seat move a bit farther back would open up the model to more buyers.
See also:
Child Restraint Precautions
Mazda strongly urges the use of child-restraint systems for children small
enough to use
them.
You are required by law to use a child-restraint system for children in the U.S.
and Canada.
Check ...
Vehicle Overview
Ever since Mazda introduced the Miata as an early 1990 model, it's officially
been known as the MX-5 Miata. Anyone who has known the model, however, has known
it as the Miata. Mazda discarded the ...
Automatic Transaxle Controls
Various Lockouts:
Indicates that you must
depress the brake pedal to shift (The ignition
switch must be in the ON position).
Indicates the shift lever can
be shifted freely into any position. ...