Mazda CX-5 instils confidence

Mazda's second-gen CX-5 boasts a new look and better fuel economy

In the SUV market there’s now a huge variety available, from the excellent bargain-basement Romanian-built Dacia Duster at under £9,000 to the Range Rover and the £150,000 Bentley 4x4 which is due to go on sale here in 2016. Mid-market there’s plenty of choice, such as the Audi Q3, Chevrolet Captiva, Vauxhall Antara, Ford Kuga, Hyundai i35, Kia Sportage, Land Rover Freelander, Honda CR-V, Mitsubishi ASX, Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Yeti, Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, Volvo XC60… among others.

One of the most straightforward and quietly confident though is the CX-5 from Mazda, which is now in its second generation and is to my mind one of the best. It’s not exciting to look at, although the freshened front end is a big improvement. It’s also unlikely to set the pulse racing on the open road, but it is well-built, efficient, intelligent and practical. What more could you want from a car whether as family runabout, transport for the weekend, country pursuits, or something to give security when the weather turns nasty. At this time of year that’s got to be a consideration, when the predictions are that the heavy berry production on trees and bushes signal a harsh winter ahead.

Half of the CX-5 model range have only two-wheel drive, but the intelligent all-wheel drive system in the test car is impressive and needs no driver input to provide the reassurance that it will cope with ice, snow, mud and generally slippery conditions.

I didn’t put it through anything especially demanding off-road, but it felt very secure along muddy dirt tracks and wet leaf-strewn side roads. The car has excellent build quality and the interior controls, switches and instruments are clear, well laid-out and businesslike, if not especially dramatic.

Interior storage is superb, with a flat-floored loadspace, and dropping the rear seats using the easily-accessible remote release levers in the boot opens up impressive capacity. As a workhorse it takes some beating; able to tow up to two tonnes and with a good ride height, it’s happy to go off the beaten track. Running costs should be good – there’s plenty of power under the bonnet yet economy is impressive, and service  intervals are long, as is the warranty.

The only downside I found with this car is that the improved economy has to come from somewhere and, in this case, a huge amount of work has been done by the engineers to reduce weight – an 8 per cent saving in the body, three kilos off the gearbox and lighter engine components. High tensile steel has been used to improve strength but I was concerned at the apparent flimsiness of some of the body panels. At cruising speed there was a noticeable vibration in the bonnet, and the rear panels were remarkably flexible when touched even with a little finger. But it does feel good on the road and the demanding economy targets have not been met at the expense of a positive driver experience.

Mazda’s vehicle efficiency programme is called Skyactiv and is heavily technical – even down to the design of the piston heads – so the car is a lot lighter but still feels safe, secure and  capable. The 2.2 all-wheel drive diesel is likely to be the best seller in Scotland, and the Sport Nav version comes with a nice package of kit including heated leather seats, reversing camera, lane departure warning system, Bi-xenon adaptive headlights, TomTom sat-nav with a 5.8-inch colour screen and a BOSE audio system with nine speakers.

It doesn’t have an onboard toaster. If it did it could almost be the best thing since sliced bread.

VITAL STATS

CAR Mazda CX-5 2.2 Sport Nav 175 ps AWD

PRICE £27,795 (£29,015 as tested)

PERFORMANCE Max speed 129 mph; 0-62 mph 8.8 secs

MPG (combined) 54mpg

CO2 EMISSIONS 136g/km