All NEW Mazda CX-5 FIRST DRIVES!
 

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t_drive_review

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2578FC002529E1


And if the pre-production CX-5 is any guide, it won’t be just Mazda’s Japanese rivals that will be forced to stand up and take notice.


Other Mazda SA Details from GoAuto...

http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...2578FC00279ABE

CX-5 will replace the CX-7 Globally....

The CX-5 doesn’t drive like any existing compact SUV. It’s more lively, more involving, more steeped in the sports-car character that Mazda harps on about in its Zoom-Zoom advertising. The steering is quick and crisp, body motions are held tightly in check, and the ride is purposely firm underfoot. This is the SUV for those who promised they’d never stoop to driving one. This is where fun-to-drive lives when there are kids to convey, dogs to deliver, or a long weekend’s worth of camping gear to haul.

CX-5 program manager Hideaki Tanaka, who previously led development of the 1989 MX-5, 2002 Mazda6, 2003 RX-8 and 2007 CX-9, said Mazda used its full range of SkyActiv technologies and benchmarked rivals like the Tiguan, RAV4 and Honda CR-V to deliver the safest, most efficient and driver-focused compact SUV possible.

Mazda says the new 2.2 diesel not only meets strict upcoming Euro 6 emissions regulations without the need for expensive NOx after-treatment, but consumes 20 per cent less fuel than before.

The CX-5’s exact fuel consumption figures remain under wraps, but Mazda claims it will offer a 10 per cent advantage over its nearest European rival, Volkswagen’s upgraded MY11 Tiguan 2.0 TDI, which officially returns 6.0 litres per 100km and emits 157 grams of CO2 per kilometre.

Australia’s CX-5 range will likely open with a 2WD petrol manual and extend to an AWD diesel auto, but our lower-octane (91 RON) standard unleaded petrol means our SkyActiv-G petrol engines will come with a 13.0:1 compression ratio instead of the sky-high 14.0:1 compression seen in the European engine, which requires 95 RON.

As slick as both Sky engines and transmissions are, however, the undoubted star of the CX-5 is its astonishingly well sorted ride and handling package.

The CX-7 was already one of the best handling models in its class but the CX-5 feels much lighter on its feet and possesses a willingness to change direction we haven’t experienced in a Mazda this side of an MX-5 or RX-8.

Australia’s CX-5 will be tuned almost identically to the European model, which comes with firmer dampers and sharper electric power steering than the US version.

Quite simply, if the production CX-5 is as good as the prototypes we drove in Iceland last week, it will set a new ride/handling standard for any compact SUV, let alone one that should be priced from under $30,000 (AUD$) when it arrives here in a little over six months.

Throw in cutting-edge petrol and diesel engine performance and efficiency, a host of hi-tech driver aids and a smaller, smarter Kodo-styled five-door body with class-leading packaging and refinement, and there is no reason the Euro-sharp CX-5 won’t make Mazda as successful in the small SUV segment as it is in the small-car class.

whoah!

...

hmm, SEEEEEeeeeEE ? I KNEW THE CX-5 Would kill one of the other CX line !!

CX-7 is not bad, but it's a pretty heavy SUV and uses a lot of gas ... had one so I know. It's about time.

maybe I should get a CX-5 for my father ... he doesn't like to drive my Mazda3 that much, he likes car that sits higher. >_<

Great stuff Ash, thank you for sharing all this goodness!

Paul.

haha i like the disugise that they put on it. But dam 23MPG at 84mph haha thats crazy talk.
Looks like i found me DD

UK autoexpress tested also...


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carrevi...mazda_cx5.html



Autocar UK have some complain about electric steering feel.....

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/...tiv-MT/258878/

Oh not one of those...(your dad)..likes a high chair for a car!!..

Funny, like all of use here, I was just thinking yesterday, driving, I am sick of seeing these TANKS take over our roads...so What happens when EVERYONE drives an SUV??...

We will then be driving MACK trucks to see over all the SUV's??

....Yes...thought the same....Mazda could not continue with THREE SUV's....Plus the MZR is finished.

Frankly...I Bloody HATE THEM!!!

"On our route, the manual diesel returned 50mpg at a constant 60mph."

Oh good god! thats insane hope the US sells the diesel model. If not the then 45mpg for pertol is still a lot better than an 08 manual focus.

Wow...

Still no confirmation for the diesel variant in the US market. Quite disappointed in that :( .

The President and CEO said it and it was echoed by the Senior Vice President of Mazda North American Operations publicly. That's good enough for me.

Paul.

car and driver said

i dont know if they mean in 18 months thats when we might see it in the Mazda 6 or that it wont be available in the US CX5 until 18 months from now and that it might also still appear in the 6.

either one is ridiculous. build the engines and offer it in the states. period.

edit : goauto says of the 6

FIRST CX-5 Video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIrYk-sP4iM

My guess would be that we see CX-5 in the US in about 6 months with skyactiv G and the turbo diesel variant a year afterward.

As for the Mazda 6, it will definitely get skyactiv G by it's redesign time but I would imagine there is much debate about the market for the diesel and marketability vs higher hp gas engines. Maybe they can do a campaign that explains the relationship of torque to hp; "WE HAVE TORQUE, POWER YOU CAN ACTUALLY USE".

Another would be; "WE HAVE TORQUE, WHAT DO THEY HAVE?"

Paul.

For the record, I know torque is not horsepower but is related to it before I get any smart aleck comments :)

That gives them more time to get cold feet and pen their version of the usual "market research" bullshit speech we always get when diesel cars get canceled.

Damn our fat lazy non-sporty American car buyer population!

Yeah, I don't know about that one..
I think it is just some marketing spin....US will get the same as everyone else..or a Version of.

a version of ultra soft bullcrap and ultra slow responds hydraulic pump steering cuz most people here can't drive for shit.

:)

All the next Generation Mazda's starting with the CX-5 will have Electric Power Steering, with the PS Motor located inside and under the dashboard incorporated/attached to the column.

still doesnt fix the stupid....

Autoblog has a nice first drive article too. CX5 has a really beautiful side profile.
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....da-cx-5-qs.jpg

I don't even like SUV's but I think that's hot.

"Beautiful"...I guess in the eye of the beholder...No SUV IMO is one.

Technically you have reason, but...this SUV looks better than many others....

more a car than a SUV

some PREPRODUCTION interior pic

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/3788/18087864.jpg

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/6868/70432407.jpg

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/1660/85907393.jpg

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/1778/74134500.jpg

Steering wheel rim looks very VW/Audi. Definitely liking the budget German quality looks of the interior. Hopefully the production Nav screen is bigger than it actually looks with a better surround. The shifter cover plate and the tiny storage bin in the center console could use some touching up for production also.

it s a 5 inch display and confirmed for production

u think that navi screen is small? Try the one in my mazda 3. Lol

/\ ..lol

Here we go...I can already see it...

The whining Journalists and or Owners will wish for an even larger screen....
Got to find something NEGATIVE to say on the CX-5...

What ever happened to actually DRIVING a car...LOOKING through glass for direction..
Now I wonder which way is north, south, east or west?..

Sat Nav is good for those who commute to many destinations, apart from that they are a TOY.

Best invention for cabs and delivery drivers...

I noticed someone said are Mazda putting "Sync (Ford)" in the CX-5...OMG...

I hope NO MAZDA ever runs this rubbish...

WHY do you want it (Sync), do YOU want to be in control or something else.

Ford..think they are being 'a market leader', but it is just MORE rubbish/cost in a car that in time will go defective.

There is a local (news ltd) Review from Iceland on the CX-5 and the writer started off saying...
"Mazda a Japanese car company that does not do normal"..or something like that..(I don't have the paper).

THAT is what I love about the brand, and it has really been that way for over 40 years.

I think the centralized controls/buttons for the nav unit shows cost cutting (though I am sure Mazda had no other way) in order to provide a plausibly low price for the navi option. Looks basically like an aftermarket double din unit, which I am almost sure it is.

I wasn't asking for some sort of centralized media interface like iDrive, MMI, or Sync as Ash mentioned. I wouldn't want one either. I was talking about the screen size itself. Would it be so hard for Mazda to stretch out the screen a bit and take a better approach to the black surround? I am all for old human navigation techniques, but there are always uses for a Navi. Living in the city and having to put up with quickly changing driving environments, I would like to snap my eyes onto the screen and quickly snap back to the road. I do not want to squint for every little information on the screen like I did for the current integrated screen for the CX-7s and Mazda 3s.

Yes I am aware that there must be hard buttons that take up space on the navi deck itself, but what is the point of the MMI controls on the center console then? In all honesty, are you guys going to sit there and say that is the best approach to the system? It just doesn't mesh with the rest of the interior. You get a nice integrated HVAC unit that stretches across the bottom dash nicely. Not to mention the other fancier bits on the dash. The MMI console controls. Then you look up and center, and you get a black plastic surround with a double din unit in it.

quote 100%.

sat nav are mainly TOYS except for finding addresses in big cities.....

no need to have 6" or 7" or MORE bigger screens.

i appreciate more a good hands free capability, and voice quality (need to work), and good hi-fi, if i'm stuck in traffic.....

Mazda3's Navi screen is small but once you actually get the car and drive it, you will know why its there and why is it so small.

they design it to be in your direct point of view so when you drive, the "Navi" screen info will go into your eyes directly. you don't have to "glance" that center mount Navi found in other cars. It's so small because anything bigger than that might effect your view/attention.

Not bad design IMO. but really the first time I saw it I was like wtf Mazda ... :)

anyway, back to CX-5, hmm, depends on price and the release date of the Sky-D, I might switch the Mazda3 I have with it.

the MMI-like controls in CX-5 might be a cool thing to have, but don't know if my father will know how to use it. lol

Are they trying to go after the higher end sporty SUVs coming from BMW and Merc? CX-5 looks great

CX-5 WILL get Diesel in US in 2014 MY
 

A bit later than anticipated. I wonder why Mazda refuses to release it in early 2013 if the engine is ready for production. It gives them a much better head start for the growing diesel market in the US. Being the most powerful diesel of its size and one of the most fuel efficient, not to mention the possibility of being the only new Asian import to incorporate a diesel.

I'll believe it when I can put my hands on one in a parking lot. Still waiting on that TSX diesel we were "definitely" going to get in 2008.

Some are hitting selected dealerships here for test drives etc...
Well...
...
...
It's friggin amazing. Definitely the SUV i'd go for!

I agree. I'm not normally an SUV type of guy but this one is quite cool in many ways.

Paul.

it'll be production limitations. they can only produce so many and they need to supply Europe first

Where? Italy?

Maybe ;)

Yes, Charlie is spot on...

It is capacity..

...you have to remember this is the first time Mazda have gone back to a completely owned/designed and made engine for a decade.

No Ford Europe/US made parts in Skyactiv engines.

23 mpg @ 84 mph? I hope that's a typo. I get 22.5 out of my RX-8 in the same conditions.

Really - this thing should be hitting 30 mpg on a long cruise.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...3685362&type=1


More pictures. The center multimedia interface is very well executed. Looks very simple with few buttons and a rotary joystick knob. No idea why they decided to put four of the same damn buttons onto the headunit though.

New Video...No Sound..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzy93bp3BDQ

WOW!!...Skyactiv II already scheduled 2016!
 

Check this out, reading an on-line article from Detroit News talking to MMC Boss, most if not all what he said we already know...then this GEM...

Further down the road, Mazda engineers are already looking at the post Skyactiv phase with new, high efficiency gasoline engines planned for 2016 which will have compression ratios of 20 to one, versus 14 to one today.

Compared with much larger automakers like Toyota and Honda whose products Yamanouchi describes as 'ordinary', Mazda will continue to be a relatively small volume player on a global scale. "We are not going to chase down every market but we will distinguish ourselves from the rest by our technology and driving dynamics," says Yamanouchi. "By defying convention we can be successful."

No Rotary news :(

the video might be what they are showing over the crowd at the Frankfurt booth?

They did mention recently that they are looking at true HCCI engines for the "next phase"