Well I made a decision and ultimately went for a CX-5 Signature and couldn't be happier. The 30, while nice, just doesn't give the luxury and power of the CX-5. GTR or Signature, either way, wins over the highest trim of the CX-30.

 

Congrats. You'll love the CX-5.

 

Just picked up a pre-owned CX-5 Grand Touring, myself.

So far, fuel economy is right about at the EPA estimates (~29 mpg highway, and about 25 mpg city). Impressed by how darned zippy it can be in "Sport" mode. Fairly comfortable, quiet. Prior owner had a nice, professional tinting job done that's an improvement. Have been through a couple of snow days, so far, and it's got confident, reliable handling on slick roads. (Easily improved with proper snow+ice tires, of course.)

Like it a lot, so far.


@bobm , still enjoying your CX-5?

 

Funny you should ask because I have every intention of writing a review - good, bad and ugly - but actually there is nothing ugly about the CX-5 once I put some more miles on it, take it on a decent trip and maybe get some experience with snow. If I had to give 2 oversimplified impressions - one good and one bad it would be the very solid handling for the good and the very poor mpg - so far averaging ~ 22mpg in mixed driving for the bad.

 

That's something I've noticed as well. At least, in a tankful of driving that involves heavy city and stop-and-go driving. The acceleration from slow speeds seems to be a killer on MPG.

(Noticed much the same on a 2012 Mazda3 as well. Great overall fuel efficiency, so long as much steady-state speed is the norm. Such as modest driving on city streets, highway miles. But the moment most of a day's driving involves stop-and-go, fuel efficiency plummets. Same with the CX-5, from what I have experienced so far.)

I've seen as high as 33-34mpg average for long stints at a steady 60mph on the highway, but that drops quite a bit once there's a noticeable amount of speed change, hills. Seems to average about 28-30mpg with "highway" driving, for me. Has been as bad as ~19mpg for a mostly stop-and-go several hours. About what I'd expect, more or less. My own average (across many days) is somewhere around 26 to 26.5mpg, give or take; has been for several tanksful.

Would love to compare an effectively turbocharged equivalent Mazda. I know some of their models are now coming with turbo. If done right, they might well address much of the efficiency drops.

Look at the bright side, though. An early 2000s VW Passat V6 AWD that I once had got ~28mpg on the highway, 10-14mpg for heavy stop-and-go driving (on premium gas), and single-digit fuel efficiency if lead-footing it around urban streets for a hours. Lots of power and grip, and quite comfortable, but awful fuel efficiency when giving it the gas.

 

Well, I do have the turbo on my CX-5 and I am attributing some of the poor mileage to perhaps the engine needing time to break in. For the little I have driven it, it was some highway at very moderate speeds ~60-65mph. But the other part was not in heavy/city/stop and go traffic either - just day to day, home to she store in the suburbs. I can actually see that needle move when I take a 10 mile drive! And BTW, the CX-5 needs a larger gas tank - yeah I know that would add extra weight further reducing MPG. But this to work quite well on my Subaru's Outback and Crosstrek. I'm hoping to average way better than 22mpg in my mixed driving. As an aside, my 2017 Audi A4 Allroad I averaged around 30mpg in the same driving.

 

Ah. Strange, that it's not a bit better, then.

I hear you, on the Audi A4 AllRoad. They made a lot of great choices, on that platform. Not the most cost-effective maintenance regimen on those, nor on the VW Passat (which I used to have). But then, you know that about the Audis in general. Great cars. I considered the A4 and even the A3, when looking. (Even went to the Alfa dealer a couple of times, checking out the Stelvio. Boy, those were hard to say 'no' to.)


Definitely does. Had been hoping for ~18gal or so, given the increased size over the smaller sedans. But then, Mazda's definitely got in its DNA a desire to keep unneeded weight down, keep handling up, etc. Would prefer a ~450-500mi range instead of ~340mi, myself.

 

I would have to say that my 17 Allroad was the best car/SUV I ever owned and that includes Q5's. Lexus 350 and a 2016 Porsche Macan S. Maybe I let the out of warranty (potential) costs color/affect my decision to trade it in. I like my CX-5 but sometimes I question my decision to give the AR up.