You’re an Unfinished Man; you like to enjoy life, drive fast cars at insanely high speeds, and enjoy the company of beautiful women. But now you’re getting ever closer to becoming the Finished Man, you have a wife and 2.5 kids, you can’t just hop in your F-Type to visit the in-laws or take the kids out to a movie.
We’re not telling you to sell your sports car but you do need an everyday vehicle that has room for the kids, the strollers, and everything else you need to bring with you. A minivan is out of the question, because no matter how “mature” you get, there’s no way in hell you’d want to be caught behind the wheel of one of those monstrosities. So an SUV or a CUV it is…
If it’s going to be a CUV, well, you have a lot of options because this is one of the fastest growing segments in the auto industry and automakers want a big piece of the action. Some of the major players in this segment are the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Subaru Forester, Ford Escape, Mazda CX-5, and a few others. The Mazda CX-5 is the vehicle we reviewed for a week, and below are some of our thoughts.
The Mazda CX-5 was introduced in 2012, as a 2013 model and is the first vehicle in Mazda’s lineup to get the KODO design treatment. The first year CX-5 came with the 2.0 liter 4-cylinder SKYACTIV engine only, which produced 155 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque. The 2014 CX-5 is offered with the 2.0 liter engine but now there’s also an available 4-cylinder 2.5 liter direct injection SKYACTIV engine. The bigger engine gets a much needed power boost; the engine produces 184 HP and 185 lb-ft of torque, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.
The base Mazda CX-5 has a starting price of $22,995 CAD for the front-wheel drive; price can go over $40,000 on a fully loaded CX-5 with all the boxes ticked. The vehicle we reviewed for a week was the Mazda CX-5 GT AWD, with a starting price of $33,250 with no optional packages; you can add the technology package for $1,795, which includes Smart City Brake Support (SCBS), adaptive Xenon headlights, navigation system, and Sirius satellite radio.
The Mazda CX-5 is one of the sportier looking CUVs in its class; most people buy these types of vehicles to haul around people and their stuff, but a bit of stylish flare is always welcome and that’s why you see so many CX-5’s on the road. The CX-5 is like a Mazda3 on steroids; it’s bigger, roomier, has a high ground clearance, and high seating position.
The exterior is pretty attractive, it does look a little plain in silver, but in any other color it looks quite nice. One of the dealerships I recently visited had put on 20” RUFF wheels on a black CX-5, that thing looked extremely sexy. Our stock CX-5 GT AWD was fitted with 19” wheels, not as sporty as the RUFF wheels, but they look appropriate for the size of the vehicle.
The CX-5’s exterior lines are pretty sporty, the wheel arches are bulged and the roofline 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; very Audi-like. But if you don’t like the black, there is also “Sand” color cloth and leather available.
The interior is fairly quiet, but there is a bit of engine noise making its way into the cabin. But turning on the 9-speaker Bose sound system makes you forget all about the little engine noise that makes it through the firewall. The front seats are pretty comfortable and have a three level heat setting, the driver seat comes with power 8-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.
Like the Mazda3 we reviewed a few weeks ago, the CX-5 comes with real buttons to control many of the functions. It’s refreshing to see these buttons, it makes life simpler. In the center stack you’ll find three knobs for the dual-zone automatic climate control and above it a small touchscreen for the entertainment system, backup camera, and the Navigation system (not included on our vehicle). The screen is a bit on the smaller size, an 8” screen would be appropriate here and the look of the graphics can also use a bit of a touch up. What is missing on the CX-5, which was on the Mazda3, is the knob behind the gear lever, that knob made flipping through various screens a breeze. And in my Mazda3 review I said it’s one of those you don’t think of using but once you use it, you can’t live without it.
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.
Driving the Mazda CX-5 GT AWD is alright, it’s not sports sedan after all. 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. Our test vehicle did come with winter tires during warm spring weather, which I’m sure, took out a bit of the sportiness.
The power produced by the 2.5 liter engine is adequate; again, it’s not going to win you any drag races, but this is not a vehicle you should be racing from red light to red light. Our vehicle came with the AWD system, which definitely made if feel slower but that system comes in quite handy when the road conditions are not ideal.
The 6-speed transmission is alright, it’s tuned for maximum fuel-efficiency; according to Mazda, the CX-5 GT with all-wheel drive should get 8.5 L/100 km (27.7 mpg US) in the city and 6.6 L/100 km (35.6 mpg) on the highway. I was able to get 9.7 L/100 km (24.25 mpg) in mixed driving conditions (75% city, 25% highway).
Personally I would’ve liked to have another 20-30 HP, but I do like driving with an emphasis on speed and acceleration. For normal day-to-day use, the 2.5 liter engine is adequate and does return pretty decent fuel mileage.
Overall, the 2014 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD is a very practical vehicle and is definitely something I’d consider, if I had a need for a CUV. It has a comfortable interior, the suspension is sporty (relative to other vehicles in its class), and the exterior has a nice sporty design. I’d definitely spend the extra $300 on the “Soul Red Mica” paint, which looks absolutely brilliant. I know this color looks really good because after dropping off the CX-5, I picked up the Mazda6 to review and it came in that red color, that review will be published next week.
For more information on the CX-5, head on over to Mazda’s website.
2014 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD Review Photo Gallery
