Somewhere in the distance I can hear a freckle-faced kid wearing Catholic School clothes repeating the Mazda mantra.
‘Zoom, zoom, zoom . . .?
This in tandem with a mini-van?! Go figure! The first thing I noticed about the MPV — after its stylish design — was its get-up-and-go. Here’s what the muckity-mucks at Mazda HQ say about the MPV’s pep: ‘The engine’s 24 valves, multi-port electronic fuel injection and 10.1:1 compression ratio optimize combustion and performance. Four valves per cylinder increases the engine’s capacity to inhale air and expel exhaust.?
Sounds like gobbledygook to me.
all I know is that the 183-cubicinch, aluminum alloy six cylinder engine is all about performance. (I think it has 200 horsepower, for those who care). I had to deliver some Clarkston News bundles to a few stores along Dixie Highway while testing the MPV. Let me say this: I had all the confidence and motor I needed to execute left-hand turns across four lanes of cars. The MPV pulled out and got up to speedlickety-split. It maneuvered in and out of traffic, left to right, deftly. It was tight, responsive. It handled like a smaller sports car. (Yes, that jerk in the silver MPV driving like a madman on Dixie the week July 3-10 at about noon, was me. I’m sorry.)
But enough of freckle-faced kids, lusty engines and precision handling. Let’s talk about important things. Things like, gas mileage, the ride, comfort and transporting a family to and fro, hither and yon — you get the idea.
Gas mileage: The sticker says the 2003 MPV Wagon will get between 18 and 25 miles per gallon — it has a 19.8 gallon tank. Doing the math, in theory, you can drive within 83 miles of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC on one tank of gas (From Goodrich to the White House is 578 miles).
We ran the MPV on area roads and also did some highway trips. It was hot during July, so we ran the air conditioning all the time and we actually had the audacity to drive over the speed limit. All things considered, we averaged 18 miles to the gallon. Not bad, in my book.
During our 360 miles of traveling, we lived in luxury. The MPV seats seven, so our family of four, Jen, myself and the lads, Thing One and Thing Two, had more than ample space to stretch. The two boys and their parents gave eight thumbs up to the DVD package ($1,200). The boys liked to watch movies on the long trip and Jen and I liked the peace and quiet, because they were too busy watching to fight amongst themselves.
If you’re in the market for a minivan, you deserve to put the MPV on your short list for test drives. The loaded version, which we drove, listed for $31,450. For more information go to Mazda