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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

    See also:

    A Powertrain for Sporty Performance with Great Fuel Economy
    The Zoom-Zoom driving experience that Mazda strives for has two key attributes: 1) a sense of linear acceleration and deceleration that responds crisply to how far the accelerator pedal is depressed ...

    SAFETY
    Driving the Mazda2 felt a bit like driving a tin can, which doesn't instill a sense of confidence on the safety front. There aren't any crash-test ratings available yet on this car. However, it do ...

    Floor Mat
    WARNING: Make sure the floor mats are hooked on the retention pins to prevent them from bunching up under the foot pedals: Using a floor mat that is not secured is dangerous as it will interfere ...