when i was picking up my car from the friendly folks at the hertz counter in MDT, the clerk asked "right now you're in a mazda 5, is that OK?" i did not heed that subtle warning and answered "sure" without a second thought. CRITICAL ERROR. i had no idea the 5 was a freaking minivan. not just that, but a mini minivan. it's like a squished-up little minivan that could fit inside a real minivan if you pulled out the back seat.
everything about it felt plastic and cheesy, even the tires. i spun out, like, 28 times accelerating from a stop and the traction control only kicked in one time. it felt like i could knock it on its side with a buddy and one good shove. the way-back seats were so far back my backpack barely fit in the "trunk." i think the mustang i had a couple months ago was more fuel-efficient, this thing somehow managed to burn through a quarter tank of gas in a little over 36 hours.
bottom line: the mazda 5 feels crappy to drive, it looks dumb, it's insane to layout a car that freaking small like a van, i felt like a dork driving it and other people looked at me like "what a dork" when i was in it.
-2 out of 5 stars.
