So as a new owner of a Prius v, I keep seeing what I think are other v's. However upon closer viewing I notice that they are Mazda 5s. So it makes me wonder how close they are in size/styling. As I keep seeing a lot of them. Brian
Totally, happens to me all the time. in fact I parked next to a mazda 5 the other day and though I didn't snap a picture I parked with front bumpers parallel and dimensions/profile were pretty well identical give or take an inch.
However, the Mazda 5 has a strange wavy look on the side... and the vertical gap for the rear doors. I don't find it appealing at all. Therefore, trust me: I do NOT ever confuse it with the vee.
We looked at the M5 when shopping for the v and the mpg was horrible...Mazda could really have a Prius killa in their lineup with that car if they went hybrid.
When I last checked bout 4 years ago, the Mazda 5 had extremely limited legroom for the driver. I've not checked more recent models.
The surprising thing to me about the Mazda5 when I drove it a couple of years ago, was the low fuel economy. It is a pretty small vehicle and it can't break into the 30s on the highway? If you compare Mazda's 5 with the CX-5, the 5 is only about 75lbs heavier, the 5 has a (slightly) more powerful engine. But the manual CX-5 is rated at 26/35 while the manual 5 is only 21/28.
The Mazda 5 is more rarer sight than the v around here. I keep seeing the same 2 or 3 v's on the road here, except for the rare tourist from out of state.
Same deal out here. When I first got my v last year it was nice and easy to find my car in a parking lot, the only blizzard pearl v for miles around. Now its getting to the point where I always check the license plate to make sure i don't try to get into the wrong car.
Fuelly showing about 25 MPG for the M5 (not too shabby for a van). We looked at the M5 during cash 4 clunkers, but ended up with a regular minivan (VW Routan = Dodge Caravan). Routan only averaging 17 MPG though it was rated for 20. So M5 is not too bad. We may have opted for the M5 but the sudden end of the C4C program was like musical chairs and we were sitting in another car.
Mazda5 is a minivan only with emphasis on the "mini". If you drove it, you know that it more closely resembles a car (hence the v confusion). The back seat is nowhere near large enough to seat adults.
25 is pretty good average considering in my opinion the mazda 5(like most smaller/mini automobiles) on fuelly is seeing more city miles than a "full size minivan"(oxymoron? )
