2016 Mazda CX-5: Car Seat Check
Mazda’s compact crossover is updated for 2016 with a revised grille outside along with more upscale cabin materials and a revised control layout inside. Accessible Latch anchors and enough backseat legroom made the CX-5 very accommodating to our car seats.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The CX-5’s two sets of outboard anchors are easy to access even though they’re not exposed.
- In both forward- and rear-facing mode the convertible installed easily and had enough room. We did not need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the seat in rear-facing mode. In forward mode, the CX-5’s three top tether anchors were easy to find.
- The middle position’s seat-belt strap comes out of the middle seatback, not the ceiling like some other compact crossovers.
What We Don’t
- Our infant seat installed easily, but we had to move the front seat forward to make room for it. Average sized passengers will still have enough knee room.
- The booster seat fit well but the seat-belt buckles sit low in the cushion, making it tough for kids to grasp.
A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn’t impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. Easy access to the third row.
B: Plenty of room. One fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing third row when available.
C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row when available.
D: Insufficient room. Two or more fit or connection issues.
F: Does not fit or is unsafe.
About Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks
Editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman are certified child safety seat installation technicians.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide Classic Connect 30 infant-safety seat, a Britax Marathon convertible seat and Graco TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant and convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger seat.
We also install the forward-facing convertible in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and infant seat in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit; a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. To learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks, go here.
Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.
