Was talking to a friend in the know about the Mazda5, and he says that stock brakes and tires could really use an upgrade. It is almost expected that OE tires in a typical new car do not have grip and handling in mind, so the tire issue is really nothing new.
I looked into the brakes issue, and it seems like the the base Mazda3 uses a set of 10.9" / 10.4" brake rotors front and back, while the 2.5L Mazda3 has a bigger set of 11.8" / 11" brake. The Mazda5, being some 400+ lbs heavier, has a set of 11.8" / 11.9" brakes. That is probably the reason why my friend doesn't really like the braking performance of the Mazda5.
Is this really going to be an issue? In typical usage, I wouldn't really worry about it. In an emergency situation, it would certainly be better to have stronger brakes. But personally, neither of these two issues are bad enough to be a deal breaker for me. As long as you're aware of them, that would probably be enough.
-Lik |