Ride & Handling

The Mazda5's steering response is designed to engage the driver. A turn of the wheel delivers a quick change of direction, and there's a fair amount of feedback. The suspension is on the firm side, but it provides a tolerable ride even on the broken pavement that's prevalent near Cars.com's Chicago headquarters.

    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 ...

    Under the Hood
    Tribute buyers get the choice of a four-cylinder or V-6 engine. A manual transmission is standard on the base model, and other models come with a six-speed automatic transmission, which is availab ...

    Cargo & Towing
    The CX-7's rear cargo area holds just under 30 cubic feet with the second-row seats in place and 58.6 cubic feet with them down. This is a large area, but it's also a bit high, so the depth isn't ...