Report 1 16/01/26 Report 2 28/01/26
REPORT 2 (28th Jan 2026)
I realise what I’m about to say will make people think I’m showing my age and/or some reactionary tendencies. So be it.
I’m really enjoying my time (not full-time, in-between other car-review duties) in the Mazda CX-5, partly because it’s a simple pleasure to use.
It’s undeniable that vehicle ergonomics and dynamics are changing in a fundamental way, which is where that bit in parentheses above comes in. There’s seemingly a drive to clean up car interiors and eradicate physical switchgear as much as possible, putting (I’m tempted to say “hiding”) everything in a central touch-screen.
Tesla arguably started it, the whole idea has been embraced wholeheartedly by the Chinese brands that are making such inroads into export markets, and the rest of the automotive world is following; albeit at a more considered pace.
We have an EV at home that’s pretty much button-free and I’m become a bit of a whizz with that after two years. But the CX-5 is so much nicer to operate. It’s tactile.
Putting everything into a screen makes a car cheaper to produce, by the way, which is why so many makers like the idea. Just saying.
Anyway, it’s happening and we’ll all get used to it (although there’s already pushback from the likes of ANCAP on the driver-attention implications). Just to be clear, we review every kind of new car and I can understand and learn to operate pretty much anything that comes along, because that’s my job. I’m not totally doddery… yet.
There’s a brand new CX-5 coming this year that places more emphasis on the touch screen, so it’ll be interesting to see what the balance is.
In fact, we have an EV of roughly similar size and shape at home that’s pretty much button-free and I’ve become a bit of a whizz with that after two years. But the CX-5 is so much nicer to operate. It’s tactile.
If you want to adjust the mirrors, there’s a switch on the door that you can toggle around, which seems sensible. If you want to change the climate control, there are buttons for that on the centre console and a permanent temperature display. If you want to adjust the seat, there are levers… on the seat. To reset the trip computer you press a button. To change the drive mode, you click a rocker switch.
If you’re wondering how many Polymetal Grey Mazda CX-5s there might be at an Auckland mall on a busy Saturday afternoon, it’s a lot.
None of it is buried under several layers of infotainment OS and crucially, you can find everything by feel without looking away from the road. Old-fashioned, right?
Ironically, the only significant spoke in the works is the infotainment control system, which has been a running theme of Mazdas for a while. But we’ll get to that in a later report.
This is all because the CX-5 is one of the more mature offerings in the SUV market, of course. It dates back to 2017. There’s a brand new one coming this year that we already know places more emphasis on the touch screen, so it’ll be interesting to see what the balance is. Mazda is not known for following trends for the sake of it (quite the opposite), so here’s hoping.
Enough of that. Also very much enjoying the drive experience, because (like the cabin) the fundamentals are right.
The steering is consistent, with the right degree of weight for a family SUV, the six-speed gearbox is lively despite being down on ratios by 2026 standards, and the chassis is highly engaging for a mainstream machine: intelligent AWD, nice balance and decent Yokohama tyres for grip and poise. The seats are good, too.
The Achilles heel for the drive/ownership experience may prove to be fuel economy, because the CX-5 is one of the few family SUVs that’s still not available with any form of electrification. It’s been okay to date, though: a mostly-motorway trip of 200km when it was brand-new returned 6.8 litres per 100km, although consumption tends to rise towards 8-9l/100km around town. We keep you posted as it runs in.
If we can find it, that is. I have to admit I lost the CX-5 in a busy mall carpark during our first two weeks, partly because the registration number wasn’t properly embedded in my brain. Just to repeat: not doddery, yet.
If you’re wondering how many mid-range Mazda CX-5s in Polymetal Grey there might be at an Auckland mall on a busy Saturday afternoon, it’s a lot. It was third-time-lucky for me, as I was reunited with RNP876. Popularity tells you a lot, by the way. It’s a good thing. But maybe should have dug in our heels on the Zircon Sand Metallic colour.
REPORT 1 (16th Jan 2026)
Meet our new extended-review car: a Mazda CX-5. Yes, we’re aware this second-generation model dates back to 2017 (via a 2022 update). And yes, we’re also aware there’s a brand-new third-generation CX-5 coming this year. But bear with us, because there’s method in our choice of Mazda.
We’ve been asking Mazda New Zealand if we could review the current CX-5 (again) for a while now. It’s not that the company was unwilling, it just couldn’t secure a suitable one because it’s a model that hasn’t been on the press fleet for a while now.
But we’ve continued our sometime-mission to revisit the most popular new vehicles in NZ, because they’re the ones people actually buy in substantial numbers. That’s certainly true of the CX-5: it’s Mazda NZ’s single most popular model and still accounts for 40% of its volume.
Long story a bit shorter, Mazda NZ decided the best way for us to tackle the CX-5 might be an extended review - just as it did with the CX-3 last year, in a similar scenario. Suits us: adds a valuable car to the review database and gives us a nice lead-up to the new one coming later in the year.
We did truly start from scratch with this one. With the CX-3 we were offered a brand-new car, but a very particular one: an SP20 in Polymetal Grey.
With the CX-5, everything was open for discussion, but we all decided we’d embrace the spirit of this project and go for the biggest-selling version of Mazda’s biggest-selling model: the $50,290 GSX AWD. Our car is standard apart from a chunky rubber boot-mat ($229) and quite a fancy Westfalia towbar with detachable tongue ($1800).
This GSX AWD is essentially mid-range. Mazda offers a brace of entry-level CX-5s with a 2.0-litre engine in GLX and GSX specifications, but when you step up to our GSX with AWD you also get the 140kW/252Nm 2.5-litre powerplant. There’s also a more luxurious Limited with the same powertrain, and the Mazda CX-5 with the most is the turbocharged Takami (a whopping $17,600 more than our GSX). The less-popular Activ and SP models were phased out a while ago.
We even got to choose the colour of our car. Well, kind of. Our enthusiasm for the beachy Zircon Sand Metallic is not shared by other Kiwis apparently, and there wasn’t one to be found in stock or on the way. After looking at everything else on the colour chart, we decided on the same Polymetal Grey our previous CX-3 came in, on the basis that it really suits the car and it photographs well.
This is a pretty-well specified family car for a smidge over $50k, with full “leatherette” upholstery, a much newer version of the Mazda Connect infotainment system than the CX-3 (but not as new as the CX-60/80/90 family), a handy 40/20/40-split seatback and a dual-height boot floor, so you can choose between maximum volume or a flat load-through.
The GSX does miss out on a power tailgate, though, which caught us out on the first couple of trips to the supermarket. It’s muscle-memory, when so many mainstream SUVs have that feature now.
What would we really have gained in the substantial step up to the $61,190 Limited? There’s definitely some stuff we’d like to have: that power tailgate, heating and power adjustment (plus more adjustment, actually) for the front seats, a grunty Bose audio system, fancier 7-inch display for the central instrument panel, and cruising and traffic support (CTS) for the adaptive cruise - basically a bit of extra help with steering and lane-keep when you’re driving in heavy traffic.
But we’ll happily pass on some of the other Limited-kit. It has gloss-black exterior trim, which we reckon looks a bit cheesy next to our GSX’s matte black. And while the Limited gets full leather upholstery (no “ette”), we’re still pretty happy with the classy look and feel of our car’s chairs.
The Limited does get a worthwhile wheel upgrade. The GSX’s 17-inch alloys are a nice design, but look a bit undernourished; the Limited’s 19-inchers fill out the arches very nicely.
But as we embark on a few months of driving with the emphasis on city commuting and parking, we not only expect a benefit in ride quality from our modest footwear, concrete kerbs cannot frighten us.
What is the Mazda CX-5?
The company's ever-popular mid-sized SUV. It's been around for nine years now, but remains the brand's most important Kiwi model in terms of sales volume, accounting for 40% of registrations.
Why are we running it?
Because it's still popular and we want to know how it feels in a market that's largely embraced electrified powertrain technology (this model has none). It's also context, as we prepare to drive the brand-new CX-5 later this year.