Mazda SUV’s a smooth operator

New CX-5 is quieter and more refined

THE modern car designer has a lot to think about. Not only must they decide how a car will look today, but also how it will evolve years later with a face-lift or more fundamental cosmetic surgery.

This must be particularly challenging when your first design is pretty good in the first place.

So hats off to Mazda’s team who have taken the original and very stylish CX-5 crossover and made it look even more attractive.

The new version is somewhere between a face-lifted model and a completely new one. The platform is essentially the same as the old car’s but it has been made 15% torsionally stiffer by the addition of some high strength steel built into strategic areas.

The track has been widened at the front and back by a few millimetres and the car is 35mm lower than the original CX-5.

The range is fairly simple. You have a choice between two and four-wheel drive, manual and automatic gearboxes, petrol and diesel engines, and two trim levels of SE-L Nav and Sport Nav.

Our test car is powered by a 2.2-litre diesel engine in 150bhp form (there’s a 175bhp version of the engine as well, but you only get that in Sport Nav models) and it has a 2wd drivetrain.

It also has a manual gearbox which, after about two minutes in the car, I decided I wouldn’t choose. The gear lever’s action is smooth enough and the ratios in the gearbox are fine but a nice smooth automatic would suit this car’s sophisticated character so much better.

Sit the new car next to the old

one and the subtle styling changes are fairly obvious, with new slimmer front headlamps and a slightly different shape front grille. It also looks a bit more sporty thanks to its lowered stance and wider track.

Mazda has put a huge amount of effort into making the new CX-5 quieter and more refined with detail changes to sound deadening, seals and bushes. The car is slightly heavier as a result but it’s a price worth paying for quieter and smoother progress.

Inside, the infotainment screen is now a standalone feature and the centre console has been raised by a few millimetres. Trim materials have been lifted a grade and in our car’s two-tone black/ white interior it all looks classy.

The steering wheel carries a selection of switches that are sensibly laid out and straightforward to use. You can also control the infotainment system via a rotary knob on the centre console that makes swapping between functions simple.

With no change to the car’s wheelbase the interior and luggage space are virtually unchanged. That’s no problem because the CX-5 is already spacious and comfortable, and more than capable of swallowing the family shopping.

There’s plenty of head, leg and shoulder room front and rear, too.

I’m sure that Mazda’s multiple modifications to make the CX-5 quieter than before have made a difference but you don’t set off down the road feeling that you’re in a substantially different car to the old one.

You’d need to drive old and new back-to-back to really tell if there’s a difference. Or alongside Volkswagen’s Tiguan which is one of the Mazda’s chief rivals. The ride is comfortable and the handling precise enough by SUV standards. No complaints about the engine either, which is quiet and smooth.

With the popularity of diesel declining at a frightening rate, Mazda’s planners must be working double shifts trying to work out what the future holds.

The company has as yet avoided hybrids, but I’d imagine they’re thinking about them now.

At £25,695, our test car is the pick of the CX-5 range. Better looking than ever and more sophisticated, it should be on your shopping list for a new SUV.

Trim levels have been lifted a grade and it looks classy