2013 Mazda CX-5 Pros and Cons at TrueDelta: Great CUV for road trips by ReManG

Handling

My CX5 still handles like it did over 22,000 miles ago. The steering is still spot on and the bumps and road issues are still handled by the suspension with aplomb.

Fuel economy

Outstanding, I am still meeting or beating the EPA standards for this vehicle with an automatic transmission. Over a 3500 mile road trip, the total (calculated) MPG was 31.3 for the entire trip, this was 2600 miles of interstate, and about 900 miles of city driving and touring. The speeds on the highway were 70-80 MPH for most of the interstate, so this seems to be above EPA speeds. Of course the mileage drops off above 70 mph, but cruising at 80 MPH in west Texas, the average (tank to tank) on the two tanks was 29.6 MPG. Most of this is because of the fact that the transmission is a help as well, the locking converter and six speeds allow for a good range of flexibility for the engine to run.

Audio & nav systems

The TomTom included navigation is not up to the rest of the vehicles standards. It is slow and laggy for inputs, has little flexibility and the home program does not allow you to preload any trips. Mazda should not include this system if they do not want this garbage to affect the feel of the rest of the vehicle.

Front seat support & comfort

Could use some more support on the front of the seats, the back seems to fully support me.

Tires

The stock tires wear quickly and are noisy.

Still so happy with this car, it has met my standards and I have not had any buyers regret over this purchase. All of the problems I have had are minor annoyances. In fact, your dealers service department will give you more headaches than the vehicle will, unless you have a competent service department.