Mini-review: 2018 Mazda CX-5

"promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
12/15/2018 at 20:55 • Filed to: mazda, oppo reviews, reviews, miata

I left work early on Thursday to take the Miata down for a new top. I asked for a loaner and the dealer let me pick between a 3 or a brand-new CX-5 with all the trimmings.

Wasn’t a hard choice. I spent a solid minute frozen in indecision.

First off, it’s not a Miata. Despite what the commercials tell you, this is not going to rip around corners even if you leave it in Sport mode. You won’t be pulling 1g nor will you be lighting up the curves with it, though that didn’t stop me from trying...

This SUV is comfy. It’s quiet. It makes LA traffic seem less like the endless hellish gridlock it is. You can see things! There’s no crushing sense of vulnerability that either the Kardashian-clone in the leased BMW two lanes over or the rapidly approaching Uber will accidentally turn you into a pasty goo against a guardrail where 14 meets I-5.

No soft top, obviously, but there’s a moonroof. There’s a Bose stereo controlled with by worst infotainment system (seriously, Mazda). There’s leather seats that had a bit of coffee splashed onto them during that ill-advised 2nd-gear corner. Heaters in the seats and heaters in the wheel. MSRP was a cool $32k 2018 dollars, with the customary $300 charge for metallic paint.

It’s a great car that spoils you.

But at the same time I feel like I’ve jumped ahead ten years into the future. Not just because of the heads-up display and lane departure systems. No, it begins when I put on my baggy jacket before stepping out of my house and stews in the back of my mind when I think about what I have to pick up at the store as I get behind the wheel.

And then it clicks as I stop for the kids leaving the school down the road. I’ve become that thirty-something dad like the people in my office. The one who listens to dad rock on one of the midteens/twenties XM stations. The one whose daily routine is to walk into the office, joke about the game last night, and work on some spreadsheets before the bi-weekly 10:15 with the East Coast.

And the weird thing is, I’m okay with it.

I can’t wait to get the Miata back, but I would be okay if they spent a little more time with it.

Still better than what the Miata experiences on a semi-regular basis

DISCUSSION (9)

MUSASHI66 > promoted by the color red
12/15/2018 at 21:19

They just introduced a 2.5L turbo engine with 250hp on the top two trims. $36k or so for 250hp, awd, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel and that body... since Forester XT is no more, there is a good chance my wife will be rocking one of these babies in April of 2020.

promoted by the color red > MUSASHI66
12/15/2018 at 21:23

Good pick! It’s a lot of premium car for the money especially now that Mazda finally added Android Auto to the infotainment.

MUSASHI66 > promoted by the color red
12/15/2018 at 21:28

It seems everyone is adding these 2l turbo engines with 240-250hp. Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mazda.. I wish Honda and Toyota would do the same and I’m bummed Forester XT is dead. Mazda is best looking by far.

Textured Soy Protein > promoted by the color red
12/15/2018 at 22:21

My wife has a CX-5 Touring which is the mid-level trim. No heads up display, fake leather/suede seats, and the lower console around the shifter is hard plastic instead of covered in leather. It does have the preferred package with the moonroof, power tailgate, Bose stereo, etc.

It’s really nice for what it is—a small/medium crossover from a mainstream brand. The only thing about it I wish were different is that console around the shifter. I’d prefer to have more room to splay my right knee out to the side .

My wife doesn’t go on the highway ( this year we moved from WI to the DC burbs; I grew up here but she’s trying to avoid getting on any of the highways here as long as possible) so I get bummed when I see the average mpg meter hovering around 21, but whatever.

The only feature I’d really like to have from the Grand Touring is the memory for the driver’s seat but we usually don’t have to fuss with the seat too much to get comfy when switching drivers. Mazda released the Android Auto retrofit kit but we haven’t gotten around to adding it. Maybe at some point but not in a big rush.

Overall we’re very happy with the car.

The CR-V is definitely more practical, with better mpg and more room inside, but the CX-5 is better to drive and look at .

boxrocket > promoted by the color red
12/16/2018 at 10:44

I don’t get people’s hate on the Mazda infotainment system. We recently traded in our 2016 CX-5 Grand Touring in on a 2019 CX-5 Touring (wife’s choice, I wanted the Signature), and while a few things are a bit confusing it’s still dead-simple to use, I love the redundant controls and the feeling of the rotating knob, the screen position is excellent (admittedly it could be a bit higher resolution, but it serves its purpose, and I’m not watching movies or hockey on it), and it just works. Contrast to the confounding systems like Subaru’s StarLink, GM’s CUE and MyLink (both of which have hilariously high hardware failure rates), Honda/Acura’s maze of confusion (which was even worse when they took away the volume knobs), and Toyota picking screens that get washed out in the slightest trace of sunlight, and Mazda’s really is very pleasant. It’s not as capable as Ford’s Sync3, or as labyrinthine as the Germans allowing you to fiddle with EVERYTHING just-so, but it works.

Hi! My Name Is Rossssssss > boxrocket
12/16/2018 at 16:52

I just hate how long it takes to load up when I start the car & how long it takes to respond when I pause something

promoted by the color red > boxrocket
12/16/2018 at 21:58

I do like the rotating knob and the screen - my complaint is with the OS. It’s buggy and XM & Stitcher integration is awful. If I click >> on the steering wheel, it should skip to the next station on the same band as it doe s on the screen when I use the knob and not to the next radio preset.

I think Android Auto/Apple Carplay is the much-needed shot in the arm.

boxrocket > promoted by the color red
12/19/2018 at 06:57

Yeah, there are some interactive conundrums; I don’t use XM and rarely pair my phone to the car (more than enough FM stations where I live) so I don’t use apps all that much. W hen we first got the 2016 it would sometimes forget my phone, but as soon as I initiated an attempt to re-pair the devices, it’d remember it again. The fact that volume settings are “app” specific and can’t be adjusted in the main Audio/volume settings (as well, not just one or the other) is frustrating and took too long to explain to my mom when she got her 2018 earlier this summer. It’s not perfect, but in practical usage I think it’s better than a lot of other systems, which really says more about the other systems than Mazda’s, really.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > promoted by the color red
12/28/2018 at 01:52

I like having two cars for two purposes. It causes some practical headaches (one of them must live outside), but it makes the sports car feel more special every time I drive it. Plus, with a quiet and luxurious cruiser I’m often OK with being stuck in traffic .