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:

    New welcoming functionalities
    The interactive lighting control increases anticipation of a Zoom-Zoom driving experience. For example, when the driver unlocks the car door, the cockpit spotlight, room lamp and lights in the doo ...

    Transmissions
    The 2.3-litre MZR petrol comes standard with a new five-speed manual transmission that employs multi-cone synchronizers and a new cable shift system, which reduces shift effort and provides for sh ...

    Miata in the Market
    The Miata's advantages in the market are that it has little competition — and none with anywhere near its two decades of refinement and evolution. There's almost a $10,000 span between the base-pr ...