2017 Mazda CX-5 Touring (4×4) review
The Mazda CX-5 is a great small family car, with enough zoom-zoom to get around those three cars and caravan tailgating each other doing 80 in the 100 zone. The only gripe I have is that with a rear-facing car seat, the front passenger loses a considerable amount of leg room. In the boot, the pram just fits in with some Tetris skills. This doesn't leave much room if going away for a few nights with a family of three.
- Grille
- Acceleration at 80km/h to overtake
- Headlights
- Infotainment system
- Price
- Boot space
- Leg room with baby seat
- Manual front seat adjustment
- No auto daytime running lights
For a daily driver, this car is exceptional. The 2.2-litre diesel is punchy when needed, but quietly does its thing when cruising. We are getting 7.2L/100km after 3000km, with a range of about 650–700km per tank.
The connectivity is great and easy to use. The media options are aplenty, plus if you have an Android phone, it will read out your messages and emails as you receive them. The voice control is smooth and fairly accurate. Just make sure to wait for the beep. For some reason, when listening to a certain national radio station, the car will revert to the Brisbane frequency, despite the signal being weaker and our local frequency for that station being saved as a favourite. Overall, this is one of the better media/infotainment systems around.
The driving lights are bright. If driving in the country at night, you want these lights. From low light with street lights coming on to complete darkness, you have the security of vision. This is one of the biggest safety features, as with vision equals time, time equals safety and space. Speaking of safety, the Touring has blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. This feature has saved us twice already trying to reverse from a carpark.
From the outside, this is a sexy car, and the grille is just oh my god... Cleaning bugs from it is worth the extra time, as it really makes the car 'ping'.
One thing Mazda, and many other carmakers, could do is to stop being stingy and make daytime running lights standard. Surely, spending the time to design a beautiful light system, and then only offer it in the top models, makes it look cheap on the whole.
This car has many more pluses than negatives. My pick is the Touring, and for a little extra the 2.2 diesel is a winner.
A Note from the Editor - A stock image has been supplied with this review