The
Mazda5's hood is expansive and flows gracefully into the windshield and A-pillars. The entire front end is reworked for 2008. A single, horizontal bar still divides the Mazda5's grille opening and supports the Mazda trademark logo, but the opening itself is more angular and stylized. The same goes for the broad lower air intake and the large fog light recesses. Headlight housings slash into the fenders and reach around the sides to touch the front wheel well arches, which are mostly filled by the tires.
From the side, the vista is much busier, although geometrically consistent. A strong wedge influence flares character lines and surface planes from the pinched-down front end rearward to a tall, chopped off, stubby tail rendered even more awkward by a pouting, bulbous rear bumper. Matte black B-pillars and C-pillars play down the height of the glasshouse. Side mirrors attach to the lower half of small, wind-wing-shaped quarter windows. Body-color, full-round handles bridge concave circles in the doors. A gentle bulge crossing the doors' lower extremities ties together the blistered fenders. The slots for the sliding side doors scar the flanks. The optional side sill extensions create a ground-effect look that somehow works, giving the perspective a more complete, more finished touch.
At the rear, the clear-lens taillight housings maintain their basic shape, but the lights themselves are now LEDs. The liftgate extends well into the rear bumper, removing some visual mass from the back end, as well as easing loading with a low cargo floor. The rear window is fixed. We would prefer an opening rear window to ease loading of items such as groceries. The optional spoiler drags the roofline back and out above the rear window, adding a bit of edginess to the Mazda5's mostly egg-shaped rear outline. next page