LOADED YET LIVELY

At first glance, $53,000 is a lot of dough for a mid-sized SUV without a prestige badge. But our new arrival in the garage, Mazda’s CX-5 Akera, is loaded with the type of safety tech usually seen in an Audi or Mercedes.

It will keep a safe distance to the car in front on the freeway, steer you back into your lane if you wander out of it, slam on the brakes if you’re going to hit something – whether driving forward or in reverse – and even give you a gentle reminder if it thinks you’re getting tired.

It all works as well as most rival set-ups. We’re still not sold on lane keeping assistance as a concept and, for impatient city drivers, the stopgo function in city traffic tends to take too long to get back up to speed.

A head-up display adds to the wealth of information available to the driver – apart from the usual speedo, the Mazda recognises traffic signs and tells you the prevailing speed limit. We haven’t caught it out yet in city driving.

The head-up display also warns when there is something in your blind spot, backing up the orange warning lights in your side mirrors.

The white leather seats and piano black finishes around the cabin create an upmarket feel, while the Bose audio is a cut above average.

Seats are power adjustable and have heating for when (or if) winter finally arrives and the rear seats can be reclined, airline-style.

The instrument panel lets the side down a little. Where most rivals now have a modernlooking digital readout between the tacho and the speedo, the Mazda is very much old-school, with a basic trip computer and other displays.

The centre screen is smallish too, although it sits high on the dash, which is good for visibility.

On the road, the Mazda is lively enough off the mark and the standard six-speed auto gives it a sportier flavour than most Japanese SUVs.

Over a mix of mainly city roads, with one long excursion out of town, it is returning roughly 11.0L/100km.