Unfortunately, they'll need a 1.8 litre (or maybe the 1.6 litre 1ZR-FAE) for NA. The 2.3 litre Mazda5 is already struggling with 6 people on board. A 1.5 litre, 7-passenger version with that much equipment may be a problem if one wants to take it up a mountain to the local ski resort. Of course, around town, it'll be fine but knowing the North American market, they don't want anything "slow".
The rear seat legroom doesn't look comfortable at all. Not sure you could do anything but quick trips with anyone other than a small kid back there.
I agree with the last paragraph: - With the seats folded I bet you could put quite a few reusable shopping bags of groceries in the back too.
Nope, there is no way the average Canadian or American driver will "put up" with the typical sub 1.5 litre motor used in small EU market cars. I've driven EU market Yaris with the base three cylinder motor, and didn't mind it at all. Of course, I don't have to "prove" myself every time the light turns green Consider the 4 litre V6 in my FJ. If you floor it from a dead stop, the TC kicks in to keep the rear tires at the edge of total wheelspin. Put the pedal down 1/3 of the way, it leaps at the green light Yet, some consider that motor to be "wimpy" and "underpowered." Toyota even offers a supercharger kit to add more power. When fuel was still +$4 a gallon, some FJ owners wanted Toyota to offer the 3 litre four cylinder turbodiesel, as offered in the Prado. There is no way an average Canadian or American driver would put up with a four cylinder turbodiesel in an FJ, despite the minor fuel economy improvements
I like it. At 165 inches long, it's 10 inches shorter than the Prius! Re the Third Row Seats: Of course they're small and uncomfortable. Except for the largest vehicles, Third Row Seats are, by definition, small and uncomfortable.
I guess I look at my Sienna which can get around 31 MPG highway at 75 MPH and say why bother. Just make me a Sienna with a Hybrid drive which improves my city MPG and I'll have the best of both worlds, room and decent MPG. My dad had a one of the first Crysler minivans with a small 4 cylinder engine and always needing to push the engine into passing gear lead to transmission issues after 7 years.
The reason to bother is a lot of families can't afford a Sienna in the first place and then add HSD and it goes way out of reach.
That's close to a Matrix but with 7 seats. I guess it's doable if the rear seat is really close to the rear window.
Take a look at the two adults sitting in the Third Row Seat -- they're grinning from ear-to-ear ... must be mighty comfy back there (unless they're smiling for different reasons ): [imglink]http://www.treehugger.com/toyota-passo-sette-mpv01.jpg[/imglink]
The people in the third row look like they would be in a world of hurt if this thing ever got rear ended. The back of their heads can't be more than 6 inches from the rear bumper and glass and they're behind the rear wheel.
I've always wondered myself about safety in third row seats. It seems to me that, except in the largest vehicles, all third row seats are "thisclose" to the rear window/door (and even in the largest vehicles, the third row seat is very close). Which always struck me as odd because isn't the rear window/door area designed to be a "crumple zone"? And even if it weren't, I'd hate to be that close to the point of impact. (I also wonder, does the government or the insurance institute test the third row seat with crash dummies?)
It depends. With something like the iQ where you can touch the rear window with your head, there is a rear curtain airbag. For others like the old Plymouth Voyager (or any SWB minivan from GM or Chrysler) or even the Mazda5, there's still a decent amount of space between the rear door and the 3rd row. I mean you can strengthen the rear door latch to have it follow the rear bumper and then have the rear bumper distribute the energy to the side of the vehicle.
Mate's old Tarago had lots of room behind the rear row, enough for a 100 litre gas tank and luggage. I think the picture in the OP is a little amusing, would grandpa really have the flexibility to get in the back row? I would have thought the kids would be back there in the average family where grandpa came along.
