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 Very large people carriers for extra large families Is your family getting bigger? So are cars! Greater capacity, comfort and modularity: taking these expectations into account, the major car manufacturers are launching a new generation of very large people carriers that are both luxurious and utilitarian, from the Viano to the Caravelle and Grand Voyager, and, of course, the Grand Espace.
| On the road Mazda 5: the 7-seater compact people carrier With two sliding doors, a seventh seat and a layout that encourages communication between occupants, the Mazda 5 is making an impact in the compact people carrier market. We test drove it along the shores of Lake Maggiore in Italy during the world launch.
The compact people carrier segment hots up! Things are happening in the highly competitive compact people carrier market where the Ford Focus C-Max, Vauxhall/Opel Zafira and Volkswagen Touran are already established. Launched in 1996 with the Renault Scénic, this market segment accounted for 15% of all vehicle sales in Europe in 2004. Mazda, with its record two-figure growth rates, is staying in the running by replacing its Premacy, which was running out of steam, with the Mazda 5. Coming in at the top end of the segment, the Mazda 5 is 4.5 m/14.7 ft long, compared to the Renault Scénic at only 4.25 m/13.9 ft. Sliding doors
With a low, slender front, high, bulky rear and boomerang-shaped front light units, the visual impact of this compact people carrier may not bowl you over, but is definitely not unattractive. The major innovation of the Mazda 5 is the two rear sliding doors a first in this segment, but already a major talking point with the small Peugeot 1007. This feature makes onboard life a lot easier: the opening is high and wide enough to allow you to reach into the second row without having to double over. However, as with the other models in this category, access to the third row of seats remains tricky. Despite the two sliding side doors, the Mazda 5 has a downwards-sloping roofline (towards the rear) and a rising waistline (again towards the rear). Credit for this feat goes to the Japanese designers: generally, a sliding door runs along parallel rails that can give the vehicle a rather unglamorous van-like profile. Limited weight and good inertia control mean that the doors move effortlessly and there is no impact at the end of the rails. The practical advantages of the sliding door system are obvious: they are easier to open in car parks and narrow spaces; mothers find it easier to place their babies in the vehicle from the side facing the road. Another attractive feature is the Mazda 5's plastic tailgate, which is relatively light and opens in two stages: first to 1.80 m (5.9 ft) and then, by pressing down again on the hydraulic jacks, to 1.90 m (6.2 ft). The only problem appears when getting out of the vehicle: you have to avoid both the hinge (at the bottom) and a cable, as there is a considerable risk of getting your feet caught up. 6 or 7 seats?
4,505 mm (14.8 ft) long, 1,755 mm (5.7 ft) wide and 1,615 mm (5.3 ft) high, the Mazda 5 has an average amount of space inside, and the level of comfort is not out of the ordinary. Arranged in the normal set-up, the vehicle has three rows of two seats, i.e. 6 seats. However, by converting the central armrest in the second row of seats into a backrest, then taking out a seat hidden beneath the left-hand seat (are you still following?), a seventh place appears in the middle. The whole process is easy and takes less than ten seconds. The problem is that it is more of a makeshift seat than a real one but is nevertheless there and can always serve to punish a little rascal! Folded back to the left, the central armrest frees up access to the third row, which is usually the ideal area for children and teenagers. Throughout the passenger compartment, instead of traditional knobs, Mazda has placed strips of material between the backrest and seat base, which you just need to pull to fold the backrests down. However, the seats do not completely fold away into the floor. More entertaining, a storage box sometimes presented as a toy box is tucked away beneath the base of the right-hand seat in the second row. From the cup holder to the door pocket, there are apparently 45 storage places in the Mazda 5: we stopped counting at ten...
 Engines
The Mazda 5 comes with a good choice of two 2.0-litre diesel engines (110 hp and 143 hp) and two petrol engines (115 hp 1.8 litre and 145 hp 2.0 litre). Considering the relatively heavy weight of the Mazda 5 (from 1,425 to 1,610 kg), selecting the more powerful versions in each category is preferable. You can then make the most of the on-the-road qualities of the Mazda 5 its energy and precise steering make it rather pleasant to drive. The Mazda 5 also demonstrated its zippy acceleration on the small winding roads of the Mottarone massif, between Lake Maggiore and Lake Orta. It remains to be seen whether these real qualities can make a difference in the face of excessive supply and stiff competition. The on-the-road price in the UK, which ranges from £14,300 (around €21,000) to £17,900 (around €26,500), will of course play its part.
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