Mazda CX-5
(Picture: Handout)What’s the best way to ensure your flagship model stands out when re-launching it into the hotly-contested SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) market, which accounts for one in three sales in some parts of London?
The simplest answer is to do what Mazda has just done: make your existing car look even more dashing than it did before, with some clever stylistic tweaks, while adding extra equipment and broadening the range of trim levels.
And while you’re at it, transform its levels of refinement and build quality, enhance the handling, and make it even more comfortable.
And there you have the new CX-5, now costing from £27,845, a vehicle which has traditionally appealed to SUV customers who are keen drivers, on account of its ‘sporty’ handling.
Other big pluses on the revamped compact-SUV CX-5 are a feeling of spaciousness in the airy, smartly-trimmed cabin, a decent-sized boot (506 litres) and an overall feeling of high quality.
So what have the designers done to improve the looks? The most striking change is the way the bonnet ‘lip’ now protrudes slightly over a deeper, more dynamic new grille, giving the car a positive, go-getting look. This is enhanced with new, slimmed down headlights and a redesigned spoiler/bumper beneath the grille.
Upmarket
There’s a sharper-looking crease line in the elegant bonnet, while from the side the CX-5 SkyActiv looks more premium, too. At the back, redesigned tail lights and a slimmer bumper add to the new look. In short, any hint of SUV utilitarianism in the old model has been ruthlessly smoothed out by the upmarket new look.
Inside, plenty of thought has been given to making this a good place to sit, with superb ergonomics for the driver - everything falls to hand nicely - mostly high-quality materials where they’re on show, even, on some models, wood trim inserts on the dashboard and doors.
Equipment levels are generous, with standard fitment across the range including privacy glass (adding into that premium look), LED headlights, adaptive front lighting, heated auto-folding door mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, auto-dimming rear view mirror, integrated navigation on an impressively swish 10.25-inch colour screen, and so on.
Touches I particularly like are the inclusion of Apple CarPlay - enabling me to use all the features I normally rely on, on a day-to-day basis, on my iPhone Pro 13, such as Waze, WhatsApp and Spotify, and the fact that the rear seats don’t just split in half, so that you can pack unwieldy objects, they split 40/20/40.
On the GT Sport model there’s even more gear, including a neatly-designed wireless charging pad, a reversing camera, power tailgate (which is a little on the slow side), power tilt and slide sunroof, an eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat and 6-way passenger seat, heated and vented front seats and a very effective head up display, beaming vital information such as speed and directions onto the windscreen. It’s enough to make a driver feel very pampered indeed.
Safety has been thought through too: standard across the range are Advanced City Brake Support, Radar Cruise Control, Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Intelligent Speed Assist and Lane-keep Assist System with Lane Departure Warning.
Quibbles? I’d like the B pillar - next to the driver - to be an inch or so further back for better vision out to the side (for instance when moving out a lane on the motorway), and, in a perfect world, that generous equipment list would have included auto-dipping mirrors, when reverse is engaged. Always handy in London, when you end up parking next to the kerb.
Twisties
On the road it’s clear that the new CX-5 is even more engaging that the outgoing model, with neat handling, better sound dampening and nicely responsive steering on the twisties. The four-wheel drive system on the 2.2 184s AWD Sport Auto Diesel is a reassuring addition.
The neat handling derives - in part - from a firm ride which, for most part is fine. Only on poorer, broken road surfaces (there are plenty at the moment) does it mar the otherwise comfortable ride. The auto gearbox – while ‘only’ a six-speed – is smooth, offering a reassuringly smart pick-up from standstill.
The 2.2 diesel sounds a little gruff on start-up but that fades when things warm up. It’s claimed to achieve a respectable 42.8 Combined MPG, from its 58-litre fuel tank. There’s also the choice of two petrol engines, and a less powerful diesel.
The overall impression of the CX-5 is of a sporty new SUV that nicely ‘cocoons’ driver and passengers, and that is fun to drive. Its masterstroke for London motorists is that while being compact enough to be an easy driving companion in town, it is also spacious, and practical.
For family life, those multi-folding rear seats are a boon (with all rear seats folded there’s 1,620 litres of space), while the flat floor makes loading easier, too. The great looks are just the icing on the cake.
The facts
MazdaCX-5 2.2 184 PS AWD GT Sport Auto Diesel SkyActiv
Price: £39,385
Top speed: 129 mph
0-62 mph: 9.6 seconds
Combined MPG: 42.8
CO2 emissions: 173 g/km
