Mazda CX-5

Like most of the Mazda offerings, the Mazda CX-5 also carries an all-black theme for the cabin, with the interior wrapped in top-quality black leather upholstery for the seats, steering wheel and door pads. The upper dashboard layer and door trims do come with soft-touch leather, while there are gloss black and silver inserts at places for keeping the momentum consistent.

The Mazda CX-5 continues to have a three-spoke tilt and telescopic adjustable multi-functional steering wheel with a three-pod instrument console which has dated-looking fonts and layouts for the data on display. The centre console of the dashboard here has a free-standing 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system at the top. The corners of the second layer of the dashboard, which also house trapezoidal AC vents, are finished in a contrasting theme of silver, while the centre console also has symmetric-shaped pentagonal AC vents.

The lower centre console of the cabin of the Mazda CX-5 has a long surface for the transmission lever, which is finished in a glossy theme and also gets an electronic parking brake and cup holders. The other comfort and convenience features gracing the cabin of the Mazda CX-5 include a 10-way powered driver’s seat, 6-way powered co-driver’s seat, 40:20:40 split rear seats, 10-speaker BOSE audio system, dual-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents and more.

The Mazda CX-5 has witnessed minimal changes since the current generation broke covers in 2017. Despite it being more than half a decade old, the Mazda CX-5 still looks like one of the most stylish crossovers of its size, with the last facelift making a minor difference in its appearance with more premium elements.

At the front, the Mazda CX-5 has a large trapezoidal grille, which has small tapered upper edges and long tapered lower edges. This grille has a honeycomb mesh pattern for the inserts, while also having thicker chrome garnish on the side and thinner chrome garnish on the lower edges. The headlamps of the Mazda CX-5 were tweaked in the facelifted version, with the headlamps becoming sleeker in appearance and having dual L-shaped daytime running LEDs and projector bulbs.

The Mazda CX-5 has a very curvaceous appeal when viewed from the side, with the crossover having well-sculpted curves for the bonnet, roofline and window waistline towards the rear. The smooth-looking front and rear fenders and door panels have slim gloss black body mouldings over them. While the 2.0 Sport variant has 17-inch alloy wheels on offer, the 2.5 Sport and 2.5 Turbo have 19-inch machined alloy wheels on offer.

The Mazda CX-5 has received minimal changes in the rear profile, with the premium compact crossover having a curved design for the boot lid and combination tail lamps with revised LED inserts and a new design for the rear bumper. The boot lid still has a muscular design towards the middle, with the license plate housing sitting in the middle of the boot lid.

While the base-spec 2.0 Sport gets a front-wheel drive layout, the other two variants – 2.5 Sport and 2.5 Turbo – feature an all-wheel drive layout. All the variants of the Mazda CX-5 have Macpherson struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear, which have been tuned for a plush setup for the ride quality.

The base-spec 2.0 Sport variant of the Mazda CX-5 is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which develops a maximum power output of 156 PS and a maximum torque output of 200 Nm. The mid-spec 2.5 Sport gets a larger 2.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which churns out 190 PS of maximum power and 252 Nm of maximum torque. The range-topping 2.5 Turbo variant has the same 2.0-litre engine but in a turbocharged version, which claims 253 PS of maximum power and 434 Nm of maximum torque. A 6-speed automatic transmission is common to all the powertrains.

In its range-topping variant, the Mazda CX-5 gets the full version of the i-Activsense package of ADAS features, which includes a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear smart brake support, lane departure warning with lane keep assist and driver attention alert. It also has other basics like six airbags, ABS with EBD, dynamic stability control, 360-degree parking camera and front and rear parking sensors.

Despite its minimal design updates and lack of modernity in its cabin, the Mazda CX-5 still ranks as one of the most premium SUVs or crossovers for its price, particularly due to the very European design with sleek curves and powerful engine options.