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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.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:
Firm Ride
Despite losing much of the performance the turbocharged model offers, the
CX-7 with the base four-cylinder still has sporty handling for a small
crossover. This has its pros and cons.
On the plu ...
Under the Hood
A 1.5-liter four-cylinder makes 100 horsepower and 98 pounds-feet of torque.
Transmission choices include a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic
transmission. ...
Highway Driving
On the highway is where you'll notice you're driving a small, light car, and
that's not always a great thing. Right off, there was fair amount of road noise,
and passengers noticed a lot of wind n ...


