Hi from a newbie, I’ve been doing a bit of research into a new car looking at reader’s reviews on Whatcar, Parkers etc and this forum. I’ve currently got a 7 year old focus owned from new, and now need a bigger car with 6/7 seats. I’ve test driven the 2.0 Sport petrol Mazda5 and liked it a lot, I’m aware of the issues people are having with the tyre wear. My question is, is every Mazda5 affected, people usually post on these forums when they have a problem, are there deliriously happy Mazda5 owners out there with no tyre wear, suspension or any other problems out there. I would much prefer to buy a Mazda5 Sport but would consider the TS2 if it didn’t suffer the same problems, otherwise I’ll probably end up with a Zafira. I’m looking at second hand with a bit of warranty left they seem to go for around £11k at the supermarkets. (butIcan’t justify spending £500 on tyres every year.).
Would you still recommend this car, all cars seem to have issues in this sector, especially with build quality and reliability, I’d like an S-max but they are a bit pricey at the moment, the Picasso looks good, but I vowed never to buy another Citroen. (Those Mazda5 sliding doors are a huge selling point for me).

P.S does anybody know if a 20” wheel Bmx/mountain bike fit in the back of their Mazda5 upright, without taking a wheel off, keeping the middle seats up (in the brochure it shows a Bmx flat with the middle seats down) and could a little 16” wheel bike fit in with it. They do in a Zafira. Sorry but it’s very important to my boys and wife hates bike racks.

 

Wozmaz,

I stand up and be counted as a very happy TS2 owner with no tyre wear issues - I certainly wouldn't touch the Zaffira myself. Our options were the 5, the Verso and the Touran - and the 5 was a unanimous winner for us.

Can't say forsure about the bike - but I'd guess you might struggle.

 

Tyre wear on our 2.0Sport was bad on both shoulders of all tyres which seems to suggest underinflation. They were illegal by the first service at 13k miles. The second set are doing better (with another 8k on them)but then they are a different tyre and I've bumped the pressure up by 3-4 psi all round.
We hoped the Mazda 5 Sportwould suffice as our main family carbut we've found it very noisy and uncomfortable on long journeys. We are changing our second car for something more suitable for motorway journeys and with hindsight would have bought a TS or TS2 as they are cheaper to buy, probably ride a bit better and will be far cheaper on tyres both in mileage and replacement cost.
While the Zafira and particularly the S-Max are excellent cars, the interior layout and sliding doors makethe5far more useful for most family car duties as long as you don't need that third middle row seat.

 

What a great question. Let's see if anyone says "yes"

Until they do, NO, of course you don't buy one!

Dave.

 

Woz,

Simon's point is a very good one - you need to think of theFive as a 6+1 seater, not a 7 seater.

With two kids most of the time in ours they get a luxury "individual armchair" kind of ride as we always run with the centre folded away.

Unless you're planning to spend your time on the Autobahn, I'd say the 1.8 performance is entirely adequate - we came back from France this summer fully laden at "autoroute plus" speed swith no issues at all.

Personally, I can't see the attraction in b****dy great wheels with rubber bands on them anyway. You're giving up most of the weight advantage by their dimensions, ride will be adversely affected, they're way more expensive and under most circumstances (unless you're going to take a 5 on a track day !) there will be no appreciable improvement in grip.

 

Hi again, and thanks for all your input, coming from a 2.0 Focus Ghia which is very well equipped and handles beautifully, I really wanted the Mazda5 sport, with the added equipment over the TS2. I’ve got 2 children under 9, I like the idea of being able to separate them with a gap in the seats. I really don’t want a Zafira but it’s a straight choice between the two. (I really wanted to go Japanese, my sister has a Touran, very bland and the Verso is tiny in the back, slow and too expensive) I could put up with a few quality problems with the Zafira, rather than the “design faults” that the Mazda5 seems to suffer from. Come on persuade me, I’m warming to the TS2 but isn’t it a bit basic and slow.

 

I think he meant 20" bike tyres............

But I was wondering if 18" RX8 Alloys would fit esp the grey prodive deition ones, they would look good with my Carbon Grey sport !

& I was also wondering how it would fare on a Knockhill trackday as well the other day as its not a bad handler (Tyre wear would really be an issue though)

Anyways back to the topic, I would go the Diesel sport as we didbecause the steeringhas alot better feel & the 2.0 petrol seemed to be very revvy at 70mpin fifth (top) 4,000 of them if I remember correctly opposed to 2000 in the Diesel in sixth (top)
More mpg/grunt as well although higher purchase price and servicing - Pays your money & all that.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,
Co.

 

Slow - compared to my BMW bike yes - but not in the real (speed camera)world. It'll do 110+ and there's barely a seconds difference in the 0-60 time

Basic depends on what you would consider essential - there's no armrest for the missus in the TS2 admittedly and you give up the trip computer - but do you really need climate control over aircon ? Fair enough you get traction control in the Sport but as far as I can see, everything else is "fripperies" - front fogs, motorcycle killing window tints and auto headlights.

The Sport alsogives youthe 6-CD changer which screws up iPod istallation.

Best of all, in the real world, you'll get change out of £14,500 new for a TS2.

 

I agree with Terry. I test drove the Mazda5 sport few times. My route involved dual carriage way to assess how fast it can go and overtake and twisty B roads to see how it handles. The zafira was very disappointing on this route. The mazda5 sport impressed me with its handling and grip but was a bit harsh over rough roads. The TS2 on the other hand had a better ride comfort and suited me fine over rough roads since i suffer from bad back. Went for 1.8 TS2 in the end. The family love the car and it stands out because there is not many Mazda 5 around and so it gets noticed.

Biggest drawback to date. The middle seatbelt housing in the roof keeps dropping off. Just rammed it back in with my heavy hand and taught it a lesson. It has not popped out yet.

Too early to say anything about the tyre wear. Only had it for a couple of months.

Go for the TS2 trim and hopefully be free from tyre wear problems. However you can get a sport version and change the tyre/rims to those fitted to 2.0 TS2. I assume the suspension set up is the same.

 

<i>However you can get a sport version and change the tyre/rims to those fitted to 2.0 TS2. I assume the suspension set up is the same. </i>


I'm not sure that is true. I tried to get steel wheels for my Mazda5 sport so I could use snow chains. I found these wheels which were 15" would not fit over the break calipers.