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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.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

    Passenger Air Bag Deactivation Switch
    WARNING: Do not deactivate the passenger air bag unnecessarily: Unnecessary deactivation of the passenger air bag is dangerous. If turned off unnecessarily, the passenger will not receive the added ...

    Rocking the Vehicle]
    WARNING: Do not spin the wheels at more than 56 km/h (35 mph), and do not allow anyone to stand behind a wheel when pushing the vehicle: When the vehicle is stuck, spinning the wheels at high sp ...

    Vehicle Overview
    Mazda's midsize front-wheel-drive sedan benefits from a sportier nature than some of its competitors. Inline-four-cylinder (in "i" models) and V-6 ("s" models) engines are avai ...