Mazda CX-5 review

First question: do you want two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive? Actually, that still doesn’t really matter, because Mazda hasn’t released pricing yet. 

We are told, however, that the starting price will be “cheaper” than the old car – which starts around £31.5k. We’ll update this section once we have confirmation.

That should put it right in the mixer with its rivals – not the cheapest, but not the dearest either – including the Ford Kuga, Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and co.

What's on the kit list?

Right then, the CX-5 is offered in four grades – Prime-Line, Centre-Line, Exclusive-Line, and Homura. Deep breath, here’s a quick whistlestop tour…

Prime-Line is available on front-wheel drive CX-5’s only and includes 17-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a leather steering wheel, black cloth upholstery, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.9-inch centre touch display with Google built-in, wired smartphone connectivity, and an eight-speaker sound system.

Centre-Line brings 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, privacy glass, gloss black roof rails, artificial black leather and fabric seat upholstery, a head-up display, frameless interior mirror, wireless smartphone connectivity, and a power tailgate.

Exclusive-Line introduces all-wheel drive, a black and white upholstery combo, plus brings a six-way power-adjustable front passenger seat, heated rear seats and USB-C charging ports, a 12-speaker BOSE sound system, and a 360-degree camera.

Homura models get 19-inch black alloy wheels, gloss black bumper trims, adaptive LED headlights, black- or tan-coloured genuine leather upholstery paired with contrasting stitching and a vinyl leather dashboard, additional ambient lighting, ventilated front seats, a 15.6in centre display, and a hands-free power tailgate.

What's the best spec?

Mazda expects the biggest seller to be Exclusive-Line or Homura in the UK – we’d be tempted by the former in front-wheel drive guise (96 per cent of CX-5’s sold in the UK last year were front drive, FYI).

You don’t miss the bigger screen and to our eyes it also looks better without the black alloys (as most cars do).