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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    Steering
    The Mazda 6 facelift steering system has been upgraded for reined stability-feel during straight- ahead driving on the motorway. New disc springs are added to the mounting points for the steering ...

    Safety
    Standard safety features include side-impact airbags for the front seats and side curtain airbags for all three rows of seats. Second-row seats have Latch child-safety seat anchors and top tethers ...

    Cargo
    Fold all the passenger seats down, and the Mazda5 has a clear advantage over competitors, with 89.3 cubic feet of cargo volume. The seven-seat Rondo and RAV4 have 73.6 cubic feet and 73.0 cubic fe ...