Driven: Mazda CX-5 Review

After driving the new Mazda CX5 for 7000km++ within 2 months, I can feel that the 2.0 liter Skyactiv engine moves it without too much fuss. There isn’t a ton of power, but there is enough to keep up with traffic without any issues. The 6-speed manu-matic helps in this regard. The engine doesn’t seem to get bogged down at low RPMs, and it doesn’t rev too high on the highway with the generous overdrive.

The Mazda also delivers in the interior department, with logical controls and nice materials.

You can find all sorts of creature comforts inside. The seats (only the driver’s chair is power adjustable) are wrapped in leather. The seats are very good for long journey drive. They have solid bolstering and support, especially for the lower back. Likewise, the dashboard is well laid out.The gauges are white-on-black and very easy to read at a glance.

The stereo is a Bose® unit that has 9 speakers and produces sounds strong which makes me enjoy my ride more.

The CX-5 does what the rest of the segment doesn’t—it delivers great handling, yet best-in-the-entire-industry-among-SUVs gas mileage of up to 600km full tank on road and approx 680km full tank on highway which comes about 8.1l/100km on highway and about 9l-9.5l/100km on city. It also features thoughtful and useful design, inside and out.

I appreciate the CX-5’s intuitive controls and high-quality materials, but its predictable list of standard features disappoint me . No infotainment system, No autolock and side mirror autofold available which I think it’s a standard in modern cars.

Push start button and a 5.8-inch touchscreen is standard fare and can be commanded by a round multifunction controller located on the console. Bluetooth and the essential USB and auxiliary connections are provided. It also includes dual-zone automatic climate control, a rearview camera which I find it useful, automatic headlamp-beam control, rain sensor etc.

The navigation system fails big time. I don’t  like the Tom Tom navigation system, it’s one of the lousiest in the market and not user friendly at all. 

With the rear seats in use, the Mazda CX-5 has in my opinion a small cargo space, and when the rear seats are folded, cargo volume increases to about almost double size. These figures don’t rank the CX-5 at the top of its class for cargo capacity, but as one of the smallest entries in the segment

The CX-5 comes with stability control and a collection of six airbags. All this helped the car achieve a five-star crash rating from Euro NCAP. Security measures include an alarm and immobiliser. 

The ride would be complete without a few gripes and could be more forgiving, and the overabundance of wind and road noise ruins the car’s refinement. 

This is a good car, a fine family SUV that will serve me well for the next 5 years or more.

Performance   4 star – slightly underpowered for a 2.0 engine

Ride & Handling 4 star – wind noise is irritating to me when cruising above 90km/h

Features 4 star – lousy navigation system and no DVD playback.

Quality & Reliability 4 star

Security & Safety 5 star

Space & Practicality – 4 star – cargo space way is small compared to other SUV such as Renault 3008, or Honda CRV