Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £16,245 to £20,295
Stylish shape for a seven-seater, surprisingly fun to drive, roomy and cleverly designed cabin, quiet at speed, sliding rear doors.
Too many hard plastics in the cabin, centre-row middle seat decidedly occasional, seats not removable.
If you want a compact seven-seater with proper rear seats, decent looks and a fair dose of fun-to-drive, the Mazda 5 is that car.
In this section, which completes a straight run of four-star scores, is found the Mazda 5's raison d'être. It has the longest measurement in the class between the hip points of row one and row three occupants, and the third row is genuinely viable for two adults if they're not too hefty.
Now the clever part, which hinges (literally) around the middle row. Mazda calls it Karakuri, a Japanese word used in Kibuki theatre to describe a sudden surprise from, say, a hidden actor suddenly jumping into view. In the space between the outer seats' backrests is a fold-down armrest. When folded back up, it can either then be hinged to one side to make a through-way to the back seats, or left in place to form the back of a narrow seventh seat. Fold the left seat's cushion forward, and you'll find another hinge-out cushion which flips through 180 degrees to form the base of the centre seat. Then replace the left seat's cushion. Alternatively, under the right seat is a flip-out storage tray with cupholders and an undertray net, useful for toys in the Mazda concept imagination, which can lodge between the outer seats instead.
Good so far? The centre seats tilt and slide forward in one easy movement to allow access to the rear, and their backrests (unlike those of the rear seats) recline. The centre seats can slide, too. For carrying loads, the centre seats' cushions flip forward and the backrests fold down flat, the seatbelt buckles automatically retracting in the process, while the rear seats' backrests flop down onto the cushions. The result is a flat, if gappy and rather high, load floor. You can't take the seats right out, but you can recline the front passenger seat right back for extra-long loads.
Life in the rearmost row is quite civilised and remarkably quiet; Mazda's aim was for rear occupants to converse easily with those in the front, and it has worked to reduce road and wind noise to this end. All six main seats are comfortable and generously sized, but the seventh is narrow, quite convex and suitable only for those of small stature.
Equipment levels are typical of a modern car range, and the air-conditioning is easy to use with its rotary switches and Venetian-blind vents. There are plenty of storage opportunities, too, including a fold-out bottle holder just behind the front seats.
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