The Japanese company's new crossover enters the fastest-growing sector in
Europe, so can it stand out from the crowd?
An observant bird, fluttering past the windows of the Mazda boardroom in
Aki-Gun, Hiroshima these past months will have witnessed a scene like that
at the end of a James Bond film. Dials marked 'Tsunami', 'Flood' and
'Recession' have swung into the danger zone, steam escapes from a pipe
marked 'High Yen', warning lamps labelled 'Sales Collapse' and 'Korean
Rivals' are blinking, while klaxons sound and a girl in a bikini jumps
around screaming.
The chill winds of financial austerity are blowing in Hiroshima and Hideaki
Tanaka, project manager for the new
CX-5, acknowledges that his engineers are concerned about the
rumours of new management or owners. But as he shrewdly points out: "They
need to decide what our brand is for."
Good question. Mazda has always had great, if occasionally misdirected,
engineers but its management has been found wanting. It's imbecilic Zoom
Zoom marketing has presided over European sales down a quarter last year and
there's a danger that Mazda will go down in history for its nifty sports
cars and, er, lightbulbs.
Tanaka's latest project, the CX-5 compact sports utility, is the quintessence
of Mazda; unassuming, but packed with innovation, it goes on sale in mid-May
priced from £21,395. This is a crowded class of cars and the fastest growing
sector in Europe. Not one of them is particularly striking to look and the
CX-5 is no exception, verging on SUV somnambulism. British design boss Peter
Birtwhistle outlined how the chromium line round the lamps and grille is
meant to represent a charging puma, but it's going to be difficult to prove
the veracity of that allusion. There's some wheel-arch action going on at
the front, but it looks better from a three-quarter view, lying down, at
night and in a rainstorm, which coincidentally is exactly where the
photographer took all the brochure pictures...
Climb inside and the cabin feels spacious and filled with sticky-feeling
plastics and gritty-feeling leathers. Unremittingly dark grey, it presents a
sort of German-cabin zeitgeist, but the seats are comfortable and supportive
and the rear seats commodious for three full-sized adults. Lighter
upholstery is available. Storage space is augmented by a clever seat folding
mechanism, which should enable the most optimistic Ikea shopper to get home
with his purchases plus a compliment of four adults and the boot, at 503
litres, is the biggest in the class.
The facia presents a three-dial binnacle and a plethora of switches – 55 in all, not counting the chunky steering column stalks. The driving position is comfortable with height-adjustable seats and height- and reach-adjustable steering. While the USB charge socket in the centre console crushes your iPhone charge cable if you close the lid, at least you can see out of this car and have a reasonable judgement of where the corners are, unlike some rivals.
Mazda made great play of the enhanced sound deadening, something you are aware of as soon as you pull the doors shut. Trouble is, it also eats bass, whether that's coming from the speakers or your mouth, so on the move it's impossible to hold a conversation between the front and rear seats.
Two four-cylinder engines are offered, both built on the same line; a 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre turbodiesel. Interestingly they both use the same 14:1 compression ratio, a record high for the petrol and record low for a diesel. Direct fuel-injection, racing-style pistons and a splendidly Seventies banana-bunch exhaust manifold are used to restrict knocking (the fuel/air mixture igniting before it is supposed to). In a turbodiesel, a lower compression ratio gives a more complete burn of the fuel and air, which reduces emissions of oxides of nitrogen and soot particles. With a turbocharger it also make the engine more efficient at part-throttle operation, though it can mean difficult cold starting, which Mazda has remedied with special glow plugs and variable cam timing.
The diesel is the better choice, providing reasonable performance from amazingly low revs. It's a bit noisy and harsh when doing so, but settles down as soon as the needle moves past 2,000rpm. The manual transmission is sharp and sweet as well, although on test we could only manage 39mpg against the claimed Combined economy of 61.4mpg. The petrol unit loves to rev but there isn't much low-end torque, although we achieved 32mpg against a Combined claim of 42.8mpg.
Mazda claims all the technical details of the car under its SkyActiv brand, but it won't have stretched them much to have come up with industry-standard MacPherson-strut front and four-link independent rear suspension. The steering motor engages on the column, which is the correct way to do it, and the brakes are single-sided swinging calipers on all-round discs and there's a brutal but effective collision braking system which, at low speeds, prevents you running into the back of the vehicle in front.
It rides nicely, with a pleasant long-legged gait, although the taller Yokohama tyres on base versions fizz through the major controls. The steering is accurate and responsive, but feels artificial on heavily crowned roads. The 4x4 version feels more planted on the road and the larger, 19in tyre option actually improves the steering and, weirdly, the ride. That soft ride means there's a lot of weight transfer when you throw it around and there's too much body roll and understeer for committed drivers. That said, it's designed with families in mind, which isn't always the case with harsh-riding rivals.
In the end, you've got to admire Mazda for going its own way (again). The CX-5 isn't the most distinctive vehicle, but it's packed with good stuff including the engines and it's been built with eventual users in mind. I generally don't like SUVs but I quite liked this one.
THE FACTS
Mazda CX-5
PRICE/ON SALE
£21,395 to £28,795/now
TESTED
2.2 diesel
POWER/TORQUE
148bhp @ 4,500rpm, 280lb ft @ 1,800rpm
TOP SPEED
125mph
ACCELERATION
0-62mph in 9.2sec
FUEL ECONOMY
52.3mpg/61.4mpg EU Urban/Combined. 38.9mpg on test
CO2 EMISSIONS
119g/km
VED BAND
C £0 for first year, £30 thereafter
VERDICT
Capable and commodious, but not particularly different. The interesting engine technology gives first-rate economy and performance, but is it enough to tempt people into a Mazda?
TELEGRAPH RATING
Three out of five stars
THE RIVALS
Volkswagen Tiguan from £20,340
Unexceptional style, but workmanlike appointment and well built. Most plump for the 2.0-litre turbodiesel although the 1.4 TSI petrol is a good choice.
Honda CR-V from £22,585
British-built soft-roader is due for replacement soon. A pretty ugly, but popular blend of high-riding utility and Honda reliability. Go for the 2.2-litre diesel.
Nissan Qashqai from £17,999
British-built best-seller is much smaller inside than the Mazda unless you go for the +2 version, which gives more rear space. The 1.5dCi diesel is excellent.
The facia presents a three-dial binnacle and a plethora of switches – 55 in all, not counting the chunky steering column stalks. The driving position is comfortable with height-adjustable seats and height- and reach-adjustable steering. While the USB charge socket in the centre console crushes your iPhone charge cable if you close the lid, at least you can see out of this car and have a reasonable judgement of where the corners are, unlike some rivals.
Mazda made great play of the enhanced sound deadening, something you are aware of as soon as you pull the doors shut. Trouble is, it also eats bass, whether that's coming from the speakers or your mouth, so on the move it's impossible to hold a conversation between the front and rear seats.
Two four-cylinder engines are offered, both built on the same line; a 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-litre turbodiesel. Interestingly they both use the same 14:1 compression ratio, a record high for the petrol and record low for a diesel. Direct fuel-injection, racing-style pistons and a splendidly Seventies banana-bunch exhaust manifold are used to restrict knocking (the fuel/air mixture igniting before it is supposed to). In a turbodiesel, a lower compression ratio gives a more complete burn of the fuel and air, which reduces emissions of oxides of nitrogen and soot particles. With a turbocharger it also make the engine more efficient at part-throttle operation, though it can mean difficult cold starting, which Mazda has remedied with special glow plugs and variable cam timing.
The diesel is the better choice, providing reasonable performance from amazingly low revs. It's a bit noisy and harsh when doing so, but settles down as soon as the needle moves past 2,000rpm. The manual transmission is sharp and sweet as well, although on test we could only manage 39mpg against the claimed Combined economy of 61.4mpg. The petrol unit loves to rev but there isn't much low-end torque, although we achieved 32mpg against a Combined claim of 42.8mpg.
Mazda claims all the technical details of the car under its SkyActiv brand, but it won't have stretched them much to have come up with industry-standard MacPherson-strut front and four-link independent rear suspension. The steering motor engages on the column, which is the correct way to do it, and the brakes are single-sided swinging calipers on all-round discs and there's a brutal but effective collision braking system which, at low speeds, prevents you running into the back of the vehicle in front.
It rides nicely, with a pleasant long-legged gait, although the taller Yokohama tyres on base versions fizz through the major controls. The steering is accurate and responsive, but feels artificial on heavily crowned roads. The 4x4 version feels more planted on the road and the larger, 19in tyre option actually improves the steering and, weirdly, the ride. That soft ride means there's a lot of weight transfer when you throw it around and there's too much body roll and understeer for committed drivers. That said, it's designed with families in mind, which isn't always the case with harsh-riding rivals.
In the end, you've got to admire Mazda for going its own way (again). The CX-5 isn't the most distinctive vehicle, but it's packed with good stuff including the engines and it's been built with eventual users in mind. I generally don't like SUVs but I quite liked this one.
THE FACTS
Mazda CX-5
PRICE/ON SALE
£21,395 to £28,795/now
TESTED
2.2 diesel
POWER/TORQUE
148bhp @ 4,500rpm, 280lb ft @ 1,800rpm
TOP SPEED
125mph
ACCELERATION
0-62mph in 9.2sec
FUEL ECONOMY
52.3mpg/61.4mpg EU Urban/Combined. 38.9mpg on test
CO2 EMISSIONS
119g/km
VED BAND
C £0 for first year, £30 thereafter
VERDICT
Capable and commodious, but not particularly different. The interesting engine technology gives first-rate economy and performance, but is it enough to tempt people into a Mazda?
TELEGRAPH RATING
Three out of five stars
THE RIVALS
Volkswagen Tiguan from £20,340
Unexceptional style, but workmanlike appointment and well built. Most plump for the 2.0-litre turbodiesel although the 1.4 TSI petrol is a good choice.
Honda CR-V from £22,585
British-built soft-roader is due for replacement soon. A pretty ugly, but popular blend of high-riding utility and Honda reliability. Go for the 2.2-litre diesel.
Nissan Qashqai from £17,999
British-built best-seller is much smaller inside than the Mazda unless you go for the +2 version, which gives more rear space. The 1.5dCi diesel is excellent.
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