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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    Design - Refreshed Looks and a more aggressive Sports Appearance Package
    The European C-MAV segment is not renowned for products with eye-catching designs. In 2005, Mazda 5 bucked this trend by introducing a stylish, sportier exterior that stood out in the crowd of loo ...

    Interior
    The Tribute has seating for five, and there's about 99 cubic feet of passenger space, which is less than the RAV4 and CR-V but more than the Vue. The Tribute has a 60/40-split folding rear seat. W ...

    New for 2011
    An electronic stability system is now standard on all models. Beyond that, Mazda makes mostly minor changes to option packages after the 2010 redesign. ...