Mazda CX-5 review

Jinba Ittai is a Japanese phrase that represents the unity of rider and horse. It’s also an ideology that inspires Mazda, and supposedly the secret sauce that’s sold thousands of examples of the Mazda CX-5 in the UK.

Impressive stuff, but it takes more than Japanese philosophy to stay relevant, so Mazda is hoping it's done enough with multiple updates to keep the CX-5 competitive against rival family SUVs. And there are plenty of them to choose from, including the Citroën C5 Aircross, Honda CR-V, Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and Renault Symbioz.

Mazda CX-5 video review

So what does it have up its proverbial sleeve? Well, it's good to drive, and while it doesn’t have a premium-brand badge on its nose, its interior feels more upmarket than many rivals at the value end of the family SUV class.

Is that enough for the Mazda CX-5 to remain competitive? That’s what we’ll find out in this review, as we rate it in all the important areas. Read on to find out how it performs...

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Mazda doesn't use turbochargers to boost the performance of its petrol engines, so while the CX-5's 162bhp 2.0-litre e-Skyactiv-G mild-hybrid has a little more power on paper than, say, the Nissan Qashqai 158, you need to work it harder to accelerate at a respectable pace.

That’s because it lacks the low-down punch of its turbocharged rivals, making it a lot less flexible and requiring frequent downshifting of gears to keep up with traffic. It's still our favourite engine in the range though.

The 191bhp 2.5-litre e-Skyactiv-G mild-hybrid petrol isn’t that much quicker – although it does come with a responsive automatic gearbox as standard, sparing you the constant gear-changing. It also gets four-wheel drive.

Finally, there's a diesel engine option, the 182bhp 2.2-litre Skyactiv-D, which pulls harder than the petrols from around 1500rpm and revs out freely all the way to the red line (0-62mph takes 9.3 seconds in the manual).

The CX-5 has relatively firm suspension, which means it’s occasionally more jarring over sharp-edged bumps than a Citroën C5 Aircross or Nissan Qashqai.

That said, the CX-5 remains level and calm most of the time, with less pitching when dealing with bigger bumps.

For the best ride comfort, we’d advise sticking to entry-level Centre-Line trim, which comes with smaller 17in alloys, rather than 19in ones you get with the trims.

The upside to the CX-5’s firmer suspension is that it’s better at controlling body lean than many comfort-biased rivals, including the C5 Aircross and Qashqai.

The meaty steering is precise and quicker than you might expect in a car of this size, helping you build up confidence. It’s just a shame the relatively low levels of grip prevent you from pressing on as enthusiastically as you might like at times. As a result the CX-5 isn’t as quite as composed as a Kia Sportage or Volkswagen Tiguan.

Road and engine noise are never intrusive in the CX-5 and there’s slightly less wind noise on motorways than in a Qashqai. The diesel engine can sound a bit gruff at very low revs but it quickly fades into the background and remains smooth when worked hard. 

Meanwhile, the meaty brake pedal response builds up naturally and makes it easy to bring the car to a smooth stop.

The standard six-speed manual gearbox is a pleasure to use, with a relatively precise and sporty action that almost feels like a toned-down version of the fantastic gearbox in the Mazda MX-5. The automatic – which is standard on the 2.5-litre petrol and available as an option with the other two engines – changes through the gears smoothly enough.

"I found that on a sludgy slope, my four-wheel-drive CX-5 found lots of traction to get back to safety. When you accelerate hard out of a corner with some steering still wound on, you feel the rear tyres putting power to the road, so there's a bit of sportiness too." – Chris Haining, Sub-Editor

If you like to sit high up in your car, you’ll appreciate the Mazda CX-5’s lofty driving position. True, it’s not Range Rover tall, but you feel higher up than you do in some family SUVs, including the Nissan Qashqai and Renault Symbioz.

The driver’s seat comes with plenty of adjustment as standard (including adjustable lumbar support) and there’s plenty of side support to hold you in place when cornering. The seat is manually adjusted in Centre-Line trim but done electrically in all other versions. The steering wheel offers ample movement up, down, in and out.

The dashboard is sensibly arranged and everything is where you’d expect. Refreshingly, you the CX-5 favours good old-fashioned physical buttons over touch-sensitive or touchscreen controls. The climate control system is mounted quite low down but at least the rotary dials that adjust the temperature can be operated by feel.

The CX-5's slim windscreen pillars and high driving position mean you have a good view out over the bonnet and as you approach junctions. The view over your shoulder isn’t quite as good because of the wide rear pillars, but the large rear window means your view directly out of the back isn’t bad.

To make parking easier, every version comes with front and rear parking sensors as standard. If you upgrade to Exclusive-Line trim you also get a rear-view camera, and top-tier Takumi trim has a 360-degree camera that displays a bird’s eye view of the car. 

Takumi also replaces the standard adaptive headlights with brighter adaptive LED headlights. They give you better visibility in the dark and let you leave the lights on full beam without dazzling other drivers.

Every CX-5 comes with a 10.3in infotainment screen and DAB radio, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, and built-in sat-nav. From mid-spec Exclusive-Line the standard six-speaker stereo is swapped for an upgraded 10-speaker Bose sound system, although it’s a little underwhelming in terms of clarity and punch.

Depending on your point of view, the screen is either refreshingly simple or a little basic. The monochrome theme lacks visual appeal and the graphics could be sharper, but it makes everything easy to read without overloading you with information.

The menus are logically laid out and you control it using a dial positioned just behind the gearlever, which is much less distracting than operating the touchscreen-only set-ups in most rivals.

The CX-5 delivers when it comes to the quality of the interior, which is solidly put together. It's much classier than the Ford Kuga and a step up from the Renault Symbioz. The Nissan Qashqai runs it close, but the CX-5 just edges it with more tactile-feeling controls and denser-feeling material.

Most surfaces are soft to the touch, and those that aren’t tend to be hidden low down. There’s an eclectic mix of materials that work well together to enhance the ambience, including leather highlights around the base of the dashboard and, on the range-topping Takumi, attractive dashboard inserts.

"The CX-5 analogue driver's display and basic infotainment screen look quite dated and shows limited information, so I think it's good news that most trim levels include a head-up display.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

The amount of space in the front of the Mazda CX-5 is comparable with most of its key family SUV rivals. As such, there's enough head and leg room for tall adults to sit comfortably, and they won't struggle for shoulder room either.

There are long, deep storage pockets in the front doors, a large cubbyhole at the base of the dashboard (which is where a wireless phone-charger is found on mid-spec Exclusive-Line and up), and a big glovebox with enough room for more than just the owner's manual. The two cupholders between the seats will keep large coffee cups or bottles of water steady.

You get generous amounts of space in the back of the CX-5, and two six-footers will have plenty of head room and a fair gap between their knees and the front seats. There’s also a huge amount of foot space underneath the high set front seats.

Overall, there’s more room than what you get in a Range Rover Evoque and far more head room than in a Nissan Qashqai or Renault Symbioz. If you're expecting to carry particularly long-legged passengers, bear in mind that the Honda CR-V offers loads more leg room.

Higher-spec CX-5s come with a sunroof that eats into head room a little bit, but a passenger in the middle seat will have enough clearance above them. Three adults sitting across the back won't have much space width-ways but it’s less of a squeeze than in a Symbioz.

The CX-5's rear backrest benefits from a two-stage reclining mechanism, although not by enough to boost comfort. Unlike in the Symbioz and the Volkswagen Tiguan, the bench doesn’t slide back and forth to boost versatility.

Folding down the rear seats is easy. You simply pull some handles on the sides of the boot and the seatbacks drop by themselves. This handy feature is also standard on a Hyundai Tucson but not in a Qashqai or Symbioz.

The CX-5's seatbacks are split in a 40/20/40 arrangement as standard, which offers more seating options than the less versatile 60/40 lay-out in some of its rivals.

Petrol versions of the CX-5 have 522 litres of boot capacity while diesel versions get 510 litres (due to a larger fuel tank). There's slightly less room for luggage than in many rivals, including the Citroën C5 Aircross.

Even so, we managed to fit eight carry-on suitcases back there, matching the CR-V and beating the Qashqai’s ability to swallow seven cases. In short, you shouldn’t struggle to fit in two large pushchairs.

The rear seats in the CX-5 can be folded down to create a huge flat load bay with no annoying steps or crevices. The boot floor isn't height-adjustable, but there is a large storage area below it, plus two handy cubbyholes behind the rear wheelarches. The floor sits almost flush with the boot opening so there's no awkward lip to heave things over.

“I opened the electric tailgate and dropped the rear seats using the handy boot-mounted levers. Surprisingly, a pile of dead trees all went in with no struggle – and some of the bigger chunks were over six feet long.” – Chris Haining, Sub-Editor

A Mazda CX-5 with the entry-level petrol engine feels a little weaker on the road compared with the diesel but it’s our pick for private buyers because it's much cheaper and still offers decent fuel economy. It’s not quite as competitive as some rivals when buying on PCP finance, but cash discounts are available and it's worth checking our New Car Deals.

The CX-5 is predicted to lose its value more quickly than a Nissan Qashqai or Renault Symbioz over three years so it could cost you more in the long run. If you’re a high-mileage driver and want the best fuel economy in the range, the 2.2-litre diesel is for you. The least-efficient version is the 2.5-litre petrol.

CO2 emissions are on a par with the CX-5's rivals, but because there’s no full or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) available, there are better options if you run a company car and want to keep BIK tax down. The Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage are available as a PHEVs – or for even lower BIK tax, consider an electric SUV.

No matter which CX-5 you go for, you can expect plenty of standard equipment. As such, entry-level Centre-Line is our pick of the range because it keeps costs to a minimum but still gets plenty of goodies, including adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, automatic headlights and various parking aids, alloy wheels and infotainment kit.

Newground trim makes the CX-5 look a bit more rugged but doesn’t get much additional kit, other than larger 19in alloy wheels and a reversible rubber mat in the boot.

Exclusive-Line focuses more on luxury, adding leather seats (heated in the front), a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, an electric tailgate and a head-up display.

Homura is another trim concerned with aesthetic changes, while the range-topping Takumi gets Napa leather trim, a powered tailgate and a 360-degree camera.

When it comes to reliability, the CX-5 finished a creditable ninth out of 33 models in the family SUV section of our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. Mazda as a brand did a respectable job, claiming 16th place out of the 31 manufacturers included. That places it above Peugeot, VW and Nissan, but below Hyundai and Kia.

All CX-5s come with a fairly average three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which can be extended for a fee. Kia’s warranty is far better, running to seven years, while Toyota offers a 10-year warranty providing you regularly service your car at an approved centre.

You get a healthy list of safety equipment with the CX-5, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), stability control and six airbags, plus lane-keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. The model scored a maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP safety tests.

It’s worth noting that it achieved that rating back in 2017 and it has since expired. That’s because the tests become more stringent every year and, while it’s impossible to compare directly with rivals tested more recently, it’s possible they’ll be more effective at keeping you safe in a crash.

A Driver Assistance pack is available as an option on the CX-5 with Exclusive-Line trim and comes as standard with Takumi. The pack isn’t a necessity but it does include a driver attention monitor.

"According to my calculations, my 2.5-litre petrol CX-5 averaged 34.7mpg. Four-wheel drive, an automatic gearbox and a big petrol engine don't add up to spectacular fuel economy." – Chris Haining, Sub-Editor

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