Mazda 5 ?

My wife is looking for a new vehicle and saw the mazda5, and is in love
with it.
I went and read all the reviews on it and all comments.
Question I have, is

1) Is the air conditioner really that bad? Anyone have this vehicle in a
hot state, and can verify if that will be a problem.

2) I hear about how it is underpowered(especially with the automatic).
If there are four people in this vehicle and some luggage, will this
vehicle actually have a hard time, or not even make it up some roads, if
your traveling through hilly areas of our country. Or is this just being
overstated?

3) I had an early 1990 dodge van(which is about the same size as the mazda
5), but with a V6 engine. It was rated about the same horsepower and had a
three speed automatic.
I was very contented with the power. Would a four cylinder with the
same horsepower such as the mazda5 feel the same?

Thanks

On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:42:59 GMT, "J.Lef" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>1) Is the air conditioner really that bad? Anyone have this vehicle in a
>hot state, and can verify if that will be a problem.

The air conditioner problem is nothing. Let me clarify that.

Mazda has set up a gas saving feature that disables the air conditioner
compressor when you ask for more power from the engine. If you hold your foot
in it for a while, you'll notice the air from the vents will get warmer. As
soon as you return to normal throttle position, the compressor restarts and you
get cool air again.

They all do that sir.

Another problem noted is that the air conditioner fan is too efficient. If you
set it on the highest speed, the air goes through the cooling coils too quickly
to get cold, and you get lukewarm air. The warranty repair is to place a
restriction in front of the cooling coil so the air moves through it more
slowly, getting cooler in the process. You can achieve the same result by
lowering the fan speed one notch.

I could have taken my Mazda3 in and get the restriction put on the cooling
coils, but it also restricts the air for the heating system. I'll restrict it
myself.

--
Jack