2014 Mazda CX-5 2.5 First Drive
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,316
2014 Mazda CX-5 2.5 First Drive
The 2014 Mazda CX-5 now offers a more powerful four-cylinder engine that cures one of its biggest flaws. We take it for a test-drive.
0
Comments
My Protege has the manual and the goodies and I expect the same for my next Mazda......if I get a Mazda....
It
The problem with really small sporty crossovers is that they're basically raised hatchbacks and you lose much of the utility they provide as they get really small (vs a sedan with folding rear seats) and below a certain size crossover you may be better off with a larger class sedan. Unless you are always carrying large boxes, of course. Even the best handling crossovers are only average compared to a nice handling sedan. I own a crossover with sporting pretensions and would rather have the wagon version which is not available here.
I also think that getting 29 more horsepower and 35 more lb/ft of torque is a more than fair trade for 1-2 MPG loss estimates. In fact, it's hard to justify the 2.0 with that tradeoff. They should offer the 2.5 as standard, and the diesel as the power and fuel economy upgrade.
Manufacturers, if you're only going to offer 1 trim level of a car with a manual, make it with the most powerful engine and a decent number of options at a minimum including Bluetooth, satellite radio, and leather seats.
There are so many reasons I purchase manual and fuel economy is not the main one. I prefer to be able to work around poor weather drivers and have more control over the timing of gear shift doing so. If there were tan interiors other options available to me even in the smaller cars I would have been exceptionally happy. I did settle on the CX5, but with the boring choices available to me it did feel like settling when what I want is a manual with the touring options.