13m 0s | 139079 view | 589 rating

Full report: http://autoexpert.com.au/buying-a-car/mazda-cx-5-review More info: http://autoexpert.com.au/mazda-cx-5 The Mazda CX-5 is the top-selling SUV in Australia, updated in 2015 with additional equipment and improved refinement. Overall the Mazda CX-5 is a great vehicle. The Mazda CX-5 has had one mid-life model upgrade. The major bodywork carried over, as did the powertrain - you get to choose from three engines, two transmissions, and four equipment grades. The earlier (first) Mazda CX-5's strengths carry forward. CX-5 is very good to drive. It’s precise. Two out of three of the engines perform just fine. They all deliver great fuel economy. The fundamental engineering in a Mazda CX-5 is spot-on. The CX-5 powetrain breaks down like this: unless your budget is really tight, forget the front-wheel drive 2.0-litre. The AWD with 2.5-litre petrol or 2.2-litre diesel is where you want to be. And the diesel offers much better mid-rev performance - it’s got 70 per cent more torque at half the revs, compared with the 2.5 petrol. Mazda’s designers changed the CX-5's exterior trim, added a couple of additional colours, tweaked the lights front and rear - even messed with the door mirrors and the shark fin aerial. They re-jigged the interior. The CX-5's infotainment system is now better integrated - and there’s now a command dial to drive the screen, and that makes it easier to navigate the menus. Overall, the Mazda CX-5's dashboard has a sleeker layout as well. There’s now two USB ports, and an electronic park brake. Mazda also boosted the CX-5's acoustic insulation in the firewall and on the floor, and they thickened up the glass to cut the noise. The suspension has been re-tuned as well for less roll - with the trade-off being firmer ride. The Mazda CX-5 is a very good SUV, but not perfect. The first speed hump is appropriate technology. i-Stop is hateful. (That’s the automatic engine shutoff and re-start system.) It’s hardly dignified, especially when it’s fighting the diesel engine’s compression to achieve an autonomous re-start. You can turn i-Stop off, by pressing and holding a button. But then, every time you get back in the car, it is active once again. It’s default setting is ‘on’ and that can’t be changed. Also this new auto lane-keeping feature really is an example of mining for the lowest-common denominator of drivers. Say you’re driving down the road, you drift right, toward the edge of the lane. The system sees you going off-course, and shakes the wheel and otherwise carries on. It’s designed to keep you in the centre of the lane. However, let’s say you’re driving around a right-hand bend. And, because you’re a actually good driver, you point the CX-5 at the apex of the curve, on the edge of the lane. Imagine one’s immediate surprise and confusion when the steering wheel carries on in this undignified, unmedicated fashion at every apex. Finally, plenty of people tell me they need to step up from their Mazda3-sized car to an SUV. And they say this is because they need the additional space. And I’m thinking: What additional space? Let’s think about that. CX-5 is bigger than a Mazda3 - but not as much bigger as you might think. It’s all of 8 centimetres longer (that’s three-and-a-quarter inches, in the old money). Now, eight centimetres is a big deal in other domains … but in cars??? CX-5 is also 4.5 centimetres wider than a Mazda3 (that’s less than two inches) and it’s 24 centimetres higher (a bit under 10 inches). Any increase in length and width, stepping up from a small car to a CX-5 is minimal, and that means the accommodation on offer in the SUV is actually very similar. The height is greater, sure. But some of it is actually just extra ground clearance, and the rest is ceiling height - the least-useful dimension for carrying cargo. (Because you can’t stack the boot to the ceiling unless you fit a cargo barrier. If you do, in the absence of a barrier, all the stuff ‘up there’ will just rain down on the kids when you hit the brakes. The Mazda CX-5 is a damn good SUV - it’s absolutely one of the best you can buy, but like all vehicles, it’s not perfect. Decide first if you really need an SUV - because size does matter, but they’re really not that much bigger in practice. If you want an SUV, Mazda CX-5 is definitely one to put on your short list. You should test drive it against a Hyundai ix35 or Kia Sportage, and a Subaru Forester.