CLASS LEADER FOR A REASON
Our long term test of Australia’s No. 1 selling SUV has come to an end. Before we parted ways, Mazda swapped us out of our petrol-powered, top of the line Akera, into the recently upgraded diesel Maxx Sport.
Mazda brought in a midlife update of both engines but the changes to the diesel were more significant. Power is up from 129kW to 140kW and torque has jumped from 420Nm to 450Nm.
The diesel variants in the Mazda range are available only in AWD so it’s quite a price leap from the base petrol front-driver. The cheapest CX-5 costs $28,690 plus on-roads but if you want the oil-burning variety, the Maxx Sport is the cheapest at $39,990.
For that you get a tonne of extra grunt low down in the rev range. The petrol engine in the Akera was no slug but the diesel is in another class for performance.
It’s relatively quiet as well, with only a faint touch of telltale diesel rattle at low speeds around town.
We stretched the Maxx Sport’s legs for one last time in a mix of light city traffic and 110km/h freeway running and the indicated fuel consumption hovered between 5L-6L/100km.
For a big SUV, that’s an impressive number and the lower fuel bills eventually will go some way to offsetting the bigger initial outlay.
After jumping out of the cream leather and piano black finishes of the Akera, the grey cloth trim of the Maxx Sport makes for a darker, more formal cabin. The quality of interior finish is still top-notch but the cabin has a simple, conservative look, with analog dials where some competitors have flashier digital screens.
The driving experience remains on par with the best in class. It’s a comfortable, quiet longdistance cruiser and while it can’t completely disguise its weight through tighter corners, it’s sharper than the vast majority of SUVs its size.
Best of all, we didn’t experience a single technical glitch in three months of driving.
As for the petrol versus diesel debate, unless we were doing some serious miles, perhaps with a small boat in tow, we’d take the petrol and spend the $3000 difference on extra features in the cabin.