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 On the upside, the 2011 lowers the taillights and eliminates the clear-lens-over-chrome style, which is outdated at best.

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    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 ...

    Safety
    Standard safety features include six airbags, antilock brakes, traction control and an electronic stability system. ...

    Interior
    The rounded instruments integrate nicely into the T-shaped instrument panel. The radio and center controls are tilted up to enhance functionality for the driver. Blacked-out instrument faces have ...