Most of us appreciated the clean lines of the 5's cabin and its efficient use of space, but notations about several ergonomic miscues popped up repeatedly in the logbook. The controls for the $2000 navigation system--the only option on our Touring model and a bit of an anomaly in this thrifty ride--were located left of the gearshifter, making them difficult for the passenger to reach. The joystick controller was overly sensitive and "a fiddly pain to use," added assistant editor Sam Smith. It required a very deliberate downward push to "OK" a command. If it was inadvertently pushed sideways, it would lead to a different submenu, requiring the driver to take his or her eyes off the road. As for the gearshifter itself, many drivers found themselves hitting the HVAC buttons when sliding it into first, third, and fifth gears.
Other annoyances? Placing heavy items on the front passenger seat caused the seatbelt warning to sound, which is common to most cars, but the tone of this particular alarm was unusually loud and obnoxious. "If this were my car," said senior online editor Jason Cammisa, "I would find the seatbelt dinger thing and bludgeon it with a large screwdriver. Repeatedly."
None of these foibles detracted from the 5's two fundamental verities: it's surprisingly good to drive, and it's really cheap. Since it's based on the Mazda 3, one of our favorite small cars, the 5 is more athletic than you'd expect. "It has the most interactive, communicative steering I've found in anything that holds this much crap," offered Smith after a 1600-mile weekend trip to Atlanta to pick up a load of bulky parts for his BMW 2000.
"I love the fact that Mazda offers a stick shift," added senior editor Joe Lorio. "It's critical to maintaining one's self-esteem while shuttling a carload of kids around town."
And even though that shift lever "took too much effort to drop into gear," as Smith noted, it was also critical for wringing the most out of the 157-hp, 2.3-liter four. Many drivers yearned for just "a bit more power," or "a shade more torque." "A nicely integrated turbo, like VW's 2.0 FSI, would be ideal," offered Lorio. But, really, the stock powertrain did the job just fine most of the time, and at least two drivers received speeding tickets while hustling along in the 5.
As for value, well, Lorio stated it best when he described the 5 as "a screaming deal." Our top-of-the-line Touring model included seventeen-inch aluminum wheels, a sunroof, ABS, a six-disc CD changer, and three-row side curtain air bags, all for only $21,510. We'd happily pay extra for stability control, but it's not offered.
Early on in our test, all Mazda 5s were recalled. It seems that the owner of an early production 5 with the optional four-speed automatic nudged the shift lever into manual mode and proceeded to drive in second gear, engine on the rev limiter, for an extended period at high speeds. This abuse overheated the catalyst and ignited some of the undercoating around the muffler. It took Mazda about a month to figure out the problem, during which time all owners were treated to free loaner cars, $500 debit cards, and warranty extensions. The fix included a heat-shield kit and a reprogrammed ECU to force a 2-3 upshift for automatic-equipped 5s and to more closely monitor exhaust temperatures.
Apart from that inconvenience, our reliability complaints centered on a recalcitrant passenger-side sliding-door latch that required two service visits and a recurring noise from the front suspension that resurfaced even after the antiroll bar bushings were replaced. A few interior trim pieces also came loose.
My regard for the Mazda 5 remains intact, two years after seeing it for the first time in Japan. And even the most speed-addled of my colleagues, people like Cammisa, have had to admit that "this Mazda is a lot of car for $21K! It's fantastically well-equipped, fun to drive, and, when it's fully loaded, the ride quality is still great." This from a man who owns four German performance cars. As Smith stated, the 5 is "more fun, more attractive, and less stupid than the average minivan." Maybe I'm not such a nerd after all.