Exterior & Styling

The sliding doors say "minivan," but many see the Mazda5 as a wagon. Minivans tend not to set hearts aflutter, but there's one thing I appreciate about the 2010 Mazda5, and that's its styling. It's nothing special, but it's also not the redesigned 2011 Mazda5 that's due at dealerships early in 2011; Mazda has already released photos (click on the thumbnails to the right). The 2011 has a less restrained design, including the smiling grille most new Mazda models get, plus a new characteristic: wavelike accent lines in the bodyside sheet metal. On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    Interior
    The previous Mazda3's cabin was starting to show its age, but the new Mazda3's interior features significant revisions that result in a contemporary cabin. The gauges have red illumination, and th ...

    Brake System
    Foot Brake Your Mazda has power-assisted brakes that adjust automatically through normal use. Should power-assist fail, you can stop by applying greater force than normal to the brake pedal. But ...

    Meters and Gauges
    (Black-out meter) When the ignition switch is in the ON position, the dashboard gauges illuminate. 1. Speedometer 2. Odometer, Trip Meter and Trip Meter Selector 3. Tachometer 4. Engine Coola ...