The interior of a minivan is obviously its most important asset, and here the MPV shines. The hindmost bench seat can be folded down into a well in the floor, freeing up 17 cubic feet of storage space. This is a very useful feature (also found on the Honda Odyssey), and much easier than trying to remove the rear seats. With the seat in its regular position, the empty well serves as a useful storage bin for stuff that you don't want sliding around on the floor. The same seat can also tip back, so that it can serve as picnic seat at a tailgate party. The individual center seats can be folded down, and can slide forward and back a few inches to optimize rear leg space. What's more, they can also be moved sideways (another industry first, which Mazda calls Slide-by-Slide [TM] seating) to create a bench seat and improve access to the rear seats. They can easily be removed, as they weigh only 37 pounds each. Ultimately, the MPV offers variations on seating for two, four, five, six, or seven, depending on a family's needs for cargo or passenger capacity. The comfort of the seats tends to diminish as one moves from the front buckets through to the rear bench, which is a bit hard and upright for comfort on a long journey. Tall passengers, however, will find leg and head room adequate throughout. Rear air conditioning (standard or ES, optional on DX and LX) can be controlled individually by each passenger. Access to the MPV is not quite as convenient as in bigger minivans, as the doors are smaller and the step-in is slightly higher. The sliding side doors operate manually, with no power option available. The dashboard has a pleasantly smooth finish that is more reminiscent of a car, flowing as it does across the width of the vehicle in a single non-reflective arc. On the Touring-Package LX we tested, the dash was accented with a wood-grain finish, giving it an almost luxurious look. The instrument pod is nicely situated, with a large speedometer set directly in front of the steering wheel and a smaller tachometer to the right. The radio and climate controls are placed high up in the center, leaving plenty of space for a couple of storage bins underneath. However, the big gearshift lever, once shifted into Drive, obscures some of the buttons for the radio. Talking of storage, however, there are several bins and plenty of cupholders to ease the long hours inevitably spent in a minivan. An auxiliary 12-volt outlet in the rear side panel provides power for electric accessories.
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