2013 Mazda CX5

2013 Mazda CX5

The 2013 Mazda CX-5 is the company’s 1st all-new crossover utility vehicle in many years. It replaces the discontinued and low-volume Mazda Tribute (a lightly modified recent-vogue Ford Escape) and also the CX-7, that is slightly larger however has no a lot of interior room and considerably worse gas mileage.

Aimed right at the center of the compact utility market, the new CX-5 offers an enticing various to the

perennial best-sellers—the new 2013 Ford Escape, the redesigned 2012 Honda CR-V, and also the Toyota RAV4 and Chevrolet Equinox, which are with us now for some years.

In its favor, the CX-5 is trendy, capacious, handles fantastically, and should come some of the best gas mileage figures in the class. Its notable drawback is that the fuel economy comes at the expense of power—in some circumstances, there’s simply virtually enough oomph there to be competitive.

The CX-5's lines are typically Mazda, with expressive style, large wheel arches, and a rising window line. Up front, but, Mazda has thankfully ditched the grinning "smile" rummage around for a handsome trapezoidal grille shape. Inside, the planning is businesslike, with restrained silver trim and sporty red piping on the high-level leather seats.The car is sensitive to colours, though, with lighter shades accenting the height of its doors and darker tones creating it lower and sportier.

The 2013 Mazda CX-5 comes with solely a single engine, a brand new 155-hp 2.0-liter four offered with either a six-speed manual gearbox (in front-wheel drive only) or a six-speed automatic (which will be ordered with all-wheel drive further). The entire powertrain is tuned for maximum efficiency, as is the vehicle design, the primary Mazda to be completely designed underneath the company's SkyActiv philosophy of most efficiency from each element and feature.

The fuel potency is outstanding for a vehicle this size--EPA combined ratings are twenty eight mpg with all-wheel drive, 29 mpg for front drive--and we have a tendency to saw 27.4 mpg on a 350-mile road check of about two-thirds highway mileage. But the transmission is strongly biased toward low engine speeds, and to get performance out of it, drivers must accelerate hard and also the transmission typically should be downshifted not once however twice.

That said, we found the CX-5 to be merely the best handling crossover we tend to've driven. Mazda demonstrated its pride in the roadholding by inviting journalists to require the CX-5 around the notorious Laguna Seca racetrack, where it acquitted itself admirably. If you've return out of a sports sedan or a hot hatch and are moving up to a compact crossover, this is the one for you.

Inside, the seats are snug and well-bolstered up front, and there is masses of room in the rear seat for even six-foot adults. The load floor is long and flat, with a clever folding arrangement for the 40/20/40 split rear seat. And the CX-5 is quiet underneath most circumstances--though hard acceleration and engine revving bring out more engine noise than we have a tendency to'd expected.

The CX-five comes in 3 trim levels: Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring. The base Sport starts at $20,695 (plus a necessary $795 delivery fee), and the very best level Grand Touring with navigation and other choices runs just on top of $30,000--a sensible price against another competitors.

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5

 2013 Mazda CX5