New cars: Mazda 5

The Philadelphia Inquirer

This 3,500-pound, three-quarter-scale minivan “isn’t exactly a bantamweight.” But it’s 1,000 pounds lighter than a standard minivan, and the 27 mpg highway is “very good for a beast of burden.” Unfortunately, the 2.3-liter, 153-hp, four-cylinder engine “isn’t quite in a league with its mileage.” Styling is passable for a minivan, and the interior is “clean and functional.”

Car and Driver

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This six-passenger mini-minivan at first seems like “the little brother not big enough to ride the monster roller coaster.” The third-row seats are comfortable only for adults under 6 feet. Full-size minivans have as much cargo space behind their second row as “the 5 has behind its first.” But gas efficiency is still on everybody’s mind, and little brothers “sometimes grow up to run the family business.”

Edmunds.com

Sliding doors give this compact minivan an advantage over the Kia Rondo for buyers looking for “affordable, fuel-efficient transportation.” Three trim levels are offered—Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring. Front-seat side air bags and head-protecting side-curtain air bags are standard in all three. This is an ideal car for “running errands around town.”