Road Test: Mazda CX-5 – a car for all seasons

WITH a string of accolades to its name, Mazda’s CX-5 is clearly making all the right noises.

In the CX-5, Mazda have a car for all seasons. It’s Green, but powerful, it’s sporty but not at the expense of comfort , it’s packed with good ideas and high levels of standard equipment and it definitely has a shapely figure.

In the past year, it took the Car of the Year award in Japan and recently took ‘What Car’s’ Green SUV title.

The What Car? Green Awards are decided by the magazine's editorial team, who described the SUV's 2.2-litre 150 PS SKYACTIVD diesel engine as its “stand-out feature delivering strong performance and exceptional economy.”

The CX-5 offers a very assured confident drive and true to its billing,, the diesel engine was quiet, refined and felt as if it could pull a train.

Fuel consumption during my weekend road test was excellent, with the CX-5 delivering more than 55 mpg over w die variety of road conditions and at varying speeds.

The CX-5 was provided for road test by Mattie Grannell, from Mazda dealers Granell Motors, in Wexford.

Last June, the CX-5 was crowned 'Best Crossover' in the 2012 Auto Express New Car Awards for its ‘…space, quality and style with a great drive and incredible efficiency.’

Mazda says the CX-5 marks the dawning of a new era for Mazda. It is the first of a new generation of vehicles, a compact crossover SUV that embodies a balance between the best of all worlds: fun, safety and sustainability, all in a very compelling package.

The CX- 5 symbolises the latest advancement to the company's focus on Jinba Ittai, the feeling of oneness between car and driver known from the legendary MX-5.

Well, I must say I felt at home in the CX-5. It provided a great driving environment - perhaps a little of Mazda’s soul of motion actually rubbed off.

As the first Mazda to feature the entire range of brand-new SKYACTIV technology for more efficient, more fun and more environmentally-friendly lightweight cars, the CX-5 paves the way for a new generation of Mazda vehicles. Developed using Mazda's distinctive breakthrough approach to vehicle design, engineering and manufacturing, SKYACTIV's creators successfully resolved conflicting objectives to come up with a line of engines, transmissions, bodies and chassis that offer customers a new level of value.

Developers of this special new model focused on four key values. Hence the CX-5's appealing, design as well as its interior functionality and craftsmanship. Sustainability, too, was a top priority, both in terms of the vehicle's environmental imprint as well as safety. The remarkably responsive yet predictable driving dynamics, finally, were obligatory for Mazda's latest model. A look under the CX-5's bonnet will reveal one of three high-efficiency four-cylinder engines - two diesels and one petrol powerplant - paired with sixspeed manual or automatic transmissions in either four-wheel drive (AWD) or front-wheel drive (FWD) format*. Whatever the combination, all CX-5 models feature i-stop, Mazda's unique fuel-saving idle-stop system providing the world's fastest restarts.

SKYACTIV engines are about making internal combustion as effective as possible. There are two adaptations of the 2.2-litre SKYACTIV-D: a standard power diesel producing 110 kW/150 PS at 4,500 rpm and 380 Nm of torque in the 1,800-2,600rpm range, and a high power version (AWD only) putting out 129 kW/175 PS at 4,500 rpm and a formidable 420 Nm at 2,000 rpm. Together with the 6-speed SKYACTIV-MT manual transmission, the latter accelerates the CX-5 from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 8.8 seconds, reaching a top speed of 207 km/h. Coupled with a SKYACTIV-Drive automatic, this high-power AWD diesel completes the 0-100 sprint in 9.4 seconds and tops out at 204 km/h.

The CX-5 with standard power SKYACTIV-D and manual gearbox, meanwhile, reaches 100 km/h in 9.2 seconds (FWD) and 9.4 seconds ( AWD), while the automatic does so in 10.0 seconds (FWD) and 10.2 seconds (AWD). Top speeds for the manual are 202 km/h (FWD) and 197 km/h (AWD), or 198 km/h (FWD) and 194 km/h (AWD) for the automatic.

But despite their extraordinarily wide-ranging torque and impressive performance, SKYACTIV-D engines are exceptionally clean and economical diesels. In fact, both versions meet Euro 6 emissions criteria (almost three years before they take effect) without pricey exhaust aftertreatment systems. The secret is their ultra-low compression ratio, lightweight design and variable twin turbocharger (providing maximum boost pressure of 2.7 bar), to name just a few of the clever concepts that went into these engines.

The CX-5's unique SKYACTIV powertrains deliver all the qualities that make a vehicle fun to drive and to own: more torque, better responsiveness and better fuel economy. It is the latest edition of Sustainable Zoom-Zoom.