The MAZDA CX-5 Review by Car Enthusiast Carl Thompson

That's right, Mazda called again, told the imaginary secretary to put the president on hold, I have Mazda on line two. You might have caught my review of the Mazda MX-5 RF last month, this time around I'm saddling up in the CX-5. The CX-5 2.2d 2WD to be exact, one down from the tip of the spear which is the AWD. 

The CX-5 has a leaner feel to it than its predecessors. It has an artfulness, a very sleek, lean bonnet and exaggerated mesh with an almost basket weave grill. It has a certain menace to it which I like. The undulating bar on the grill blends seamlessly into the headlights, a nice touch along with the other chrome trims which subtly punctuates the cars profile.

Ok Carl, I get it, enough about the trims, tell me about the cup holders! Well the coffee cup holders are plentiful. Two in the front by the centre consul, rubberised at the bottom, and two in the real in the arm rest. Jackpot. Another thing I want to mention about the front centre consul are the 'run throughs'. Meaning I can charge my phone in the USB port provided (4 in the car in total) tuck the cable away and have the cable run through the consul and into my phone that's in the coffee cup holder. God bless you Mazda. 

People have been asking me about the protruding stand-alone screen you see in modern cars these days. The Mazda has a nice stand-alone screen minus the cowl that would otherwise blend into the dashboard. Granted some people prefer that look, I prefer to have better visibility and because the technology has moved on a notch, we no longer need the cowl. We can have a lower dashboard design, which means you can actually get greater visibility. 

The seats are soft, perforated in the middle and has heated seats along with the steering wheel. It also looks tasteful in black, I've seen some cream leather interiors for this model, which I actually prefer cosmetically, but I know these black seats would be more practical to hide any unwanted blemishes. 

The drive itself has a gorgeous fluidity. I'm not talking about the performance, which you'd expect from a Mazda, but the car reacts very reassuringly. I've heard that there is an entire team in Mazda called the 'Jinba Ittai' division. Their sole purpose is to make you feel good behind the wheel. How that is quantifiable I'm not sure, but simply, I ask the question, I like the response. 

The Premium Bose sound system has 10 precisely positioned speakers. The vocal imagery was very central, but not bunched. I enjoyed the range spectrally, (bass, middle and treble) and couldn't detect any buzz, squeaks or rattles when I gave it the Nigel 11 (Spinal Tap gag). If I'm honest I'll probably say the Harman Kardon system impressed me more spatially when I was in another car the other week, but there were 15 speakers and I wasn't driving so perhaps that the pleasure of listening more acutely. 

One tiny other niggle, is the rear of the car. I love the boot space. If you fold down the seats there is an orgy of space, you could do a house move in this car. But the rear lights are a little diminutive for my liking, makes it a little too 'cutesy'. Other than that, I was enamoured with the performance and the style of this car. Another slick delivery from Mazda.