SINGAPORE - This is the midlife update of the second-generation Mazda CX-5. The medium-sized, five-seater SUV with a 2.0-litre petrol engine is still only in its second generation.

The original CX-5 first appeared on sale in 2012, and that lasted five years until the next-gen model appeared in 2017. Now five years later the car has been given its customary midlife makeover. 

To keep the models relevant it’s customary for almost every carmaker to roll out a new version of a car around the midpoint of its lifecycle.

This helps with the perceived newness of the product in the eyes of potential customers, and for those in the know, it also signals that the car has reached the halfway point of its production. Depending on economies, budgets, and sales popularity, a car’s production life cycle usually runs from four to eight years. 

In the case of the Mazda CX-5, the changes are slight enough that the casual bystander will likely not notice much, but it does have reshaped front and rear bumpers, head and tail light units, and new wheel design options.

It comes in three trim levels, starting with the basic Elegance trim, then the mid-range Luxury trim and then the top-spec, arguably ungrammatical, Luxury Sports trim.

The car seen here is the Luxury Sports version, and for a S$15k extra over the Elegance trim you get daytime running lights, red front intake grille accents, ventilated front seats, hands-free electric hatch, heads-up display, steering wheel-mounted sequential shifter paddles, and a 10-speaker Bose audio system along with a bunch of other smaller details. 

The seats in the Luxury and Luxury Sports variants are also covered in genuine leather, while the Elegance trim gets synthetic leatherette upholstery. 

A 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine powers the car through a six-speed automatic transmission. Despite its high riding stance, which itself is a nice look in these days of SUVs going lower and lower, the CX-5 is just front wheel driven and so is not capable of any serious off road driving.

Actually, it’s not very fast in a straight line either. The 100km/h dash is cleared in a rather leisurely 10.3 seconds, but at least the overall ability of the chassis is quite accomplished through corners, and the car is quite fun to hustle around when momentum is maintained.

There’s no electric hybridisation of any sort in the powertrain. The new CX-5 is mechanically identical to the pre-facelift car and the 165 horsepower power output places this car into the pricier Category B COE space. Mazda trades on the fact that the engine uses high compression cylinders that operate at a ratio of 13:1, while most other internal combustion engines operate at much lower compressions.

The result is supposed to be a punchier midrange without the use of forced induction, while still returning pretty good fuel economy. A very reasonable 7.4L/100km is what we got after four days of driving and while the car’s chassis balance is sound and dynamic, the vocal engine buzz, typical of most Mazdas when driven hard, is a bit of an annoyance. 

The interior is a pleasant place to be in with soft touch surfaces at all contact points. It’s something that really lifts the feel of quality in the car, though the centre infotainment screen is a little small by current standards. It’s also a very monochrome kind of place to be in, with materials largely confined to blacks and grays.

Active safety systems fitted as standard include the usual traction control and anti-lock brakes, along with blind spot monitors and rear cross traffic alert. 

It’s reasonably spacious for five occupants, and is similar in size withe Nissan Qashqai, which we think is its most logical alternative. Other cars in the same size and price range include the Hyundai Tucson and also the Toyota RAV4.

The CX-5’s big marketing handicap is its lack of electrification, with not even a mild hybrid system plumbed to its powertrain. This does blunt its overall potential somewhat in Singapore, with rising petrol and COE prices really affecting people’s buying decisions.

Yet it is still an accomplished package, with good driving dynamics and a well-honed driving experience. It’s less of an appliance car than its competitors, and does look much more muscular than many of the competition, with Mazda’s bold design lines. 

Mazda CX-5 Luxury Sports

This article was first published CarBuyer.