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:
Power Windows
The ignition switch must be in the ON
position for the power windows to
operate.
WARNING:
Make sure the opening is clear before
closing a window:
Closing power windows are
dangerous. A person's ...
Under the Hood
The Mazda3 i comes standard with a 148-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder
engine that can team with a five-speed manual or five-speed automatic
transmission. Mazda3 s models use a 167-hp, 2.5-lit ...
Scheduled Maintenance (USA, Canada, and Puerto Rico)
Follow Schedule 1 if the vehicle is operated mainly where none of the
following conditions
apply.
- Repeated short-distance driving.
- Driving in dusty conditions.
- Driving with extended use of ...