2017 Mazda CX-5: Class leader raises the bar

The first-gen CX-5 departs with rock star status. No need for tears – a replacement with an all-new body and interior, and more cargo space, refinement and technology seems set to also top the charts.

PARKING the latest CX-5 alongside its outgoing predecessor is an interesting experience – they’re different, just not as different as you might think.

I suspect that strong sense of familiarity will hang over the driving experience. As well it should. After all, the engines, six-speed automatic gearbox and around half of its componentry are carried forward.

This isn’t so much Mazda being reluctant to change; more a case of not wanting to hex a good thing.

Mazda is on a roll, but CX-5 has been especially good for the Hiroshima outfit. Locally as internationally, the first gen launched with a roar in 2012 and promptly set out to beat all in-house volume predictions.

Here it swiftly bumped Mazda6 from local market dominance and ithin three months of coming on sale was attracting an order count far above the forecast 160 units per month. It departs as Mazda NZ’s monthly best seller 39 on occasions and as the country’s favourite mid-sized SUV (when rental counts are excluded, otherwise it’s the Toyota RAV4).

It’s been just as hot internationally, something programme manager Masaya Kodama admits took HQ by surprise. No-one then anticipated SUVs being the next big thing, but in hindsight the timing was perfect. Analysis suggesting a 150,000-unit annual global build run was quickly proved laughable. Of the 1.5 million vehicles Mazda made in 2016, around 370,000 were CX-5s – coincidentally, the firm also knocked out 1.5 million CX-5s during its production span.

And gone so soon? Most product cycles run seven years, but for Mazda it’s five, hence why there’s a now new one. Kodama and his 500-strong team had a relatively straightforward remit: Build on the previous car’s many strengths polish out its relatively few shortcomings and, above all else, keep to the overall winning recipe. No pressure then.

Priority requirements were to bring styling up to speed and achieve better refinement, safety and comfort. Mission accomplished? Two days driving the mid-level GSX and top Limited suggest Mazda has another winner on its hands.

All the same, don’t expect revolution.

Fact is, while the gen two car delivers an all-new body – taking clear cues from the larger CX-9 - and interior, and more cargo space, refinement and technology, it is not all new.

The four-cylinder powertrains are largely unchanged - effort has been aimed at making the 2.5-litre petrol unit quieter and the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel smoother and official fuel consumption increases by up to half a litre per 100km (although Mazda claims all models are more efficient in the real world) – but, overall, operational aspects are unaltered, as are outputs.

The six-speed automatic is also only modestly refined, with minor ratio changes being the main alteration. Save for tune, suspension and electric steering are unchanged. A lot of other components are simply carried over.

Don’t be disappointed. Fact is, there was no need for a clean sheet. It already hit the sweet spot in terms of size, price, economy, performance, dynamics and technology. This new generation largely nails the few criticisms that the outgoing one had to carry; chiefly a lack of refinement in terms of engine, road and wind noise.

The ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix’ approach reflects in it being around the same size as the outgoing car, still provisioning in GLX, GSX and Limited specifications and why the pricing represents an average increase of just $700, meaning it now sites from $39,995 to $57,495.

Keeping the drivetrain potentially isn’t just prudence and cost-saving. With those engines, a pair of petrols - a 2.0-litre for the GLX, 2.5 for the higher grades, the first front-drive only, latter powering in front or four-wheel-drive – and a 2.2 diesel that only runs in all-wheel-drive format, it might simply be all a matter of timing.

Kodama won’t say how much longer they’ll remain in service, but suggests second generation SkyActiv powertrains will be in commission next year. Also, of course, there’s clearly good chance the stonking 2.5-litre turbo petrol that performs so brilliantly in the CX-9 has to be a starter, sooner or later.

The addition of more safety and convenience equipment and more sound insulation, and the car also being slightly longer and stiffer means it is also heavier - on average kerb weight has increased by around 40kg. How the 2.0-litre feels about this remains unknown; none were on the launch. But the 2.5 and 2.2 don’t seem to sweat it.

Mazda is resistant to fully autonomous cars, suggesting ‘hands-off’ jars with its intent to keep an ingredient of driver fun, but it has stepped up the suite of active safety technology – dubbed i-Activsense – that is classed as ‘level one’ autonomy. 

All variants get a rear-view camera, rear sensors and autonomous emergency braking, which is now capable of also detecting pedestrians (between 10-60kmh) as well as vehicles (4-80kmh).

The Limited has Mazda radar cruise control with full stop and go functionality, traffic sign recognition, lane departure and lane-keep assistance systems as well as side camera and smart brake support. What Mazda needs to do, now, is upgrade our road markings; on our drive, the lane-keep struggled and occasionally gave up entirely.

The cabin now feels far more premium than its predecessor. The tablet style 7.0-inch infotainment screen is more logically located and it and the switchgear could have been lifted from an elite Euro; so too some of the soft touch surfaces that are a big improvement over the outgoing car’s hard black plastics. Finish of all cabin surfaces is exceptionally good, in fact. 

The one big disappointment for me is that it still lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Kodama says the challenge of integrating these functions into Mazda’s bespoke MZD Connect infotainment suite continues to challenge the company’s software engineers. But they’ve almost cracked it, he assures. “We will have it.”

That’s good news, because it is a car in which good sounds can easily be heard through bad ones – that’s road, engine and wind noise – having been largely expunged; the diesel in particular is extraordinarily refined. There is more sound deadening everywhere, including acoustic glass in the front-side windows (another CX-9 trick) and more door (and door handling) sealing to eliminate as much wind noise as possible.

Yes, there's still some tyre roar, most notably from those Limited-level 19-inch wheels, which deliver a firm ride on broken seal and mid-corner lumps, but it has to be said that the diesel flagship nonetheless remained so quiet at all roads speeds that it has potentially reset the class benchmark.

Speaking of .. chassis dynamics have always been a CX-5 highlight and rest assured it hasn’t lost the sporty edge that emphasises the sincere if quirky Mazda ‘horse and rider’ credo.

That all versions come with G-Vectoring Control (GVC), which that delivers unified control over steering and chassis systems by finely controlling engine torque based on steering and acceleration inputs, isn’t an effort to disguise any dynamic flaws.

Also now standard to the CX-3, GVC is hard not to like. It evidences more coherently in the CX-5 than the Mazda3, perhaps because of the extra weight but also the higher centre of gravity. It’s impressive how the car, when pushed hard through a bend, seems to find ability to pull itself into an apex, rather than wash out.

This car doesn’t just rely on electronic means to handle well. There is a load of grip at all times and it has a nice balanced feel.

Petrol engines are picking the sales pace in this category but, in this car, I’d still go for the diesel; it’s such a fantastically smooth and muscular performer, with almost petrol-like pick up but less vocal even when pushed. And it works extremely well with an automatic that, despite showing its age on paper, remains hard to fault. To me, a diesel Limited in the new hero colour, Soul Red Crystal, is the perfect CX-5.

Mazda NZ reckons this year it will sell more than 3000 – a first for any car it has sold here. I’d say it’ll be a cinch for a car that, despite not being a rebirth, nonetheless feels completely reborn.

Subaru Impreza: Starting at bottom a top choice

The new-generation of the baby of the Subaru range is set to beat up showroom siblings that gave its forebear a hard time.

SELLING the previous Impreza came with one challenge – keeping from falling victim to others on the same platform within the Subaru family.

Sometimes a customer would come in with intent to purchase the cheapest car that Subaru offers, only to end up forking out a bit more so as to drive away in an XV or Forester crossover.

Making this admission today in unveiling the latest Impreza, two months ahead of its public sale, Subaru New Zealand admitted it only had itself to blame, though for the best of reasons.

With the country in the grip of strong desire for anything with a high ride height, those rock hoppers pretty much sold themselves. And if a customer suddenly decided he or she might prefer a product better-suited to mucking in than its entry road car, then what else could a brand renowned for being a speciality producer of terrain-tuned product do but oblige?

So far, so spectacularly good … soft roaders have certainly gone hard out for Subaru NZ. With overall volume running 15 percent ahead of last year, the brand is heading toward resetting its annual volume in New Zealand to a new high, with one car in particular leading the way.

That’s the Outback. Of the 2300 registrations Subaru has accrued so far, no fewer than 50 percent have gone to the big wagon. Outback has not only been high priority but high profile: Most of the advertising spend has gone into promoting it. They’ve just won a marketing award for that effort and, better still, Outback is now established as one of the country’s top SUV choices. The XV and Forester are also achieving higher year-on-year counts.

So who needs road-bound product anyway? Actually, Subaru NZ still does.

Sales and marketing manager Wayne McClennan reminds that the tarmac-tuned Legacy sedan and Levorg sports wagon have also been firing up enthusiasm. Pitched as an alternate to those exiting rear-drive big Aussie sedans, the first has so doubled its count last year, with 180 sold, while the other has exceeded the combined Legacy GT and WRX count for 2015.

Says McClennan: “There’s definitely a percentage of the car-buying population that doesn’t want SUVs. We know that, because they phone us,” he says, referring to when the public learned the old Legacy wagon was dropped last year. “We had people saying ‘we don’t want an SUV and asking what are you going to supply us with?”

That desire to stay in a passenger car drives continuing commitment to the Impreza as an entry choice. Another reason? The compact category in a nameplate dating back to 1992 competes is worth 20,000 sales a year, enough to make it the single largest new car category, McClennan says unless all the SUV categories are counted as one. Then the bigfoots get ahead by 10,000 units. Nonetheless “there are a lot of people out there who want passenger cars.”

True, it’s a tricky place to be, because it’s a sector where fleets snap up a far greater percentage of sales than families and is also dominated by one car, Toyota’s Corolla, which rivals – Subaru included – suggest has bullied it way to a dominant 4000 units a year through aggressive discounting.

That’s not Subaru’s style. Once again they want to steer clear of that kind of biff and bash and instead focus on the private sector.

At the same token, and again as before, they’re treading cautiously, with just one variant coming in, a hatchback that has been plucked from a fulsome family - all with an updated 2.0-litre naturally aspirated ‘boxer’ four-cylinder petrol with 115kW of power (up 5kW) and 196Nm of torque (unchanged), all-wheel-drive and Lineartronic constantly variable transmission - that hits the Australian market. (The Aussie and Kiwi distributors have worked together for common good for some years. Subaru is a small brand and this is the best way to ensure reasonable supply).

Across the Tasman they also have a sedan (no demand here) and no less than five trim levels. Ours is a mid-level trim on our neighbour’s patch. It has Bluetooth, reversing camera, climate air and a new infotainment setup also now allows this car to be the first Subaru provisioned with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Also provided is the EyeSight driver assistance and safety system, now with autonomous braking, plus an 8.0-inch touchscreen, updated driver information display, dual-zone climate-control air-conditioning, a leather-clad steering wheel/gear selector, upgraded cloth trim, electric-folding mirrors, front foglights with integrated daytime running lights.

The Auckland mob could have trimmed more extravagantly: Australia has higher-end versions. The next model up from ours adds an electric sunroof and in-built satellite navigation (rather than the phone-tethered system on our model) and 18-inch alloys rather than 17s. Then there’s a flagship with the full safety package of blind spot monitoring, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert and an active torque vectoring system, plus light-sensitive LED headlights with directional beam, automatic wipers, heated front seats/mirrors, leather upholstery, electrically adjustable driver’s seat and extra exterior side-skirt trim.

Are we being short-changed by not having all the goods or more models? In one way, it seems a pity that just one version of the car that debuts a brand’s new global platform which will underpin every new Subaru across the next 10 years and is the first new global platform since the Legacy was launched in 1989.

McClennan says it’s not beyond possibility that SNZ might still be able to provision our neighbour’s flagship as a limited edition here, but he reminds that the key to moving Impreza is a sharp price. The old car placed handily at $29,990 when most rivals cost over $30k.

What now? Subaru NZ boss Wal Dumper plans to keep us all guessing. He says the sticker won’t be announced until February 1.

Conceivably, a price increase is unavoidable. It now has the EyeSight accident avoidance technology in its third generation (with ability to recognise pedestrians and when traffic ahead of you has moved off from a standing start) and is also almost all – they say 95 percent, but that counts the drivetrain as being considered a wholly fresh thing (which it kinda isn’t) -  new, a bit bigger and very much improved in terms of fit and finish. The driving dynamics are better as well.

In that respect, it’s in a much better position to hold its ground against the XV and Forester that have proven so pesky in the past, though not forever. The next model to use this latest platform is the new XV, which will be rolled out internationally very soon, though it won’t get here until late 2017. Forester will come after that, presumably in 2018. Then the next-gen Legacy and Outback and Levorg.

Judging Impreza’s chances in this highly-competitive zone is too hard without knowing the dollars, but those owners of the current Impreza are going to be impressed nonetheless, not least with the massive step up in interior quality. If you told me that the bulk of the development budget went into finessing the cabin, I wouldn’t be surprised.

The transformation is massive; the level of attention much better than seen previously. Forget cheap and nasty; the hard, scratchy plastic that quite obviously blighted the outgoing car are all but gone. Instead, you’re looking at a cabin of much higher quality. Stitched edges on the centre console, a thick-rimmed steering wheel, nicely-weighted switches and knobs and, yay, a better-sorted touch screen that looks smarter and doesn’t seem to be zonked out by direct sunlight. I thought the interior of my favourite Subaru, the Outback, was terrific, but this is better still.

The driving position is also good – reach and rake adjust on the steering column and a chunky chair with decent bolstering – and, though the rear seat squab is a bit flat, this Impreza also offers something that was barely available in the old car: Decent head and leg room when there’s a tall driver. The cabin also feels wider than a 35mm improvement in that dimension suggests.

Just on the strength of this interior ambience, you can see why Subaru are suggesting this car can now be considered against the Mazda3 and VW Golf. It certainly puts the boot into the Corolla, the Honda Civic, Hyundai i30 and Kia Cerato.

Stepping back, how about the exterior styling? That’s a bit different, but also heading in a better direction. The new headlights give the front of the car a real hawk-like look shared with Levorg. Some have suggested that in profile especially, it looks a little bit like a Peugeot 308. Hmmm. The Subaru, to me, looks more aggressive and less plump. Maybe it’s that crease line running along the flank. Intended to mimic the sort of flourish you see in Japanese calligraphy, it’s a simple but effective signature.

The new engine is not that different to the old one – just maybe a little bit stronger for mid-range torque and quieter. There didn’t seem to be a huge amount of grunt, but the car we drove was basically brand new – and boxer engines are never at their best in that state.

Of more interest, then, was the CVT. Subaru does gearless transmissions better than any other brand but, well, a CVT is still a CVT. Meaning it’s generally not like a decent direct-shift gearbox or a sporty automatic.

Still, it’s a step forward that this one now mimics the unit in the WRX and Levorg by offering a stepped speed control and a seven-speed manual mode. It’s not the same transmission, but is smooth and responsive, not least when you’re employing the paddle shifter. Also new to this car is a stop-start system.

Subaru apparently benchmarked this car against the Golf, with intent to out-handle the German barometer. I’m not sure if it has done that, though on the winding roads around the Clevedon area it felt very confident.

The new platform certainly feels a lot more rigid. They say the suspension has been fixed more rigidly to the body (via new mounting points) to reduce body flex in hard cornering situations while the centre of gravity is 5mm lower than before. That translates to reduced body roll and excellent body control during direction changes, whole the steering has a meatiness and accuracy that is quite unlike the usual AWD experience. But not that different to a certain German one.

Overall? If the price is right – and Dumper assures it will be – then this car could do very well indeed. For the next year, at least, it’ll be the Forester and XV that will be looking nervous.