Haven't driven the TSX but I hear nothing but good things. I can confidently recommend Mazda 3/5. Man, those freakin sliding doors are nice for kid-duty. My only big complaint is that the driver's seat needs to be able to be moved back a couple more inches, and I am typically a wheel-hugger. It would probably be a deal-breaker for me, because I don't think I could handle it on a long drive. We love our Fit too, but with the depreciation being so little, you can probably get more for your money in a used car at that price range; which steers me more toward Mazda than Honda.
unfortunately we have already looked at the 2013 Mazda 3 i-Touring in hopes that it would be our perfect car... the back seat is way too small for my wife and her family... my wife is 5'8" and she could not fit her legs behind the front seat... which is saying much as this is not a problem with a 2004 Hyundai Accent that she currently has...
Now the Acura TSX/TL idea is fantastic! but we are talking about a 6 year old car with over 80k miles
Haven't tried the Mazda 5 though... will have to look into that here soon...
We looked at a used 2011 Mazda 6; My wife did not like the interior as much as she would have liked...
What we really like is a 2013 Hyundai Accent GLS With the Premium Package for around $17k fully loaded... The issue is that the front headrests give my wife a instant headache due to being Active Restraint headrests (new safety feature)... Thought about putting the previous year headrests on the car if they would fit, the dealerships are actually telling me to turn them backwards rendering them basically useless due to not being able to be locked in...
We also looked at a 2012 Nissan Versa sedan that my wife loved... And I hated.... boring, cheap interior, underpowered at 109hp, poor handling...
I tell my wife that if we get a car like this that I would need to find something for myself that is a little more to my style...
My Subaru Impreza 2.5Rs would often average 30+mpg in my 1000+ mile driving weekly endevours back and forth to work... But I had some modifications done on the car (lowered 1.8", full exhaust without cats, Injen race division cai, to name a few)
Duke
PowerDork
10/2/12 11:51 a.m.
91RSImpulse wrote:
Now the Acura TSX/TL idea is fantastic! but we are talking about a 6 year old car with over 80k miles
At 8 years old, my wife's 2004 TSX looks and drives like new. A little wear on the driver's side seat bolster, that's about it. I've never even needed to get it aligned.
The Mazda5 has a ton more room in the 2nd row than the Mazda3, which is why I bought it. Sliders for babies/small kiddos is amazing (and I have a neck injury, so I needed the help). The seats are different between the base (Sport, cloth) and the GT (leather) and I found the GT seats to be really bad for me and the Sport seats to be great. I've done a WA to CA run (~1000 miles) in 1 go in them with 0 issues.
you can typically fit a baby carrier into a much smaller car then you would think... but things do get tight... we had a '98 neon coupe with the little kiddos...
with a 6'2 tall mom and 6'4 dad she outgrew the car carrier length wise quickly... went to a very large britax car seat that ran rearward for a while... that was the most akward time... once she was front facing I could just kneel on the rear floorboard to buckle her in.
so you can fit in pretty small stuff... and honestly I didn't mind the 2dr... but a 4dr could be nicer (it sure wasn't in our grand am though)
Yeah. Baby seat in the Fit behind Mama = no problem. Baby seat in the car behind daddy = no possible'.
My daughter did just fine in the front seat of the Miata. Mom has a 4 door car if we all need to go somewhere. My Miata did not have an air bag. New ones you can turn off. I don't think Miatas are any more or less safe than the Mazda3 in case of an accident.
Baby seat fits just fine in the back of the FRS. Gonna look like E36 M3 back there after a year, but the seat will fit just fine.
Little known fact: Putting a kid in a car seat is easier with a 2 door than a 4 door. The angle of approach is just better when you go from the front of the seat rather than the side. Besides after two years they become self-loading cargo anyways. Your kid will thank you for this in years to come.
Little known fact: Putting a kid in a car seat is easier with a 2 door than a 4 door.
Not when the seat is rear-facing, fwiw.
poopshovel wrote:
Little known fact: Putting a kid in a car seat is easier with a 2 door than a 4 door.
Not when the seat is rear-facing, fwiw.
Agreed with poopy, and sliding door trumps all.
Another vote for the mz5. I turned over 31k this morning since I got it in November and I can't complain. I have back issues from BMX racing and rarely have any pain even on non-stop long trips. Also, can fit all three kids(all under 6) and a day worth of luggage in with no issue.
Too bad the Mazda5 doesn't come with a turbo. 
Doesn't seem to be much in the way of aftermarket turbo or supercharger kits either. Guess it's back to looking for a Volvo V70 T5 or V70R.
No, but somebody has put a Mazdaspeed3 engine into the Mazda5.
Brett_Murphy wrote:
No, but somebody has put a Mazdaspeed3 engine into the Mazda5.
I've seen two such Mazdaspeed5 creations. One was done by Car and Driver mag, and it turned into a difficult swap - they couldn't get the engine to run unless they connected the MS3 gauge cluster, which I think they solved by shoving in the glovebox. It never quite ran right either. Kinda shows the level of craftsmanship over at C&D.
There was also the One Lap of America MS5, which was considerably better built, by a Mazda dealership. It was on Autotrader for about $80k when I was looking at mine.
