I came across a brochure for the 2015 Mazda 5 while at the dealership for an oil change. So far Mazda has been mum about the 2015 model year, especially with the recent IIHS crash results being extremely negative for the car. Nevertheless, I flipped through the brochure and it seems to be a carryover year, except one big change. The manual is gone, all 2015 Mazda 5s are equipped with the 5-speed automatic only.


So the last remaining manual minivan is dead and gone. Put out to pasture. I doubt we'll see it return anytime soon. The Mazda 5 already sells poorly in the US and only sells slightly better than the 2. Mazda probably didn't sell very many manual versions, except to the handful of enthusiasts and automotive journalists.


I predicted the end was near when the Mazda 5 had mostly carryover years since the 2012 model year debuted. If the 5 didn't go away completely, the manual option would be the first to go to consolidate the model lineup. I was right, unfortunately.

However, last February I bought a 2014 Mazda 5 Sport 6MT to use as a tech project car for Tom's Hardware. I've always been a fan of minivans, especially since my parents had three Dodge Caravans in my childhood (an '84 SE 2.2L, '93 Grand SE 3.3L and '98 Sport 3.8L). I always considered the Mazda5 as the perfect family car for a family of four. There's convenient sliding doors so my kids don't bash the door into neighboring cars and just enough trunk space for a vacation. There's also that sweet sweet 6-speed manual Mazda offered.




It's been 8-months and 8900 miles later and I still love the car and its one of the best all around cars I've owned. I have two young kids and the space and sliding doors are great. The manual paired with the excellent Mazda driving dynamics makes it a pleasure to drive, even after getting in and out of press cars, because it is my car and a manual (most cars in the press fleet are automatic).


Today the car sits with a set of 18-inch 2nd gen Mazdaspeed 3 wheels plastidipped anthracite gray on Yokohama Advan Sport A/S rubber and I couldn't be happier, well I could be with a turbo but that's a project for later down the road...