I like the 5. It is what a MINIvan should be. Can we get a MazdaSpeed version with the turbo 2.3?

I always refer to my Mazda5 as a mini-mini-van. Yes, it could benefit from a little extra zoom-zoom from the Mazdaspeed3, but it’s adequately peppy for day-to-day driving as long as you keep the revs up. I figured it would catch on eventually with a nice combination of equipment, interior volume in a relatively small vehicle compared to the behemoth “mini” vans from Honda, Toyota and Chrysler.

I like this vehicle a lot. I’m glad to see that Mazda has stuck with it, despite niche-vehicle sales. It appears to be paying off.

We need more vehicles like the 5 on our shores. Like the Zafira, Picasso, S-Max, Espace, etc.

In England-land they call these things “people movers.” I agree with Inline6, the Ford S-Max is a freaking hot car with a Volvo turbo 5cyl, that we deserve way more than the Brits.

From the Conversion Van’s & Station Wagon’s of the 70″- 80″ to the Minivan’s of the 90″ to SUV’s early 2000″ to late 2000″ and the Crossover’s & Compact Eco Boxes of today, the evolution of the Family Vehicle…

What is next?….. I know for me it’s going to be 4 Door Lamborghini’s and Aston Martin’s……
All I need is a little change….

The 5 I rented last year was very impressive.. great handling, just enough oomph (for two at least) and incredibly smart and spacious. GM made a HUGE mistake not bringing the similar Opel Zafira to Saturn or Chevy dealers when they had the chance.

I just saw a 4 door Porsche in C&D.

With price of gas dropping down, the sales of Mazda 5 will follow. The car made sense when gas was $4/gallon and that explains surge in demand. I think the pendulum will swing back to monster mobiles again.

I don’t think the price of gas will remain sub-$2 for long… I really like the 5, I’ve never understood why Mazda hasn’t given it better market support, especially in this kind of economy. You pretty much have to go to a showroom to find out about them.

The funny thing is if you look at worldwide Mazda sales things don’t look so sad. How fair is it to compare GMC or Pontiac or some other basically just sold in North America brand’s sales figures to a company that does a big big bit of their sales outside the U.S. like most of the Euro brands and Japanese brands?

Obviously I care about how Mazda is doing in the U.S., but it’s way more important to see how they’re doing worldwide as almost every car they sell is a world car. On the other hand, looking at say GMC sales figures U.S. vs world there isn’t going to be a big difference so it doesn’t matter.

Now I need to dig for world sales numbers for 2008…

I love this vehicle too. It’s a great size, Euro-sized, not as bulky and hulking-looking as the Chrysler / Dodge minivans for sure. A serious buzzkill however in the new ones, you can’t get a manual transmission anymore in the Mazda5. That was a mistake I think, but I’m guessing that Mazda knows their market and profit margin a bit better than I do.

This looks orders of magnitude better than any other minivan, FACT.

Buy gold and save yourselves. More FACT.

Impulsive, TRUE on both FACTS! This economic “crisis” was caused by bankers and speculators driving down the markets so they can buy low, and, buy gold. Don’t trust the Treasury Dept or the Federal Reserve, they’re both totally corrupt houses of banking controlled by private interests; JP Morgan’s family and the Rockefellers to name two. Sorry for the non-auto-related rant, aaaagain..

‘Gundy’, good to see someone else post something of worth.

I actually considered one of these, then decided it was too small for the long term.

it only makes sense that this would sell well