Mazda CX-5 long-term test

• The car Mazda CX-5 2.2d 150 Sport Nav
• Run by Darren Moss, deputy editor
• Why it’s here The previous CX-5 was one of our favourite large SUVs. Can this new version shine in the face of even stronger competition?
• Needs to Be economical on the daily commute, be comfortable on long journeys and have plenty of space inside. In short: be the perfect car for a growing family

Price £28,695 Price as tested £29,495 Miles covered 5570 Official fuel economy 56.5mpg Test economy 41.3mpg CO2 132g/km Options Soul Red Crystal paint (£800)

14 March 2018 – Sat-nav woes and temperature lows

It’s been a month of highs and lows for the CX-5. At the start of this month, it dealt brilliantly with the cold temperatures and subsequent snow; and, despite being subjected to a thorough blanket of the white stuff most mornings, it never failed to get me to the What Car? office or home again. I did once wish I’d gone for the four-wheel drive version of the CX-5, though, when the car’s front wheels began to slip and skid while trying to get to the top floor of our car park, but otherwise it’s been plain sailing. My lower extremities appreciated the heated seats and steering wheel, too, that spring into action with pleasant swiftness on the coldest of mornings.

However, there have been issues. Once the cold weather had cleared, I was due to attend court. No, not like that. I was on jury service and I’d be relying on the CX-5’s sat-nav to get me to court on time – because, and trust me on this, you don’t want to be explaining to a judge why you’re consistently the last person to arrive. Sadly, the CX-5’s system did almost cause me to be late; on the first day of my service, it consistently tried to direct me down blocked roads. In one instance, it cheerily told me to continue along the road I was on, despite the path in front being blocked by concrete bollards that looked like they had been there for some time.

So, rather than continue shouting at the Mazda CX-5 sat-nav voice, I remembered that in our test of the best free smartphone sat-nav apps, Waze came out on top. Waze collects reports from everyone who uses it and combines them to give you a hyper-accurate ETA and dynamic route planning. And it’s brilliant – I used it most days to make sure I was on time and continue to use it now. In my opinion, it is – and whisper this – better than the vast majority of built-in sat-nav systems. And the best part? It’s absolutely free.

More from our long-term Mazda CX-5 >