Video: 2025 Mazda CX-5 Review: The Sporting Choice

If you're looking for something that is entertaining to drive on your commute, really you can't do better than this thing. The handling is fantastic. It's neutral, it's balanced, it feels centered around the driver. The inputs in terms of steering feel, in terms of ride quality and acceleration, the thing is making a ton of power because we use the optional premium fuel that it says you can use, and it'll make more power. Overall, it's definitely the most fun to drive out of this group. Absolutely. When we wrapped filming at the end of our time in Texas, I made a point to take this home and get one last drive on the winding roads near our hotel because it really is that much fun. It's just not that fun to use. Yeah, that's been a common issue with Mazdas, is that great to drive, not great to use, and it all centers around the multimedia system. Yeah, it can be a touchscreen in very, very limited circumstances, and it feels unsafe when it's not being used as a touchscreen, especially if you're using something like Apple CarPlay. Now you have to rely on this weird knob controller that feels like a bad clone of BMW's iDrive system. And for me, when I was driving, I had a podcast end. There were no more podcasts, and I cannot drive in silence, and I had to use the controller, and I was just lost. I think I slowed down maybe 10 or 15 miles an hour. I was probably wandering in the lane. It's just not safe. And it's really funny because the climate control panel is, you know, touch button, like there's just buttons. Yeah, the idea that Mazda has is that it's too distracting to actually use your multimedia system while you're driving. So they require you to use this remote system that's like operating a laptop as you're driving down the highway. And I think a lot of automakers have figured out that this is not the best way to do it. If I see a thing on the screen, I wanna beep touch it and have it happen. That is the least distracting way of making anything happen in these cars. And Mazda resolutely refuses to join the modern era in doing that kind of thing. So a lot of these companies will use voice controls as a backup if the things are a little too complicated. And the voice controls didn't do what we wanted 'em to do either. I had a similar situation to you where I wanted to change the satellite radio station, and it didn't work, and it gave me something completely different. And so again, I'm driving in silence because I can't get the multimedia system to do what I want it to do while I'm driving. So that really hurt it in our scoring. It lost in our vehicle user interface, but it did better in interior quality. It was competitive in that category, and this was the signature trim level. So had a pretty nice interior. Yeah, that's one thing Mazda's been trying to do in recent years is go a little bit more upscale, and it does show in terms of the interior material quality, the shapes, the designs, the fit and finish. It does feel like a premium vehicle. It's just that, you know, it's great to drive, not great to use, and that's become a problem. Yeah, and if you want to use that backseat, it's even worse because it is just cramped. There's, you have to negotiate with front seat occupants if you wanna sit in the backseat at all if you're an adult. It's just not roomy. Yeah, so putting two people in the back backseat means you have four people in the vehicle that are uncomfortable. Yeah, one of the comments was it's a gilded closet, kind of speaking to that really nice material quality throughout the interior, but just that lack of space in the compact SUV class where this is a vehicle that a lot of families use, that was a big detriment to the CX-5 in one of the areas where it lost. And the packaging in the backseat is also a little goofy because the USB ports and the heated seat controls are in the foldout armrest in the center, so if you have someone sitting in the middle, you don't have those features anymore. The focus is squarely on the driver in the CX-5, which led all other SUVs in most of our driving-related tests. However, the CX-5's shortcomings are apparent in other areas where compact SUVs need to do well, like user interface, passenger space, comfort, visibility, and fuel efficiency. To see the full results for our comparison test, visit cars.com/news.