The Mazda CX-5 is a very popular CUV in Canada, I see these all over the place in Vancouver and the surrounding area. The CX-5 is a very practical vehicle and unlike some of the other CUV’s, it’s on the sporty side in its driving dynamics. I reviewed a CX-5 a couple of years ago and I liked its sporty looks, driving dynamics, and its practicality.
The CX-5 is offered in three trims in Canada, with the base GX trim offering a manual and an automatic transmission, the GX and GS trims are offered in FWD or AWD layouts, while the top of the line GT is only offered with an automatic and AWD.
Prices start at $22,995 for the base GX FWD trim, $29,245 for the GS FWD, and $34,895 for the GT AWD trims. Extra packages like Convenience, Luxury, and Technology can be added to the various trims. Our review vehicle for the weeks was the top of the line 2016.5 GT with the Technology Package, with an MSRP of $36,995 and $1,895 Freight & PDE.
Like the CX-5 we reviewed a couple of years ago, the 2016.5 CX-5 is offered with either a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder SKYACTIV engine, producing 155 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 150 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. The other engine is a 4-cylinder 2.5 liter direct injection SKYACTIV engine, producing 184 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 185 lb-ft of torque at 3,250 rpm. The two transmissions are a 6-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic.
Driving the Mazda CX-5 GT AWD is pretty good, after driving the CX-9 for a week, the CX-5 feels very sporty. The suspension is stiffer than the competition, to give the vehicle a bit of sporty feel, but it’s still a CUV with a high center of gravity. You won’t be Zoom-Zooming too much, but more than the competition.
The power produced by the 2.5 liter engine is adequate, it feels lively enough for the average commute the purpose these vehicles are built for. Driving around town, you don’t really feel the need for more power, it’s also good enough for highway driving.
According to Mazda, the CX-5 GT with all-wheel drive should consume 9.8 L/100 km in the city and 7.9 L/100 km on the highway. The fuel consumption is higher than the CX-5 we reviewed two years ago, however that’s because the method to calculate fuel consumption has changed, giving all vehicle higher consumption rating compared to a couple of years ago. I was able to get 9.7 L/100 km in mixed driving conditions (75/25 city/highway), which is exactly what I got two years ago in the same driving conditions.
The Mazda CX-5 was one of the sportier looking CUVs in its class, but over the years other manufacturers have made their CUVs look a lot sportier to compete with the CX-5. This vehicle has been around since 2012, so it also might be time for a complete makeover pretty soon.
The CX-5’s exterior lines are pretty sporty, the wheel arches are bulged and the roof line slopes downwards at the back, this gives the CX-5 more of a hatchback look but it does compromise rear space a bit. But most of the automakers are using the sloping line on their cross-over vehicles, so a bit of space is compromised on most of the vehicles in this class.
The interior is a pretty nice place to be in, with high quality fit and finish. The dashboard is covered with soft-touch plastic and the seats come with black leather with contrasting red stitching. Most of the interior is covered in black or grey materials, including the instruments.
The interior is pretty quiet, the 9-speaker Bose sound system with the AudioPilot noise compensation system makes things nice and quiet. The front seats are pretty comfortable and have a three level heat setting, the driver seat comes with power 10-way adjustments. The steering wheels has a nice thickness to it, it would be nicer with leather finish; it houses the controls for the audio system, cruise control, and phone pickup. The back seats are also very comfortable with good leg room, this is a 5 person vehicle but the center seat in the back is a bit tight.
Some of the tech bells and whistles on the CX-5 include an intelligent key system, push button start, Bluetooth connectivity, USB plug, rain sensing wipers, and blind spot monitoring (BSM) system. The cool thing about the BSM is that when there’s someone in your blind spot, a light goes off in the mirror (which is how most of these systems work) but if you still put on your signal to change lanes, the system will beep to re-remind you there’s someone there. It’s a pretty neat little safety feature, but if you don’t like it, it can be turned off.
Below is a list of all the tech/safe/convenience gadgets you can get on the 2016.5 Mazda CX-5:
- Tire Pressure Monitoring System
- Rearview Camera
- Dynamic Stability Control
- Traction Control System
- Hill Launch Assist
- Blind Spot Monitoring
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert
- Mazda Radar Cruise Control
- Smart Brake Support
- Forward Obstruction Warning
- Smart City Brake Support
- Lane Departure Warning System
- LED headlights with signature lighting
- LED rear lights
- LED fog lights
- Automatic headlights
- Adaptive Front-lighting System
- Automatic leveling headlights
- High Beam Control System
- Rain sensing wipers
- 7” color touchscreen display with Mazda Connect
- CD Player (MP3 capable) with Bose 9-speaker premium audio system
- 2 USB ports and auxiliary audio input
- Navigation system
- Steering wheel mounted for Bluetooth and audio controls
- Dual zone automatic climate control
- Push Button Start
- Power windows (with timer and one touch up/down for driver)
- Advanced keyless entry (proximity and ignition)
- Leather seating surfaces
- Heated front seats
- 10-way power driver seat (includes lumbar driver support)
- Memory driver seat (2 memory settings)
- 6-way power passenger seat
The Mazda CX-5 GT AWD is a very practical vehicle and it is very popular for a reason. It has a comfortable interior, it has pretty sporty dynamics for a CUV, and the exterior has a nice design. It’s also pretty good on fuel consumption.
