iii If the newly facelifted Mazda panel van design is
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not entirely cribbed from an artist's impression of Dan Dare's transport n the pages of the 1950s Eagle comic, then the front valance, and the bumper must be. The mouldings for these body panels are more than just "distinctive", sprawling, as they do, a leisurely quarter pf a metre out from the main body.
They lend a snouty, bumper-car-like appearance to the new van, and prove that at least one Japanese designer has a well-developed sense of the ridiculous, or has just discovered the adventures of Dan Dare and the Mekon.
The idiosyncratic bumper is very much the dernier en in Japanese van facelifts at the moment. Nissan's Urvan gained a similar protuberance last year, and, of late, Japanese-style facelifts seem to be confined to the front end of the vehicle so that expensive tools are changed only for the front-end body pressings.
Mazda claims that the bumper will provide protection for a frontal impact up to 48km/h, when combined with the new reinforced floor pan and a crossmember. The company says that the cab is designed to provide a minimum survival space for the driver and passenger, and that the steering wheel will move less than 130mm rearwards in the event of a 481unth front-end crash.
Did anyone mention Volkswagen's pioneering work on safety in forwardcontrol vans which showed up some inadequacies in Japanese forward-control models? Probably not, but it cannot have escaped the notice of some Japanese manufacturers that safety legislation on light commercials is starting to be tightened, especially in the US.
Volkswagen's 1975 declaration of intent that "the key figure is man; the task is to protect human beings from injury", and the Japanese desire to pile 'em high, and sell 'em cheap, may not be mutually exclusive. One is tempted to ask, however, whether Mazda's recent concentration on survival cells and the like implies that safety on previous models was not all it might have been.
• BODYWORK
The E2000's body is typically Japanese, with a narrow load compartment and a low/high roof like the high-roof version of the 190 Ford Transit. The standard sliding side door provides access to the front of the bed, and the gas-strut-supported rear tailgate allows rear access. Tailgates like these are beloved by travelling mechanics as they provide a modicum of shelter while they are working on a vehicle. They also hit you under the chin if you don't step back sharply when opening the back.
The loadbed floor is covered with a plastic mat which, unlike others in our experience, does not move around underfoot. Protecting the driver and passengers from the load is a sizeable step down to the passenger compartment. Taller or top-heavy loads can be tied to the removable cross-bars just behind the driver's head.
Despite the Mazda's three internal lights, there is still insufficient lighting to identify the small print on delivery labels on boxes inside the load-bay. Perhaps one large load-bay light would be more appropriate? The rear panels of the van are pressed out with holes in place for the windows on minibus versions with blanking sheets welded into place. The test van's blanking plates were poorly finished; not quite straight, and with a poor paintcoating over the joints with the main body. It all looks like a promising staging post for rust, and owners would be well advised to watch these areas carefully.
One feature we particularly like is the internal dashboard-mounted locking switch for the load-bay doors. The switch saves a trip in bad weather round the van to lock the doors for the conscientious driver, and a possible stolen load for the slapdash driver.
• DR1YELINE
The engine's identical bore and stroke measurements give it a perfectly square configuration. This gives lower piston speeds than for the traditional long-stroke or undersquare commercial petrol engine, but at the expense of torque. That could be compensated for by higher revs, but in this case the engine — adapted from that of the Mazda 626 car — is limited to 5,00Orpm.
The four-pot 66kW unit sits in line with the vehicle, and drives the rear wheels through a gearbox based on the unit in the Mazda rotary-engined RX7 turbo sports car. The rear axle is a conventional hypoid-type, sprung with semi-elliptic leaf springs and fitted with telescopic hydraulic dampers. The front suspension is a double-wishbone set-up with torsion-bar
springing, telescopic hydraulic dampers and an anti-roll bar.
Daily checks for the power unit are mostly made from inside the cab. The fillers for the brake fluid and the screenwash are on the steering column and by the passenger footwell respectively. The oil is checked by lifting the double passenger seat to gain access to the power unit. This is a cumbersome process, and the access is strictly limited, but we think that a cylinder head could be changed in situ, provided a tame ferret was on hand to collect lost tools.
• PERFORMANCE
As might be expected, the unladen performance of the Mazda is very good. The van accelerates hard and feels very strong in the mid-range of its engine power. Slower vehicles can be passed safely, because it can be done quickly with little exposure to oncoming traffic but, not surprisingly, adding a load reduces the available acceleration.
At gross vehicle weight, the acceleration is markedly down and, like the Nissan Urvan (CM 30 July-5 August 1987), the gears have to be used and high revs held to tug along the laden van.
On A-roads the effect is to slow progress considerably, and without noticing it, a driver can end up plodding along at 321un/h (20mph) in fourth gear, taking all day simply to get round the corner. On the motorway the high fifth gear allows cruising speeds to be kept at around 1121an/h (70mph), although the price is paid in fuel consumption as the accelerator has to be kept to the floor.
In the economy stakes the Mazda gives just a little below the average fuel consumption we would expect from this type of van. The revamped Nissan Urvan gave a creditable 11.2 litres/1001cm (25.2mpg) around our light van test route (CM 30 July-5 August 1987). This is almost up to the standards set by the two-litre Ford Transit 120L tested two years ago (CM 1 March 1986), when it achieved 11.06 litres/1001cm (25.5mpg).
Only the Renault Trafic returned worse fuel consumption than the Mazda within our test group. While the Mazda languished close to the bottom of the league with 14.2 litres/1001cm (19.9mpg), it beat the Renault's 16.14 litres/100km (17.5mpg).
• HANDLING
High like many Japanese vans in this class, the new Mazda is not really designed for fully laden operation. Unfortunately it is not designed for unladen operation either, and the handling, which just suits a part-laden van, suffers at the two extremes of operation.
The problem in this case is largely one of suspension travel not being long enough to cope with the largest bumps. The relatively soft springs are virtually on the bump stops with a full load, but allow the van to "float" when the van is unloaded. The floating sensation is aggravated by the poor damping, and on fast A-roads the unladen van will pitch and wallow.
The same journey with a loaded Mazda will be a teeth-jarring, white-knuckle event as the wheels crash into ever pothole and the suspension hits the bum stops. On the other hand, the balance c the van is fairly good, and at the extreme of handling, it will drift with all fou wheels after a short period of understeer.
Stopping the Mazda was an undrarnati job. Although the front tyres locked up the van pulled up a straight line, and th pedal action is progressive with plenty c "feel". Our only complaint is that th; brake pedal loses that feel at the end c its travel, and at that fully-depressed poin the wheels quickly lock up.
• INTERIOR
The interior fittings on the Mazda lool as familiar as a hat on The Queen Mother The air vent shapes, seat covers am steering wheel mark the van's country o origin as surely as if it were carrying ; bottle of saki. Unlike that of the Nissai Urvan, the Mazda interior is finished in sombre grey. This may be a little to funereal for European tastes, but at leas it's better than Nissan's horrible brown.
As most of these vans seem to be usee by one-man operators the carpeted floo; may last the course, but we feel a fey more rubber mats than the small example on the driver's side would at least make the cab easier to clean.
The instrumentation is sparse, but easi ly read, and the steering column stalki are quite simple to use, although a littk "plasticky" in operation. We like the in tenor release for the petrol filler cap, but wonder what happens when the cable breaks.
III SUMMARY
Most of the immediate competition for the Mazda (Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota) costs 27,00047,500 ex-VAT. The E2000 van is no exception to this, costing 27,449, ex-VAT. For your money you get a lot of very useful features including remote locking for the loadbed doors, interior petrol cap release and, unlike other Japanese vans, a floor-mounted gearlever. These features are just icing on the cake, however, and a potential operator should look at the mediocre fuel consumption before making a commitment to buy.
Around town the Mazda may be a very useful vehicle for the one-man operator, but for long journeys, or fleet use, it is largely unsuitable because of the lack of versatility in the model line-up. This fault is not the Mazda's alone, and until Japanese manufacturers can offer the range of features to be found on Fords or Freight Rovers, their products will not appeal to the large fleet operator in this country.