Test Drive: 2013 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD

By Kevin Harrison

I watched a documentary the other day on humpback whales. Yes, I did have a lot of time on my hands. But actually shows like that are quite fascinating, mostly because parallels can be drawn to every day life. For instance, did you know that the calves rely on their mothers so much so that the mother needs to physically move the calf up to the surface to breathe? If not, the calf wouldn’t last more than 20 minutes without its mother. And this is true even when the calf is over a year old.

This reminded me a lot of the now defunct relationship between Mazda and Ford. The latter being the mother and the former being the calf. It seemed as if Mazda had the ideas and the capabilities to fend for itself, but mama Ford new best, especially when it came to their compact SUV.

The Tribute was always in the shadows of the more popular Escape, despite being largely the same and better looking to boot. But like the humpback whale, eventually the time came for Mazda to leave and fend for itself in the complicated and ever changing automotive industry.

So Mazda was left to fill the void of the hotly contested compact SUV segment by itself. To make things even more difficult, Mazda was left with a bit of a catch 22 where fuel efficiency was top priority for the general public, but the sporty ‘zoom zoom’ nature which defines and differentiates it as a brand could not simply be ditched.

Statistically, a lot of young humpback whales don’t make it on their own, they often die before becoming an adult. Is this going to be the similar fate for the Mazda CX-5?

Mazda’s new smiling face grille direction has been a controversial point ever since it first debuted on the Mazda3. People either hated it, or loved the fact that their car was always happy to see them each morning, calling it ‘cute’. That’s an adjective that most automakers tend to shy away from as it polarizes the male market. They tried the ‘smiley face’ again with the redesigned Mazda5 but then must’ve thought to rethink the new fascia because on the CX-5 it’s nowhere to be found. Personally, I think this is a bit of a mistake. Everyone from Hyundai to BMW has a ‘corporate look’ which defines the brand. Without that, a brand can go unoticed. And this new CX-5 design, while less polarizing, seems to incorporate design language from 7 or 8 years ago. The front fascia is a lot like the previous generation Mazda3. And while it’s certainly an agreeable design overall, I found that it already looks tired and in need of a refresh. There’s nothing about it that’s quintessentially ‘new’ Mazda, just old Mazda.  There isn’t a whole lot about it which sticks out either as a result. Desipte my tester being the top of the line trim level, the plastic body mouldings made it look cheap rather than rugged and clashed with its marketed SkyBlue paint. The 19 inch wheels fill out the wheel wells nicely, but again the design is largely uninteresting.

Inside, the look is more corporate Mazda with a sport inspired interior with red-orange lighting. And despite its compact SUV title, the CX-5 is actually decently spacious offering adequate rear legroom and cargo room, which of course becomes even better when the seats of folded down. One thing that I really enjoyed was the crisp picture of the back up camera, although I’m not sure how necessary this feature actually is since the CX-5 is fairly easy to manoeuvre while in reverse. Another feature that the CX-5 comes with is a blind spot monitoring system which wouldn’t work correctly more often than not during my time with it. It seemed as though a gust of wind could trigger the system, while other times it would only come on when the vehicle was visibly directly next you, rather than actually in your blind spot. Eventually I ignored the system’s existence altogether and used good old fashioned shoulder checking.  One feature I absolutely loved was the smart key system. Most smart keys enable the driver to lock and unlock the vehicle without taking the fob from their pocket bu touching the door handle. With the CX-5, it took that idea a bit further and automatically locked the vehicle when it sensed the driver walking away. Very useful for those with forgetful minds.

The CX-5 uses that famous SkyActiv engine first introduced on the Mazda3 this year. Mazda says it “re-engineered engines, transmissions, bodies, and chassis that deliver pleasing driving dynamics along with environmental sustainability and outstanding safety”. In English, that basically means that it uses efficient technology to keep it from chugging gas, all while having enough available power for sporty driving dynamics. It’s officially rated at  8.0 L/100 kms in the city and 6.4 L/100 kms on the highway which meets or even beats some compact car offerings. And  achieving close to these numbers isn’t all the difficult either.

One thing that most car companies do to optimize fuel efficiency is to equip their cars with droany CVT transmissions. Mazda opted against that and put in a six-speed automatic instead, however the transmission is clearly still set up for efficiency in mind as it automatically shifts up as soon as possible, which sort of neuters the engine’s 155 horsepower and 150 pound foot torque. The solution to this is to shift the gears yourself. However this can only be done with the gearshift. It seems like paddle-shifters are a bit of an oversight considering this vehicle’s marketed ‘zoom zoom’ capabilities.

And what capabilities they are too. When pushed the CX-5 feels light and agile. The 19 inch wheels certainly helped to keep it planted in addition to the independent suspension in both the front and rear. With that said, its ride height is detremental to true driving pleasure on winding country roads, however in traffic it’s quite zippy and solid feeling. Steering feel is adequate for this task. It’s clear that the CX-5 is more of a sporty urban dweller than an outright performance crossover, which likely suits most people’s wants and needs just fine.

And ultimately, that’s the main goal in this segment. You need to create something that is appealing to the masses, yet different enough from the competition to grab their attention. That’s exactly what Mazda has done, despite using older design language in this author’s opinion. The CX-5 really is that humpback whale that made it through the rough seas without its mother. And in fact, if this is any indication to the future of Mazda, I’d say that the brand will quickly turn into a preditor, eating up most of its competition in every segment it competes in.

Base Price: $32,645

Pros:

  • Excellent handling abilities
  • Smart engine with decent power and benchmark setting efficiency
  • Smart key system is intuative
  • Good amont of interior room for its size
  • Good back up camera

Cons:

  • While the design is agreeable, the old style design language makes it seem like an older product
  • Blind spot system is fairly useless
  • Seats could be a bit more comfortable
  • Paddle shifters would be ideal for shifting gears yourself

Overall: 8/10

 

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