Introduction

If Mazda sold a premium brand, like Honda's Acura or Toyota's Lexus, or Nissan's Infiniti, then the Millenia would be its flagship. The Mazda Millenia offers value among luxury sedans. With its Mazda nameplate, however, the Millenia often slips under the radar of buyers shopping for a luxury or near-luxury car. The Millenia S packs supercharged 210-horsepower V6 engine and is one of the more interesting cars in the near-luxury class. It's crisp handling encourages you to take the long way home. It's gracious creature comforts make you want to head out on a road trip. This car is superbly engineered and is built at one of the world's highest quality assembly plants. It was, in fact, originally conceived as a premium-brand product and competes with the Infiniti I35, Acura TL, and Lexus ES 300.

Walkaround

Mazda redesigned the Millenia last year (2001), replacing every panel forward of the windshield, and the rear fascia and taillights. It looks sharper, cleaner, and better defined. Launched in 1994, the Millenia is beginning to age, but still looks good. It's an attractive car, but tends to get lost among more contemporary designs. The Millenia S is distinguished by its 17-inch wheels and tires and its small front spoiler. Stem to stern, the Millenia's fit and finish is absolutely world-class. The Millenia is built in a state-of-the-art assembly plant in Japan and Mazda's three-year warranty goes to 50,000 miles. The Millenia's chassis was reinforced last year. Chassis rigidity is important in making the car ride well, handle crisply and feel solid.

Interior Features

The interior of the Millenia is tasteful, distinguished, and deluxe. The leather upholstery is utterly first quality, buttery and rich. The center panels of the seat cushions and backs are elegantly gathered to give the interior living-room sumptuousness. The whole interior is finished in gentle, understated earth tones. The upper section of the dashboard is finished in a soft, pleasing gray or a warm, inviting beige. The lower areas are keyed to the earth tones of the rest of the interior. It is a rich, clean look, accentuated by a tasteful splash of wood on the center console. Front seating in the Millenia is excellent, with good bolstering and lateral support. Power adjustments include lumbar support for the driver. An electric steering-wheel adjuster allows infinite adjustment up and down. Auxiliary audio controls are mounted on the wheel. Automatic-down is only provided for the driver's window. Controls are formed of handsomely tapered shapes so that your eye is automatically directed to each function. The gauges seem to disappear when the ignition is off; turn on the key, and first the red pointers, and then the white numbers, come alive in the darkness. Heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls are straightforward and an ambient outside temperature readout is provided. Front and rear defroster buttons are placed immediately next to one another, and their similarity make you think twice. Of course in frosty conditions you may need both simultaneously anyway. The rear seats offer only average space. Cargo netting is affixed to the rear of the front seats, a fashion that has come and gone. A trunk pass-through feature incorporated in the rear fold-down center armrest makes it easy to load a pair of skis or other long items.