Radarlove

We picked up our Mazda5 over Mother's Day Weekend, trading in our trusty '99 Ram (90k miles, a/c leaking, possible head gasket leak, bent rim and all). With us driving out to California to pick up my oldest son (nearly 16) for holidays, it was just getting too cramped.

I get the S-plan pricing through my work, so we only ended up financing a little over $13k. It's a red Sport with the auto tranny (there wasn't a manual tranny within 150 miles) and sunroof.

We've put a couple hundred miles on it since, and are very happy with it all around. The turning radius is comparable to my 1st gen Neon, acceleration is more than I expected from a minivan (even a mini-minivan), and the brakes are very responsive. Handling is acceptable, considering what it is, a little better than the handful of 2nd gen Neons I've driven. But hardly something I'd feel comfortable taking to autocross right off the showroom floor. Gas mileage is a little better than what the sticker says, running 20ish in town and near 30 on open road staying around 70-75 mph.

A friend and I attempted to tint the windows, but with the wind and being pressed for time, I'm sure we'll be doing a couple of them again in a few weeks... I put in the dual screen DVD player for the kids, and swapped over the Sirius unit for us.

We're looking around right now for some seat covers, mainly to protect the upholstery from the youngsters (almost 4 and almost 2). We'd also like to get the roofrack, as it would make for a little extra luggage storage, and my wife and I are both taken up biking again. Sticking fog lights in the stock holes would also be good as we do take vacations in Northern California often enough. I'm not allowed to do anything "major" to the car until the warranty is up. For now I think I can get away with poly bushings (once I find them), a swaybar upgrade, and a K&N stock filter replacement. I'm also supposed to let the factory tires live out their useful life, but I'm definitely looking around for a good set of summer tires and the smallest/lightest wheels I can get that will fit over the brakes, and the stockers will get wrapped in some Nokians for the winter trips. But I'm already looking around for turbo manifolds and places to stick an intercoler (side mount looks like the best option). Stock internals to start, of course. But I'm pretty sure the 2.3L could make 250-260 HP reliably.

I'll hopefully pick up a factory service manual here soon. I'd like a good look at the wiring diagrams as I'd prefer to have the accessory outlets on all the time, and I'd like the headlights to turn off with the car. Plus I have very little faith in dealerships and warranties; I haven't let a "professional" touch my Neon since the warranty expired 140,000 miles ago... I've done a good number of how-to's in the past for that car, so I'll do my best to document everything on this one so others can save a little time, money, and effort if they choose (should've broken out the camera for the window tinting, i suppose). I'd also like to pick up a replacement for my OBD-2 scanner (laptop based) that was stolen a while back so I can get some datalogging done for the little breathing improvements and whatnot. But first I think I'll spring for the lifetime alignment deal from Firestone.

So, I'm very much looking forward to a good number of years with the car, sapping tips and tricks, and tearing the thing apart as soon as possible

kargoboy

Welcome...the 5 is the only 'mini' van I would ever consider. Actually, my wife's got a Neon now. I'd love to get her into one of these, so I can have some fun with it, too.

Most of the people who have the 5 aren't into modding them much from what I've seen, so kudos to looking forward to boosting it!

Radarlove

Yup, I'm not really out to turn it into a bling-mobile, or some sleeper street racer (I'm actually very much against street racing); and I'm not sure it would even see the dragstrip more than 2 or three times in its life, and even then only for data collection. And since it isn't even listed in the 2006 Solo II classifications (stock or SP), taking it to a course would just be for fun...

I've toyed off and on over the years of turbocharging the Neon. I keep telling other Neon owners that the 2 most cost effective things they can do to improve overall performance is a bolt-on turbo kit and a set of true coilovers (matched struts and springs, not $35 ebay specials), which can be done realistically for under $5k and will out perform/handle 95% of cars costing twice as much. So I figure the same is going to apply to the 5, although 300+ lb/in springs is probably not going to fly with the wife (she hates being in my car with just Koni's and Mopar X-Highs...).

kargoboy

I know what you mean...my wife hates riding in my car.

irloyal

We all love this car. Tilt and telescope wheel, Radio and Cruise on the steering wheel, unique styling, and the 5 speed zoomzooms pretty well.

Phantom Blue color is neat, changes color in different lighting. A little bling with bright yellow brake calipers, and soon to add custom graphic back window.

The wierd thing is the electronic throttle. I feel it lag a little when trying to hustle the car in third gear.