2002 Mazda MPV

Mazda has always been fond of exploring just outside the box. That slightly off-the-beaten-path approach has given us the Miata, the RX7 with its rotary engine and the Millenia with the Miller-cycle engine. Although these innovations haven’t brought Mazda the same level of mainstream success enjoyed by Honda, Toyota or Nissan, I can’t help but appreciate their ingenuity.

This MPV Minivan underscores that sentiment. While everyone else was building large minivans, Mazda saw a niche unfulfilled. Not everyone needs a big people and cargo hauler, they reasoned, but those same people might like a minivan’s many conveniences.

Hence, the MPV was born: a medium-sized minivan with a great deal of smarts.

The Good News
The MPV offers everything I love about a minivan without the bulk. Its two rear doors open and close automatically with the touch of a button. Its third seat folds completely away for cargo a la the Honda Odyssey, and the two second row seats slide together to make a bench or apart as captain’s chairs when little brother won’t keep his feet to himself.

There’s seating for seven, 8 cup holders and 2 bottle holders and a generous 13 cubic feet of storage with rear seat up. Plus, you have that nice, open pathway from front to back thanks to a foldaway console shelf adjacent to the front passenger seat.

It’s all here.

What’s more, the back windows of this MPV roll down, a first for minivans I’ve seen. You don’t even have to pull over when Susie gets carsick.

What isn’t here, however, is the feeling you’re driving a bus. The MPV’s diminished stature and light weight feels more like a compact sport utility than a minivan, and its front-wheel-drive handling gives it a nimble turn. I found myself choosing it over a much more luxurious and portly sport utility in the driveway at the time.

Mazda’s cozy relationship with Ford allows the MPV to borrow Ford’s Duratec V-6, a 3.0-liter engine producing 200 horses and 200 foot pounds of torque. The 2002 model was the first time the 3.0-liter was available, a worthy step up from the 2.5-liter’s 170 horses/165 foot pounds of torque. This MPV scoots right along, when it can find its gear.

That’s the job of its four-speed automatic transmission with shift mounted on the steering column.

My ES model was tricked out with a host of goodies, everything from an 8-way power driver’s seat, audio volume control/mute on the steering wheel and full leather upholstery to dual front and side airbags, remote locking and door operation and four-wheel antilock brakes. The only thing extra on my vehicle was an in-dash 6-disc CD changer.

The Bad News
Although I’m quite sure this new 3.0-liter improves acceleration tremendously, I still had power struggles with this MPV. Specifically, it seemed reluctant to downshift when it should, leaving me no choice but to prod. When I did, I would often get a snappy change of gear followed by a touch of that ugly old torque steer. It was as if I was being chastised for pushing.

In short, this is not the smoothest powertrain in all of Minivandom. But it’s fine on the flat.

Gas mileage
EPA rated at 18 mpg city/24 highway

Price
Manufacturer’s base, $27,192;
Price as tested, $28,162

Is it worth it?
Just because the Mazda MPV ES is smaller than the rest doesn’t mean it’s significantly cheaper. Its price lines up fairly close to competitors from Honda, Toyota and Chrysler.

So why would you choose this smaller minivan? Because you can. Because the MPV is easier to park, more fun to drive (except those radical uphill climbs) and nicely appointed, yet still offers the convenience and flexibility of the real mommyvans.

It fills a different niche in family transportation. A box outside the box, if you will.

I say good for Mazda. This is a great idea.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville’s daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.