Yesterday DH and I looked at the Mazda 9, Mazda 5 and the 08 & 09 Honda Pilots. We didn't drive any of them...just poked around and looked at space, LATCH, etc. I also didn't really look at price or anything else that I could look up myself when I got home.
Mazda 9 - to me, wasn't as nice IRL as I was expecting. The dash was cool & sporty. The body style is the sportiest. The third row felt smaller than the Pilot. I think it's advertised to have more cargo room than the Pilot, but the room behind the 3rd row is smaller than the 09 Pilot. No LATCH anchors (not even top anchors) in the third row. A booster should work in the third row - but I think I'll want a latchable one when the time comes so doesn't work for me.
Mazda 5 - overall could be great for the right family, but doesn't work for mine. The third row is very small. My 5'4" DD wouldn't be comfortable back there unless the middle seat was all the way forward...and then a car seat wouldn't fit in the seat in front of her. Of course, no real trunk space behind the third row. I loved the sliding doors.
08 Pilot vs 09 Pilot - The 2009 seems to have fixed some of the shortcomings of of the 2008. The 09 sits up a bit higher. IMO, the 09 looks more aggressive and the 08 looks more grocery getter. 08 has LATCH outboard 2nd row seats and top tethers in all 3 seats in 2nd & third rows. 09 still has top tethers for all seats in 2nd & third rows. 2nd row now has 3 sets of lower LATCH anchors (I think someone else said you can use all three at the same time). One outboard third row seat has lower LATCH. 09 has more space behind the third row. The covered storage compartment under the cargo area is also larger. The headrests must be removed to fold the third row in the 08 (they store in a small compartment in the space under the cargo area). The 09 headrests slide down into the seat so they don't need to be removed...freeing up valuable cargo space.
09 Pilot was my favorite by far.