Maybe soccer moms do autocross in their spare time?īut despite its quickness, quiet and above-average road manners, the MPV is a van, and as such, attention must be paid to getting the family and their junk into and out of it. Solid little machine.Īnd a switch from 15-inch to 16-inch all-season radials as standard on the base LX and from 16 to 17 inches on the top-of-the-line ES has had the desired effect of offering car-like handling in a tall, slab-sided family hauler. Unlike most minivans, the suspension has been engineered to resist body roll in cornering and lean during sharp turns, like those sport coupes with souls. In addition to lively performance, the V-6 delivers 18 m.p.g.
You don’t spend your travel time with the folks in back asking the folks in front, “what did you say?” Often minivan cabins serve as tunnels that allow noise to filter fore and aft. Kick the pedal and the V-6 responds with energy. V-6 from Ford Motor Co., which owns 33 percent of the Japanese automaker. The thing has some guts, thanks to replacing the 2.5-liter, 170-horsepower V-6 that had been in it with the 3-liter, 200-h.p. While it’s a bit of an exaggeration to say the MPV has been blessed with the soul of a sports car, have to admit it isn’t your ho-hum minivan.
Sure, and after dropping the rugrats off at the field, soccer moms bond by spending the day autocrossing in their MPVs. When it comes to describing the MPV, Mazda spares no hyperbole in boasting that it “has the body of a minivan, the soul of a sports car.”
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