THE PROS & CONS
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- What’s Best: Attractive styling with smooth running powertrain and a host of standard features.
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- What’s Worst: Too soon to tell, but initially not much.
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- What’s Interesting: Better find a place to store your old CDs as the CX-5 has done away with the CD player in favour of USBs and the like.
SAN DIEGO, CA: The story behind the 2017 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover is all about what a carmaker is prepared to do, and spend, to keep one of its best sellers on top of its game.
Like the evergreen Mazda3, the CX-5 came out of the box becoming an almost immediate success — catching even Mazda, I think, a little by surprise with its popularity.
Initially, Mazda thought it would sell about 160,000 a year, but last year, the CX-5 sold 370,000 units worldwide with no real signs of slowing down.
But instead of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, Mazda has done which amounts to a complete re-build in order, not just to keep it current, but to meet the advances by other compact crossover competitors coming on stream or down the pipe.
So where do you start?
At Mazda, the current objective is to instill what it calls “Mazda Premium” into all its new offerings.
This is not to be construed with building premium luxury cars, rather with Mazda producing vehicles with a luxury feel and look to them.
Mazda has made 698 changes for 2017, most of which are aimed at making it quieter and ride better than the outgoing model.
It starts with a bunch of features such as standard full-LED headlights, greater door-pocket storage space, available power liftgate, rear HVAC vents, rear heated outboard seats and dual 2.1-amp rear-seat USB charging ports for tablets.
The rear doors open up to 80-degrees (six-degree improvement), while the door handles have a more ergonomic shape for faster and easier use and the dual stage while 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats are standard.
One of the main objectives was to quell interior noise to make it easier for front and rear seat passengers to converse with one another.
In the outgoing model, the cargo walls and wheelhouse intrusions were a hard plastic which reflected noise. The entire area is now carpeted.
Next Mazda lowered the wipers to place them below the airflow coming off the hood. The windshield glass was thickened and acoustic glass was added to the doors.
And they didn’t stop there. A third rubber seal was added on the doors, while more sound insulating material was used on the door pillars. They even put in a cover on the inside of the liftgate over the hinges to stop rear noise.
At the top of the cabin, Mazda now uses a less sound reflective headliner, while underneath the CX-5 there is now a felt-lined plastic panel to cut road noise intrusion.
There is a lot more, but you get the idea.
For 2017 there remain three trim levels – GX, GS and GT with starting prices of $24,900, $29,100 and $34,700 respectively.
The base engine is a 2.0-litre Skyactiv direction injection four-cylinder with 155 hp and 150 lb/ft of torque only available on the GX with front-wheel-drive and six-speed manual transmission.
The manual is standard on the GX and GS with a six-speed automatic ($1,400) optional, but standard on the GT. Just to confuse things a bit more, all-wheel-drive is available ($2,000) on the GX and GS and standard on the GT.
Most CX-5 models will be fitted with the 2.5-litre Skyactiv direct injection four-cylinder, producing 185 hp and 185 lb/ft of torque.
Besides all the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) done to the new CX-5, a major design component was infusing all the knowledge gained by Mazda engineers on just how the human body works when it comes to driving.
All Mazdas, including the CX-5, start with a driver centred seating position, which means placing the steering wheel and all pedals and controls squarely in front of the
Mazda studied right heel placement so that the amount of pressure to depress the gas pedal versus the amount of pedal back pressure balanced out at normal highway cruising speeds to lessen leg fatigue on longer journeys.
Again, there is so much more, but space for this story is limited so here’s how all these things work in real life.
Firstly, my co-driver and I immediately noted how quiet the CX-5 was on San Diego’s notoriously bumpy freeways, where the drumming of the wheels on rutted concrete can be deafening.
Up in the hills east of San Diego, the CX-5 was very responsive to steering and pedal inputs, especially when a huge SUV changed course across our path at a mountain intersection.
With Mazda’s decision to increase expectations to a premium level without the premium price, the 2017 CX-5 is the harbinger of the next generation of the brand.
Already a best seller, the CX-5 is opening doors to a new generation of Mazda buyers.
2017 Mazda CX-5
BODY STYLE: Four-door compact crossover
DRIVE METHOD: Front- or all-wheel drive, six-speed manual standard on GX/GS models, six-speed automatic standard on GT, optional ($1,400) on GX/GS models
ENGINE: 2.0-litre direct injection Skyactiv four-cylinder, 155 hp, 150 lb/ft of torque; 2.5-litre direct injection Skyactiv four-cylinder (185 hp, 185 lb/ft)
FUEL ECONOMY: (Regular) 2.0-litre manual FWD, 9.4/7.4L/100 km city/highway; 2.5-litre FWD, 9.8/7.7L/100 km; 2.5-litre AWD, 10.2/8.3L/100 km
CARGO CAPACITY: 875 litres with 40:20:40 split rear seats up, 1,687 litres with rear seats down.
TOW RATING: 907 kg (2,000 lb) when properly equipped
PRICE: GX, $24,900-$28,300; GS, $29,100-$33,500; GT, $34,700-$36,300; no including $1,895 shipping fee
WEBSITE: www.mazda.ca
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