With 27 cars in their Japanese line-up, Mazda is sure to have a car for everyone. Front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive, kei-car, sedan, sports car, coupe, SUV and … minivans such as the Biante that they kindly let us test drive recently. Here are our impressions.
Available in Japan since early July, the Mazda Biante is a mid-size minivan capable of transporting up to 8 people in zoom-zoom style and comfort. Even though the MPV looks more elegant, quite a few Japanese families go for the Biante as it offers a lot of room and a very reasonable price, starting at 2.199.000 JPY.
Design :
Talk about typical Japanese fashion! The Mazda Biante has everything you either love or hate in minivans! It's long, high, and looks like yet another space shuttle on four small wheels. Despite rocking the standard dimensions for this type of car, the Biante sets itself apart thanks to its interesting design, highlighted by profiled headlamps going from the top of the front bumper and followed by the side windows in a sort of wave, all the way to the rear of the car. The designers wanted to give it a sense of speed and lightness and it was perfectly executed. An easy task on a sports coupe, but a different story on a van and we give the Mazda guys a couple thumbs up for that.
Hey, it’s a minivan after all, look for pictures of similar vehicles in the 90s and you’ll see that we’ve come a long way!
Interior :
Design is one thing, important, but let’s be honest, we drive cars more than we look at them so the interior is key, especially for this Mazda. Ever been in an igloo? Not that the Biante’s interior is cold and boring but it's actually much bigger than you think when you stand outside.
Depending on the seat configuration, up to 8 passengers can fit in there and fill the 2000cc of space! It's actually is so big that driving the thing alone kind of feels like driving a camping car.
If you have more luggage than friends, no worries, Mazda thought of many smart ways to pack your stuff as the seats are easy to move or remove depending on your needs.
Enough about passengers, here are a few words about the driver’s seat. It's in a good position, with all the usual options, and the elegant and well designed dashboard makes for a pleasant ride behind the wheel.
On the Road
The Mazda Biante is available in three grades, with two drives (FWD or AWD) and two, four cylinder engines. The gearbox HAS to be automatic even though the Biante 23S comes equipped with a manual mode paddle shifter. Power output ranges from 144PS (184Nm) to 165PS (210Nm) and is enough to move the 1.7T, quietly. Its low torque forces you to drive slowly and enjoy the beauty of the Japanese landscape, which is if you make it outside of Tokyo. Since highway speeds are limited to 70 to 100 kph, there's no need to hurry.
Driving the Biante in the city requires a bit of getting used to, the long bonnet and size of the car make some maneuvers a bit tricky, and watch out for dead angles, this car needs some space around it!
Conclusion:
The Mazda Biante really surprised us, in a good way. People who have a big family, or constantly need to move a lot of things, have a good answer to their needs right here. It's also an affordable one, prices start a 2.2 million Yen top at 2.7 million, that is roughly 13-16.000€ for 8 seats and more space that you could ask for.
So what’s wrong with this car? Well not much, except the list of options including a Full Audio System (GPS, TV, DVD) is a whooping 800.000JPY (almost 5.000€).
Posted on 04/09/08 By G-A.G
