2012 Mazda5 Sport: Regular Car Reviews

Protect your car’s interior with Lasfit's custom-fit floor mats and bed liners! Use these links https://lddy.no/1nsye Hyundai and https://lddy.no/1nsyd (2022-2026 Hyundai Santa Cruz.) Use code AUGD1 to save money on the lasfit website! #Lasfit #LasfitFloorMats #lasfitliners #floormats #carfloormats They really don’t make cars like the 2012 Mazda5 Sport anymore, and that’s sad. On this episode of Race To the Bottom, I get to end 2025 by driving one of the most surprising cars I’ve featured this year: a minivan with a manual transmission! Mazda and Ford really cooked with this, because it’s not just a minivan with a 6-speed manual transmission, but it rides on a compact car platform rather than a dedicated van platform! Known as the Mazda Premacy in Japan, the Mazda5 had the potential to completely change the family car landscape in the United States. So why did it ultimately fail to find an audience? And why don’t automakers build cars like this anymore? Is there even a market for something this delightfully weird anymore? Come along with me for a test drive, a critique, and an in-depth history of the 2012 Mazda5 Sport. For more on the chaotic world of car design, check out my analysis of modern automotive design: We’re In the Dark Ages of Car Design:    • We're In the Dark Ages of Car Design   Stream the 2025 RCR Christmas Song, "Too Old For Christmas": Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/a... Apple Music:   / too-old-for-christmas-feat-andre-nate-tali...   Bandcamp: https://theromanrcr.bandcamp.com/trac... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/73IdT0... If you enjoy the show, Patreon is the best way to support us:   / regularcarreviews   Shirts and Mugs: https://regularcars-shop.fourthwall.com/ Key tags and plate frames: https://www.zazzle.com/store/regularcars Find RCR online: BlueSky: @regularcars / @theromannick Instagram: @regularcarreviews / @theromannick Linktree: https://linktr.ee/regularcarreviews Second channel:    / @regularandroman   Thank you for supporting Regular Car Reviews! Timestamps: 00:00 Modern automakers hate simple cars 01:29 Lasfit ad 02:42 Mazda used to be weird 04:48 Surprising performance (with a catch) 08:21 The things I didn’t like 12:35 We need more cars like the Mazda5 13:55 Mazda Premacy and the history of the Mazda5 16:01 Why the Mazda5 failed 20:04 Final Thoughts and Current Standings 23:12 The 2025 RCR Christmas Song