Mazda Tribute History

Mazda has often tried to stay on the smaller side of the SUV market and offer a smaller vehicle that has ample power to still be considered an SUV. The Tribute was released as an answer to the string of Honda and Toyota small size SUVs that were beginning to dominate the market in the early 2000s.

History

The Mazda Tribute was designed to be the follow-up to the Navajo as Mazda's next sport utility vehicle. The Tribute was first introduced in 2001, and it was manufactured in conjunction with Ford at a Ford plant that was designed to build Mazda vehicles but use Ford power trains to give the Tribute extra power.

Function

When it was debuted in 2001, the Mazda Tribute was designed as a small-scale SUV with the single-body construction normally found in cars. This was common to many of the smaller SUVs that were designed and built in 2001.
It has a V-6 engine to give it more power than most other small SUV vehicles in its class, and it maintains enough power to carry five adults. The Tribute comes as a five-door unit with two front doors, two back doors and one rear hatch.

Features

From 2003 to 2005 there were some significant changes made to the interior of the Mazda Tribute and to the engine as well. The steering column was redesigned to help accommodate the audio controls for the entertainment system onto the steering wheel. The engine remained a 2.3-liter engine, but it was given more power as it was increased to 153 horsepower. Mazda also got on board with the new safety regulations that were being put into effect by the United States government in 2005 and added more air bags to the Tribute, including new passenger side air bags.

Considerations

In 2001, Mazda had a close relationship with the Ford Motor Company that resulted in Mazda building some of their vehicles in Ford factories in the United States. The Ford Escape came out that same year and it is often considered to be the Ford equivalent to the Tribute in that they share a body design and a power train as well.
Mazda also borrowed the 2001 Ford Taurus engine design to use in the 2001 Tribute as well.

Time Frame

The 2006 model of the tribute contained almost no changes from the 2005 model, and in 2007 Mazda did not offer a model of the Tribute at all. The 2008 models offered a resurgence of the Tribute, as that was when 13 newer sub-models of the Tribute were introduced that included the "i" and the "s" models.
The 2008 Mazda Tribute has two categories; the four-cylinder models are the "i" models, and the six-cylinder models are the "s" models. Mazda has added even more power to the Tribute engines, as the four-cylinder "i" series boasts a 2.5-liter engine capable of 171 horsepower and the six-cylinder "s" series has a 3.0-liter engine that can put out 240 horsepower at its maximum capacity.