• last year
This is one of the few SUVs that don't have a massive waiting list. Is it worth delving into the Mazda CX-5 world if you need a medium-sized SUV? Paul Maric checks out the 2022 Mazda CX-5 Akera 2.5T to see if it's any good after its mild refresh.

Hardness tester results: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/121Auf6HGvaBqRToYcuAz94alin7Sw55SpOPECBDlnKE

More Mazda content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/mazda
More Mazda CX-5 content: https://www.carexpert.com.au/mazda/cx-5

Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 0:54
Interior 3:16
Infotainment 4:48
Safety tech 6:58
Practicality 8:15
On the road 13:25
0-100km/h 14:41
Verdict 18:24

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#mazda #cx5 #review
Transcript
00:00 G'day, I'm Paul. So the Mazda CX-5, it's one of the most popular SUVs in the segment here in Australia
00:06 And it's just received a minor facelift
00:09 So we thought we'd get behind the wheel of this while it is still nice and fresh. This right here is the top specification
00:15 CX-5 Akira. It's got the 2.5 litre turbo and all-wheel drive. This is priced at a little under
00:22 $54,000 but if that's too expensive the entire CX-5 range kicks off at a little over 32 grand. This competes with the
00:29 things like the Kia Sportage, the Hyundai Tucson, the Toyota RAV4. There are loads and loads of competitors in this segment.
00:36 Today we're going to do a detailed review of this car so if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of the review
00:40 you can use the time codes on the screen or if you're on YouTube scroll down and use the chapters below
00:45 and if you haven't done so already please subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon
00:49 that way you'll be notified every single time we do a new review.
00:54 Now let's talk exterior. So you've got nine colours to pick from. Most of them are free except some metallic colours that are $495.
01:01 This is kind of the signature CX-5 colour. I think it's Soul Red is what they call it.
01:06 Now in terms of the changes there really hasn't been a great deal that has changed. So you can see a bit of a nip and tuck there
01:12 over with the headlights in this bottom section but for the most part it looks very similar to the last CX-5 update.
01:19 Look I still think it looks good but I think the CX-5 is probably starting to show its age a little bit now
01:24 in comparison to some cars in this segment. Have a think about things like the new Mitsubishi Outlander.
01:28 It really does look quite futuristic and much bigger. This still feels and looks like a smaller vehicle
01:34 but I think it is still a good looking car. So you've got your chrome highlights around the grille there.
01:39 You've got that waterfall grille design, a giant Mazda logo there, camera here for the 360 camera
01:44 and then some cooling down the bottom. They have updated some of the styling around the side that I'll run through in a sec
01:49 but you can see down the bottom here that you have the body colour and then this matte black finish as well.
01:54 So this protects you against little scuffs and things like that.
01:58 Let's whip around to the headlights. So up here you've got full LED headlights with an adaptive beam.
02:03 You also get LED daytime running lights and then an indicator built into those as well.
02:07 Really nice looking headlight cluster and I love the adaptive LED function. It actually works quite well at night time.
02:12 It gives you good projection down the road. Down the side here we've got a set of 19-inch alloy wheels.
02:17 I quite like the design. It's pretty simple and straightforward. It's got a bit of gloss to it
02:22 but for the most part it looks like a matte finish. They've also gone with body coloured side moulds here
02:28 instead of the black setup they have on some of their cars. And you can picture things like CX-30
02:33 that have these giant wheel arch protectors whereas this has gone for a more toned down version.
02:37 Especially here with the top spec. I think this is a really good look and it just gives the car a bit of a stylish presence.
02:43 Up the top here you've got an indicator built into that wing mirror with a camera on the side.
02:48 And let's come around to the back of the car. Now around the back here you'll find LED tail lights.
02:53 Again, similar to the new Mazda 3. It's quite a pronounced setup and it looks really good at night time.
02:58 SkyActiv-G which is the engine technology in this car and then Turbo because this is the Turbo petrol version.
03:05 And over on the side here CX-5 and all wheel drive. Now let me know what you think in the comments section below.
03:10 Is the CX-5 starting to show its age or do you think it is still a good looking mid-size SUV?
03:15 So we are inside the updated CX-5. So here is the key. You've got the Mazda logo there.
03:21 Then on the back you have nothing and then buttons on the side you have lock, unlock, boot.
03:27 It's a proximity sensing key so that stays in your pocket. Then you have a push button start just in here
03:32 with a little bit of chrome around the outside. Ok so design wise let's have a chat about this.
03:37 The Mazda CX-5 has been out for a little while now but they have taken steps to refresh the design
03:42 and just give it a nicer feel inside the cabin. So gone is MZD Connect on this particular spec.
03:48 You still do get MZD Connect on the lower models but this one gets the bigger infotainment screen
03:52 that I'll run through in just a second. You get real wood along the dashboard there.
03:57 And I just love the way that they have divided these sections of the dashboard without having to resort to
04:02 too much piano black. It is piano black down here but for the most part all of this just looks really nice
04:07 and classy and they have gone with a lot of soft touch materials across the cabin.
04:10 Very handy if you do have kids and that sort of stuff. This stuff is easy to keep clean which is good news.
04:15 Now what about your touch points? So that is nice and soft. That is very soft as well.
04:22 How soft are they? Well we've got our durometer. We've tested the main surfaces in this cabin.
04:26 If you want to see how this car compares to others that we've tested before, have a look at the link in the description.
04:31 Now what about build quality? We'll do our little flex test. That all feels pretty solid there.
04:37 That is not too bad. And our door test.
04:40 That sounds fantastic. It has a really sort of strong European feel to it.
04:47 Let's talk infotainment. So this is going to be important if you've got kids in the car and you need to keep them entertained.
04:53 So gone is MZD Connect in the upper spec models. Now you have this 10.25 inch display.
04:59 It's a wide screen display. We've seen a similar setup in the new Mazda 3.
05:03 And it just looks so nice and classy on the screen there. It really doesn't take up too much real estate.
05:07 And it looks like it belongs there as opposed to something that's been sort of tacked on and blocks your vision and all that sort of stuff.
05:13 So it comes with inbuilt satellite navigation. It's not a touchscreen but it is all driven using this iDrive style controller down the bottom here.
05:21 So you've got some shortcut buttons along the top and sides. Then you have a rotary controller in the center section there.
05:26 So if we go back to the home menu, in terms of entertainment, you have AM/FM/DAB+ digital radio.
05:33 That's all plumbed through a 10 speaker Bose branded sound system with a subwoofer.
05:38 The sound system is fantastic. So if you are into your music, you're going to really enjoy the sound system.
05:42 Pump some beats and all that sort of fun stuff.
05:45 In terms of smartphone mirroring, you have both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Full screen integration. That looks fantastic.
05:51 The only downside is because it's not touchscreen, you have to use this.
05:55 And I think this is just a flaw of Apple CarPlay. But when you do push sideways on that controller,
06:00 instead of jumping over to the menu on the side, all it does is move left and right,
06:05 which is the same function as turning the rotary controller as well.
06:08 So I'm hoping Apple addresses that and makes it a little easier to use.
06:12 But outside of that, it's a really good integration. And then you also have the ability to use voice recognition with Siri.
06:17 It also has native voice recognition as well for things like making phone calls and that type of thing.
06:21 I'll show you what Android Auto looks like. So again, full screen integration.
06:26 The difference here is though that using the joystick allows you to actually go between this center section and the right section.
06:33 And it uses the entire screen. So it dedicates that side to maps and then the rest of this to the standard Android Auto functions.
06:40 So yeah, really good setup. And I love that both of these work really well on this size of screen.
06:46 There's also a screen ahead of the driver. It's pretty straightforward.
06:48 So you've got a speedometer, you've got your fuel range, you've got your fuel economy.
06:53 And then using the info button, you can flick between different menus on the screen there as well.
06:58 In terms of safety technology, you have AEB that works forwards and reverse. It detects pedestrians as well.
07:04 You've got a blind spot and also built into the wing mirror. You have radar cruise control and a lane departure warning.
07:09 There is also a semi-autonomous steering function. Works okay. I guess I constantly mention this in all of our reviews.
07:16 But yeah, roadworks and that sort of stuff really confuses it a lot.
07:19 And you end up fighting with the car as it tries to send you down lines that shouldn't exist anymore.
07:23 So, you know, it's something that I generally switch off unless I'm on a highway where they're only very gradual turns.
07:28 And it's all very straightforward for the car.
07:30 In terms of parking, you have both front and rear parking sensors and a 360 camera.
07:34 This is what the camera looks like.
07:36 So, yeah, look, the quality is actually not too bad.
07:39 It's a little bit grainy, but for the most part, that's a decent quality.
07:43 You can see our little ducks in the background there.
07:45 At nighttime, it lights up nicely too with those LED taillights.
07:49 And then down the side here, you can obviously see the 360 view.
07:52 So when it does come to parking, this is going to be easy enough to slot the car in with both parking sensors and then a litany of camera angles.
07:58 Now, there is one other thing I want to show you. There's a view button down here.
08:00 So when you do hit that, you then get different angles.
08:03 So that's looking out the front there. You then hit that again.
08:06 Then it looks out the back.
08:08 And then you can also get views down the side when it comes to parking so you don't curb your wheels.
08:12 So, yeah, plenty of different camera angles.
08:14 Righto, practicality. Where are you going to hook up all your devices and stuff?
08:17 Well, down here, you've got a 12-volt outlet.
08:20 You have wireless phone charging down the bottom here.
08:23 It has a power switch as well, which means you can rest other things on there without worrying about it zapping them.
08:28 In the centre console here, you have two USB ports plus an additional 12-volt outlet.
08:33 This is also where you're going to find a card reader for the satellite navigation.
08:38 In terms of storing your phone, well, it can live down there on the wireless charger.
08:42 Or, alternatively, you can whack it there in the centre console. Plenty of room for that.
08:46 Coffee cups. So, look at that.
08:48 They are designed for Paul-sized coffees, so very good.
08:52 And then we have our bottles. So, little bottle first.
08:55 Fits into there nicely. You've got some teeth to hold it in place.
08:58 And then inside the door, not a problem.
09:01 I'll try a big bottle.
09:03 Doesn't quite fit into there, but look at that.
09:06 Works a charm inside the door as well, so it is family-friendly.
09:10 In terms of other storage, what else have we got here?
09:12 So, this section comes out, so you have a little coin tray if you need it.
09:16 The centre console is OK. It's not massive. It could be just a tiny bit bigger.
09:20 Then you've got the glove box over here. The glove box is reasonably sized as well.
09:25 I guess once you have the manual in there, it kind of robs you of most of that space.
09:29 And then up the top here, you have a sunglasses holder.
09:32 What about your comfort features? Well, you have dual-zone automatic climate control.
09:35 You have heated and cooled seats for this front row.
09:38 Heated seats for the second row.
09:40 Heated steering wheel.
09:41 But in terms of the seats themselves, you have electric adjustments.
09:44 You can go forwards, backwards. The backrest can go forwards, backwards.
09:47 You can lift the base up as well.
09:50 And then you also have a little bit of lumbar adjustment.
09:53 Seat memory too.
09:54 In terms of steering, you can go down, up, in, out.
09:59 One thing that's worth pointing out as well is that these seats are very comfortable.
10:03 So, you have perforations there for that cooling, but also plenty of side bolster.
10:07 And they're very, I guess, soft and hugging.
10:10 So, they keep you nice and comfortable while you're on a longer drive
10:13 with all these soft touch points as well. It really works nicely.
10:16 And then you also have a sunroof here as well to shine light on a dreary day.
10:22 Okay, so backseat of the CX-5.
10:25 So, in terms of room, it's actually not too bad.
10:27 So, I've got my seat pretty far back, but you can see here, knee room is good.
10:30 Toe room is excellent. Headroom is very good as well.
10:34 I do like as well that they've followed the theme of the front.
10:37 So, you're getting that wood grain there.
10:39 It all still feels really nice and premium here.
10:41 Some manufacturers, when you get to the second row,
10:43 they just cheap out with all these hard plastics and stuff.
10:46 But Mazda has kept it very, very nice back here
10:49 and kept that premium feel to the cabin.
10:51 So, map pockets over here. You've got air vents down the bottom.
10:55 ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats, but you also have three top tether points.
10:59 You've got a centre armrest here with two cup holders.
11:02 So, bottle slots into there. You've got some rubber teeth to stop it moving around.
11:07 Bottle then easily fits into the door as well.
11:10 So, these are where your heated seat controls are for the second row.
11:14 Then behind this little nook here, you have a storage slot
11:17 and then some additional USB charging outlets.
11:20 2.1 amps, so these are faster chargers.
11:23 I do like that they've integrated all of that into there.
11:25 It's a pretty neat setup and it's just, again, another soft place to rest your elbow
11:29 when you are sitting around and mum and dad are doing the driving and all that kind of thing.
11:33 These seats do recline slightly, so if you do want to kick back a little bit,
11:36 they have just a little bit of recline to them to give you that extra bit of comfort.
11:40 Now, what about the window? Let's see if it goes all the way down.
11:43 So, auto down on the windows. No, not quite.
11:46 So, it stops around there, but I think that's enough.
11:48 That's not too bad, short of actually going all the way down.
11:52 Now, cargo space. Let's open this. It's a power tailgate.
11:57 Slow one.
12:00 Alright, there it is. So, you have a little under 450 litres of cargo space here,
12:05 but there are a couple of clever features.
12:07 So, I'll show you this to start with. So, this clips in up the top there.
12:12 Then with the floor. So, beneath here, you've got a space saver spare tyre
12:16 with a big old subbie in the centre there,
12:18 but what you can do is get rid of this section if you need to.
12:22 That can slide in under there.
12:24 Obviously, if you don't have a space saver spare sitting under here,
12:28 you can then load extra things into here pretty easily.
12:32 And then in addition to that, you have a 12-volt outlet off to the side
12:35 and then hooks along the front there.
12:38 I'll show you what it looks like with bags inside.
12:40 So, laptop bag there and a suitcase there.
12:44 So, not a bad space. I think if you're putting a pram and stuff like that in here,
12:47 you should have just enough room there to fit your odds and ends.
12:51 What you can do, though, is expand the space,
12:54 and this actually has a pretty clever setup.
12:56 So, it's a 40/20/40 split folding seat.
12:59 Pulling this lever here will drop that side,
13:01 but what you can do is just drop the centre or the whole thing.
13:07 So, it means, well, push that.
13:09 It does mean that you do get the versatility there of having all of them down
13:12 or just part of them down as well, so it's not a bad setup.
13:15 When you do that, it gives you a little under 1,350 litres worth of cargo space.
13:20 OK, we're on the road in the CX-5, the 2.5-litre turbo.
13:29 So, it is powered by a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.
13:34 It produces 170 kilowatts of power and 420 newton metres of torque.
13:39 That is a hefty amount.
13:41 So, that means when you do sink the boot in,
13:43 it actually pins you back in the seat and starts darting forward.
13:47 It's a really impressive setup, and of all the SUVs in this segment,
13:51 this probably feels the sportiest just as a straight-out-of-the-box SUV.
13:55 So, if that is important to you,
13:57 this is probably one worth looking at in terms of that punch in the back.
14:00 And that's all mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.
14:03 The transmission's actually really good.
14:05 As you sort of punch the throttle, it's up and ready to go.
14:07 It's able to lean on its torque band to give you the push in the back
14:10 without diving back through gears.
14:12 It's actually a really impressive setup, and it communicates well with the engine.
14:15 Now, let's talk fuel economy.
14:16 So, Mazda claims a combined figure of 8.2 litres per 100km.
14:21 We are currently sitting on 11.3, so it is significantly higher.
14:26 This car has been predominantly doing city driving before it came out here,
14:29 so this is probably higher than where you would expect it in real life.
14:32 But when you consider the performance this has,
14:34 that figure probably isn't too bad when you know that you can just drop the hammer
14:37 whenever you want and get pinned back in your seat.
14:40 Mazda quotes a 0-100 time of 7.7 seconds.
14:44 This is how it went up against our stopwatch.
14:47 [engine revving]
14:49 Now, this being the all-wheel drive, it's actually a really interesting system.
15:02 The previous all-wheel drive system Mazda used sent torque to the back all the time.
15:07 So, it was only a small amount when the car wasn't under load,
15:09 but it was always sending torque to the rear.
15:11 And the whole purpose of that was to preload the rear
15:13 so that if it did need to pulse torque down the back, it was ready to roll.
15:17 Well, they've now got a new system where, to save fuel,
15:19 it's not sending torque to the back,
15:21 but the rear wheels rotate 1.1% faster than the front wheels,
15:26 so that if they do need to send torque to the rear, they are effectively preloaded.
15:31 How that works, I actually have no idea.
15:33 I don't know. We're called the car expert.
15:35 But if you do understand how that works, let me know in the comments section below.
15:39 Perhaps they're using a lower friction bearing or something.
15:41 I don't know, but I find that system really fascinating.
15:44 Now, how does all that work in practice?
15:46 Well, when you do drop a wheel off the edge, or when you do accelerate quickly,
15:49 when you have a split of torque across the front axle and it needs to send it to the rear,
15:53 it is generally pretty responsive, and they probably only have saved
15:56 a minor amount of time in terms of that torque-sensing activity.
16:00 But it is cool to see that they are actually developing these new systems to save fuel all the time.
16:04 Now, what about your drive modes?
16:05 So, you select them down here using the MI Drive function.
16:09 You have Normal, Sport, and when you go into Sport mode,
16:12 that whole display lights up nice and red there.
16:15 And then you go back through the range. You can go to Off-Road mode as well.
16:19 Off-Road mode is quite interesting because it does adjust your traction control systems.
16:24 But Mazda describes the Off-Road mode as also being able to lock the rear differential as required.
16:30 And I don't know whether it physically has a rear differential lock,
16:33 or whether it's just pulsing the brakes, but it is good that they do have a system there
16:37 if you do any light off-roading because you do have around that 200mm worth of ground clearance here,
16:41 which will get you onto a camping site or something very light in terms of off-road.
16:46 Now, what's it like once you sync the slippery and put it into Sport mode here?
16:51 God, it really just pushes you in the back.
16:54 Punch it through this corner.
16:56 It actually has a fair bit of go. There is a degree of torque steer there.
17:00 So, as you start piling on that throttle, it really starts to hunt a little bit.
17:04 So, that's not great, but it's not out of this world.
17:08 Like, it is still okay, it's just worth noting that there is torque steer there.
17:12 So, when you do push the throttle, it is going to wander a little bit on the road and you just need to hold on to the wheel.
17:16 Let's talk about the ride.
17:18 So, this is something that Mazda's done a really good job with because it's not too soft,
17:22 but it's also not too firm. It really just strikes a great balance there.
17:26 So, when you are out on the highway, it's nice and smooth.
17:28 But when you do go for a bit of a fang and you want to have some fun,
17:31 it's still firm enough to keep the body nice and flat,
17:34 even on sort of things like that where you've got cow grates.
17:37 What are they called?
17:38 Cattle grids.
17:39 Even on stuff like that where you've got cattle grids, it sort of does a decent enough job.
17:44 It is worth also pointing out how quiet this is.
17:46 So, on course-chip roads, highways, it's dead silent in here,
17:50 and Mazda says that they have improved the sound deadening in this car as part of this update.
17:54 And you can actually feel it because the original CX-5 did have a fair bit of road noise that came through,
17:59 but they've done a great job here in terms of making it a really nice and quiet environment to be driving in.
18:04 What's visibility like?
18:05 So, down the front there, it's pretty good.
18:07 The wing mirrors are really big. It's got a blind spot monitor built into them.
18:10 Visibility out the back is really good as well.
18:12 You have a large envelope there that is very easy to see out of.
18:15 So, the Mazda CX-5, I can confidently say in the medium SUV segment,
18:27 it's one of the few cars that actually puts a big smile on your face when you drive it.
18:31 It has so much punch. That 2.5-litre turbo is just a segment leader in terms of smiles per throttle application.
18:39 It is let down a little bit by room inside.
18:41 It's nowhere near as big as something like a Toyota RAV4,
18:43 so if you do have a growing family, it is probably worth considering that you're going to outgrow this pretty quickly.
18:48 But, outside of that, it's just really nice,
18:50 and the update that they've put in with that new infotainment system just brings it into this day and age
18:54 in terms of connectivity and all that sort of stuff.
18:56 So, have you bought the new CX-5?
18:58 Let me know in the comments section below, or do you own an existing CX-5?
19:02 What's it been like to live with?
19:04 There's some noisy mates over there.
19:06 If you did enjoy this video, please make sure you like it and share it with your mates,
19:09 and if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon before I blow away.
19:14 But, until next time, see you later.
19:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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