Car and Driver - USA (2020-01)

36 10BEST FOR 2020 PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG PAJO ~ JANUARY 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER

The Mazda CX-5 isn’t perfect; it’s

just more perfect than everything

else its size.

“Lifestyle vehicle” has become an automotive

buzz phrase on the order of the tech industry’s

“internet of things” and the startup world’s

“growth hacking.” Like most marketing speak,

this phrase is essentially meaningless. Taking

your Fusion through the McDonald’s drive-

through every morning is just as much a lifestyle

as using a Jeep to rock crawl in Moab. But gen-

erally, the words are used to make vehicles like

the Mazda CX-5 (i.e., compact crossovers with

optional all-wheel drive, moder-

ate towing capacity, and a cargo

hold that’s bigger than the typical

trunk) seem more exciting.

When we say vehicles “like”

the CX-5, we are describing a fairly

loose association. Because even

though there are a dozen or more

vehicles on the market that check

the same basic boxes as the CX-5,

none are truly like it. Imagine

yourself as one of these lifestyle-

vehicle people in the ads: You’ve

got your car packed for a camping

Talking

the Talk

trip, and you stop at home to pick up your dog

before driving out of the city and onto winding

mountain roads for a weekend getaway. Sounds

perfect. Well, you’re driving a Nissan Rogue

Sport. Kind of disappointing, right? Now imag-

ine you’re in a CX-5. Yes. That’s much better.

Mazda’s continued commitment to building

classically attractive, luxuriously appointed,

satisfying-to-drive vehicles doesn’t stop when

a hatchback car becomes a high-roof crossover.

That ethos is just as apparent in the CX-5 and

CX-9 as it is in the Miata. And once you’ve driven

a CX-5, everything else in this class feels clumsy

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rate steering, a controlled ride, and a carefully

crafted interior, the Mazda compares favorably

with entr y-level models from lu x ur y brands like

BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

We’re not claiming that the CX-5 is perfect.

With its 187-hp 2.5-liter base engine, it takes a

leisurely 8.1 seconds to hit 60 mph, about as slow

as a mainstream car these days. A diesel CX-5 is

0.2 second slower than that and gets the same

EPA highway-fuel-economy estimate as the base

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version of the 2 .5-liter, which

adds some serious sportiness

and acceleration to your lifestyle.

However, the CX-5’s 31 cubic feet

of cargo space can’t stack up to

the 34 cubic feet in the recently

redesigned Ford Escape. But if it

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CX-5 might shine too brightly for

mere mortals to gaze upon. Think

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way of protecting us from being

wholly consumed by our own

perfect lifestyles. —Annie White

In a dull segment, it’s

refreshing to find a

vehicle that inspires

us to drive roads that

look like this one.