The Mazda CX-5 is abundant to drive and actual spacious, and agent ability still makes the best faculty in this car. We’ll absolutely absence the its attendance on our fleet.
Mileage: 15,324Economy: 40.9mpg
The Mazda CX-5 has been on our alive for about a accomplished year, but now it’s time to say goodbye. Aback we took commitment aback in October 2017, it was one of several agent SUVs in our car park. While petrol was starting to bend advanced of agent in agreement of acceptance then, that action has accelerated so abundant in 2018 that the CX-5 is now one of the abandoned agent models we’re running.
And as so abounding baby SUVs such as the SEAT Arona and Citroen C3 Aircross accept been launched recently, the Mazda is additionally one of the bigger cars on our books. Not that this is a bad thing, of course, because it’s actual spacious. The 506-litre cossack has been in connected use over the accomplished year, accustomed photography gear, suitcases, arcade and aggregate bare for a ancestors holiday. But we’ve rarely had to bend the seats to extend the amplitude inside.
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That’s additionally partly because as a ancestors car the CX-5 has usually been alteration rear passengers, who were able to adore the abounding arch and legroom in the aback seats. The Mazda’s abundant acumen meant that on one break we were able to arch to the tip with a cossack abounding of debris – and crucially lots of easily to array it into the actual recycling bins aback we arrived.
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It was on trips like this that we were activated to accept a torquey agent beneath the bonnet, because alike with a car abounding to the border with bodies and abundant baggage our Mazda didn’t feel slow.
In fact, acknowledgment to its accomplished handling, the SUV was consistently a joy to drive. While the agent was a bit coarse, that’s accurate of abounding diesels in this class, and it performed strongly. It’s additionally affiliated to apparently the best chiral gearshift you’ll acquisition in any SUV; the accoutrement about feels like it’s been aerial out of a sports car. The shifter is in the absolute abode for your hand, and is absolute and mechanical.
Combine that with positive, well-weighted steering, a abundant alive position and a adequate (but not too bouncy) ride, and you’ve got one of the best-handling SUVs around.
It’s not that the Mazda is anytime activity to be apprenticed like a sports car, or alike pushed decidedly adamantine by its owners; we never acquainted the allegation to drive it aloof for the account of adequate it, like we ability in a sportier model. It’s aloof that the act of alive the CX-5 is acceptable and fun in itself, to the point that alike the best banal trips can be enjoyed. The SUV took on several best journeys during its time with us as well, and averaged about 48mpg on the motorway. These drives into alien area did bandy up a few problems with the sat-nav system, though.
While the MZD-Connect accoutrement is accessible to use, acknowledgment to its rotary ascendancy on the centre console, it can be apathetic to amount up and on one break it didn’t apperceive that a alley we were alive on alike existed. That shows how anachronous the nav is, but the interface is starting to attending old hat now as well. The acceptable account is that Mazda dealers are able to fit Android Auto and Apple CarPlay functionality to MZD-Connect systems (the bad account is that it costs £350).
Even afterwards able-bodied over 14,000 miles, our CX-5’s autogenous looks and feels as solid as it did aback it arrived. The abandoned assurance of its activity so far is a bit of crumbling on the accoutrement covering on the axial accumulator bin. We’ll be sad to see the Mazda leave our fleet, then, but it’s not perfect. Abreast from the annoyance of the anachronous infotainment system, several trips into boondocks accept bashed the ammunition abridgement to the low 40s.
However, the Mazda’s bigger botheration is the backbone of its rivals. The Skoda Karoq and Peugeot 3008 are actively able competitors in this class, and you get a lot of car for your money with those models. The CX-5 is a accomplished choice, abnormally in agent form, but you’ll accept to attending accomplished some actual accomplished cars to buy one.
Mazda CX-5 SUV’s beauteous paintjob still wows us, and it could be the best red acrylic on any car
Mileage: 14,236Economy: 40.9mpg
One aspect of the CX-5 that has afflicted abounding associates of the Auto Express aggregation during its time with us is the Soul Red Crystal brownish paint.
Mazda has a continued history with the colour red, but is abnormally appreciative of this accurate finish. The close calls it its “most arresting colour ever”, and says it was created to bear aberrant abyss and cogitating quality.
And I anticipate it’s hit the jackpot. Aback the sun is shining, as it has done for abundant of this summer, our bunched SUV looks beaming and stands out from the sea of connected cars calamity our roads. It’s partly helped by the styling; the CX-5’s barefaced advanced and angrily crafted flanks accommodate themselves to character colours.
So it’s sobering to see the blow of the palette. Deep Crystal Blue Mica and Eternal Blue Mica add a birr of colour, but the added bristles options are a bourgeois mix of black, argent and grey. Of course, this is actual abundant in band with the appearance at present, and Mazda isn’t abandoned here.
While I acknowledge that it makes faculty for the close to focus on its signature colour, I anticipate its accomplished angle of authoritative cars that are absolutely agreeable to drive is able-bodied ill-fitted to a brighter, added alive best of paintjobs.
And our Sport Nav car’s artful address is additional by the 19-inch gunmetal alloys. Those auto are attractive alike bigger afterwards a aide as allotment of the SUV’s aboriginal account at Underwoods Mazda, in Colchester, Essex. The CX-5 had afresh hit the 12,500-mile mark, and it’s now aback to its best afterward the check-up.
Our abandoned atom has been a apart artificial animate in the driver’s footwell. It’s currently in the boot, cat-and-mouse to be reattached.
Diesel still takes centre date in Mazda CX-5 SUV admitting the bazaar about-face appear petrol power
Mileage: 12,512Economy: 44.0mpg
You may accept apprehend afresh about how Mazda is absorbed on bucking the industry trend, and is pinning its hopes on diesel. “Diesel agent technology is this company’s strength,” analysis and development exec Kiyoshi Fujiwara was quoted as saying. “There’s no allegation to stop.”
And if our acquaintance with the CX-5’s 2.2-litre agent is annihilation to go by, that’s understandable. This 148bhp assemblage is the lower-powered of the two agent options accessible in the SUV, but it’s a absolutely solid aerialist and is our aces of the range.
It delivers acceptable punch, demography the car from 0-62mph in 9.4 seconds. But it’s through the apparatus area the agent absolutely excels, ensuring the CX-5 consistently feels adequate accelerating and overtaking.
Ally that to candid council and affluence of grip, and you accept an SUV that relishes actuality apprenticed briskly. And although our ammunition abridgement of 44.0mpg is abbreviate of the official claimed 56.5mpg figure, it’s still reasonable enough.
As able-bodied as the engine, we’re afflicted with our Sport Nav car’s specification. It’s the college of two trim levels accessible – the added is SE-L Nav – and includes upgrades such as atramentous accoutrement upholstery, 19-inch gun-metal alloys and a Bose exceptional complete system. The latter’s woofer sits beneath the cossack attic and did account affair aback I saw it was adapted area a additional caster would be.
But if, like me, you’re one of those bodies who prefers the advance of travelling with a spare, abhorrence not: a spacesaver is accessible for £300 added to fit annular it.
Our abiding Mazda CX-5 SUV fared able-bodied on contempo cruise to the tip, but the sat-nav is far from perfect
Mileage: 9,160Economy: 48.2mpg
What do we anticipate of our Mazda CX-5 so far? It’s absolutely not rubbish, alike admitting the car on our alive has spent affluence of time at the recycling centre recently.
My daughters Isla (8) and Erin (5) were abandoned too blessed to accommodate a duke aback a attic approval apprenticed a cardinal of trips to the tip. And while the girls formed hard, the absolute ablaze of the appearance was our Soul Red SUV.
A baggage accommodation of 506 litres is boilerplate for the mid-size SUV class, but accepted added than acceptable and kept the trips to the dump to a minimum. The abiding carpeting survived the aggression unscathed, too.
Predictably, the CX-5 excelled on a continued cruise to my parents’ home in Scotland, with the torquey agent agent auctioning the 500 afar with ease, and it’s averaging 48.2mpg overall. Plus, already it was time to appear off the motorway, the Mazda’s alive administration kept me blessed on country roads.
However, the cruise did bandy up one or two accessory frustrations. The sat-nav, which we’ve criticised for apathetic loading previously, was befuddled into abashing by the A556 bifold carriageway abreast Bowdon, Altrincham, Greater Manchester, which opened in March 2017. It artlessly didn’t apperceive the alley existed – beneath than ideal in an alien allotment of the country.
This is a absolute pity, because aback the arrangement is on form, the mapping is bright and it’s appealing automatic to use. But the flaws are a frustration, and it was apparent respondents in our Driver Ability 2018 analysis apparent it down.
The windscreen washer accommodation isn’t the best generous, either. Bad acclimate meant the wipers were in approved use in Scotland, so we had to bushing it twice. It was additionally adverse that while the USB ports can allegation an iPhone, they couldn’t cope with iPads, but the CX-5 isn’t abandoned in this flaw.
Mazda CX-5 SUV is impressing, admitting sat-nav eccentricity
Mileage: 6,915Economy: 40.7mpg
Our Mazda CX-5 is assuredly a abundant car to drive. But does the SUV consistently apperceive area it’s going? Some sat-nav foibles of backward accept acquired me to advance in a good, old- ancient album as able-bodied as pay added accurate absorption to Waze on my phone.
Our Sport Nav archetypal comes with the MZD-Connect accoutrement as standard, but its behaviour has been rather abstruse so far. Firstly, I noticed the acquisition aback became a bit abnormal in London, as I started actuality directed up accidental aback streets. But I realised article absolutely was up aback it approved to booty me to Coventry afterwards application a motorway.
A analysis of the settings saw it had defaulted to application the beeline avenue rather than the fastest. I switched it aback to fastest, abandoned for it to acknowledgment to beeline afresh anon after. Strange.
It additionally loses the arresting now and again, while loading can be a bit hit and miss, too; sometimes it fires up immediately, but on added occasions it can booty about a minute to crank into life.
It’s a shame, really, because best of the time the nav works well; the mapping is bright and simple to chase and it’s accessible to accomplish via the rotary caster on the centre console.
In fact, abnormal aside, the infotainment in accepted gets a big thumbs-up. The accepted Exceptional Bose audio arrangement delivers accomplished complete quality, while the accession of the seven-inch colour touchscreen on top of the birr is added logical, and safer, than actuality chip lower down.
And of course, it additionally displays images from the abandoning camera in bike with guidelines for appropriate manoeuvres to ensure there are no mishaps in bazaar car parks.
In addition, our car comes with a head-up display, which shows directions, acceleration and acceleration absolute in your band of afterimage at all times. It’s the affectionate of tech you ability accede contemporary if you’ve never acclimated it, but already you accept you realise what an asset it is.
The CX-5’s absolute trump card, though, is aloof how agreeable it is to drive. Allotment of this can be attributed to how ablaze it feels on its feet; with a 1,594kg kerbweight, it is 355kg beneath than the Ford Bend I ran aftermost year, for example.
Ally this with the ability that comes with years of developing the MX-5 auto and you accept a car that absolutely does adore actuality apprenticed robustly on the affectionate of bound B-roads that are the accident of taller, flabbier SUVs.
The 2.2 four-cylinder agent agent is able-bodied abundant but refined, too, and the six-speed chiral box is a acceptable match, carrying an agreeable alive experience. Alike if you’ve been directed off the baffled clue by that absurd nav.
The accession of the Mazda CX-5 SUV has injected some Japanese ability into our analysis fleet
Mileage: 5,277Economy: 41.1mpg
When I begin out that the latest ancestors SUV to accompany our analysis alive would be the Mazda CX-5, I couldn’t advice but anticipate of all my favourite things about the country it comes from.
From accouterment to cuisine to comics, there’s so abundant to adulation about Japanese products. I’m consistently blessed with a bento box for lunch, and my new alive shoes accomplish afire off the calories that bit easier afterwards. And it’s the aforementioned adventure with cars, as the Japanese-built models I’ve run over the years accept been brilliant.
The antecedent Mazda I ran for Auto Express was the 3 hatch, and I was attractive advanced to award out how the latest archetypal compared with the fun-to-drive hatchback.
You can see the affiliation aback you hop in, but the alive acquaintance is what absolutely impresses. Admitting actuality a high-riding SUV, the CX-5 is still abundant from abaft the wheel; the grippy chassis, able-bodied abounding controls and glossy six-speed chiral gearbox all accord to a superb alive experience.
The agent is addition highlight. It’s a 2.2-litre four-cylinder agent that’s not abandoned befuddled and powerful, but quiet and bland as well. Acknowledgment to refinements fabricated with this new model, it’s a abundant accompaniment for the abounding motorway afar I do every anniversary – it’s quiet at a cruise, and the achievement allows me to beat slower cartage at a moment’s notice.
I’m additionally activated to be aback in a car with non- adaptive cruise control. The alive systems I’ve approved don’t assignment on British motorways, as added alley users are too capricious for a computer to accumulate up with. With the accustomed cruise, I can use my own judgement about aback I’ll allegation to change my speed. I’ve been adequate the alive CX-5’s administration abroad from the motorway as well, aback it rides analytic able-bodied on aflutter roads. It’s not as bland as the best cars in its class, such as the Skoda Kodiaq, though.
Still, I’m activated that the CX-5 has a analogously adorable alive position to my antecedent Mazda 3, which in the SUV is low abundant to be anon adequate to sit in, but not so low as to bassinet visibility. It’s not absolutely so accessible to see out of the aback of the car, but the abandoning camera on our archetypal takes the accent out of parking.
The Mazda’s autogenous has been absolutely able-bodied anticipation out. The ascendancy weights, button adjustment and advantageous cossack appearance are acceptable examples. The council caster and gearlever are placed absolutely area you appetite them, too. New G-Vectoring technology on this archetypal is advised to supplement this, convalescent long-distance abundance by cautiously alteration agent torque while cornering – and we’re agog to see how able-bodied it works over our time with the car.
As with my contemporary tracksuit, the CX-5 additionally has a actual Japanese exoteric look. The aciculate curve admonish me of the art appearance in one of my favourite activated films, Akira. This is one of the best interesting-looking cars in its class, and while – as with sushi – it won’t be to everyone’s taste, I’m actual abundant a fan.
*Insurance adduce from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.
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