Mazda has ripped the silks off the new Mazda CX-5. It’s an all-new car and is longer, wider and sits on a bigger wheelbase. Paul Maric runs you through EVERYTHING we know so far about the new Mazda CX-5.
Read all the details HERE: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2026-mazda-cx-5-brings-fresher-styling-familiar-engine-but-no-hybrid-yet
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior design: 00:30
Rear interior: 04:11
Interior: 05:42
Engine Specs: 09:59
Verdict: 10:56
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
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#mazda #cx5 #review
Read all the details HERE: https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/2026-mazda-cx-5-brings-fresher-styling-familiar-engine-but-no-hybrid-yet
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior design: 00:30
Rear interior: 04:11
Interior: 05:42
Engine Specs: 09:59
Verdict: 10:56
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
#mazda #cx5 #review
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00G'day, I'm Paul. Mazda has just taken the wraps off the new CX-5. It's the third generation of
00:05this car. Today, I'm going to walk you through all of the information on the car that we have
00:09so far, some details on the powertrain, some of the interesting features that have fitted to this
00:13and the way that it has changed in terms of size. Now, apologies, I'm shooting this in my hotel room
00:18because I'm on holiday. I didn't want to be filming anything on holiday, but Mazda decided
00:22to drop this. So this is going to be pretty low rent, but I'll give you everything you need to
00:26know. Now, ahead of me here, I've got my laptop with all the details. So let's kick off with the
00:30design. So third generation of this car, they've sold over 4 million of these globally. So it's
00:35been a massive thing for Mazda. Now, you could be mistaken for thinking that this is in fact the
00:39old car. It carries over that sole red color here for the Hero vehicle. The design hasn't really
00:45changed a great deal at the front. So the headlights have changed a little bit. They've extended that
00:49profile. You've got those LED daytime running lights there. Headlight washer there as well.
00:53So it means that these are going to be pretty powerful headlights. They require headlight
00:57washers for certain lumen outputs for headlights. So that's fitted here, which means they should be
01:02pretty decent. This bit on the side is interesting. So it kind of looks like someone's run into
01:08something and they've just not fixed it. But this is a design element. So instead of putting a fog
01:12light down there, they've kind of got this chiseled section with this fold and it's a design element
01:19of some sort. Closer on the grille there, you can also see they've gone down the path of fitting
01:24like a brushed chrome around the bottom section of that grille. And then the front of the bonnet
01:30tapers off a little bit there as well, which we've seen on vehicles like the previous generation CX-9,
01:35where it sort of cuts off at the front there with that waterfall design. Look, I think it is a pretty
01:39decent looking vehicle. That's the thing. Mazda on the design front typically does a pretty good job
01:45on the outside of their cars. And this is certainly no exception to that. Some of the front wheel arches
01:49there, black colour there with a little raised section on that top part. Then on the door as
01:53well, you can see another one of those folds and that chisely element. One of the things that you
01:57notice with stuff like the Mazda 3, when you look at the side profile, it kind of, it's weird because
02:02of that, the lack of folds on the door, it kind of looks weird when the sun bounces off it. And in
02:08this aspect here as well, I think it's going to be the same thing, but that fold down the front
02:13section of the door there is perhaps going to break things up a bit and just give it a bit more
02:16of a stylistic edge to it. Around the back, so a big change there in terms of the way those
02:22taillights are presented. They sort of flick up along the side there and carry along the back
02:27of the vehicle. More of that wheel arch cladding around the rear wheels. Twin exhaust pipes there
02:32with the parking sensors integrated. Piano black. Designers in general love piano black inside a car
02:38and now they're starting to fit it outside a car. And it's like, guys, can you please stop at the
02:41piano black? You've got those LED elements in there. It looks like a full LED taillight, which
02:46is good. Individual Mazda lettering on the back there too, so you can see that on the tailgate
02:50and then Skyactiv badge there as well. Aside from that, the back all looks pretty straightforward.
02:58Dimensions of the car have changed too. Now, they've increased in terms of basically every
03:04measure of this. Now, the reason those things are really important is because Mazda CX-5 was one of
03:09the smallest medium SUVs in the segment. Really lack that leg room in the second row and it felt
03:14just a bit cramped, especially if you were loading kids in and doing stuff like that.
03:18So, extending the wheelbase means that they're going to have that extra leg room in the second
03:21row. You can actually fit things in there. Getting kids in and out is going to be easier. Elderly people
03:26as well without sort of compromising too much in terms of the space there. So, by making the vehicle
03:31longer, wheelbase longer and then wider, it's going to mean more interior space for things like knee room
03:36and head room as well. So, from the side profile there, it looks very much like a CX-5. It is
03:41interesting to see the boot though. So, I'll run you through the boot specs in just a second, but
03:45that rear wheel sits so far to the back of the car. So, you can see by extending that wheelbase by
03:51that 70-odd mil, they really have pushed that rear wheel back quite a bit and it does look kind of
03:56strange from this angle. It doesn't look like you have a huge boot, but according to Mazda, the boot is
04:00bigger. So, all right, we'll jump over to the rear of the car there. So, again, twin exhaust pipes
04:06there and then the front on profile shot there as well. Quite a handsome looking car. Now, I want to
04:11talk about the extra space inside the cabin. Here it is here. You can see there that the door aperture
04:15has changed. So, Mazda talks about increasing the amount of space there you have to get people in
04:20and out of the vehicle. So, that is this whole frame here. It increases in terms of size and then
04:26that means you're able to load people in easier. The door also appears to open at a wider angle as well.
04:32That's one of the things Subaru did really well with the Forester. The door opens at around 90
04:36degrees or just under 90 degrees and it means that if you are putting a baby seat in or trying to get
04:40things in and out of that second row, it is far easier to do that without having to compromise in
04:44terms of getting stuff in and out of the car. They've also talked about the boot as well being
04:49deeper. So, you can see here in this portion of the video, the boot sits deeper. The rear seats
04:54also recline and they've now also gone down the path of a 40-20-40 split folding configuration for
05:00the second row and it means that when you are loading things in, so you can see that split
05:04folding work here. It means that when you are loading things in, you can have that centre
05:08sort of ski port available to load longer items in. So, you can see here that the actor is going to
05:13feed something through there and it means that you do have a bit more flexibility in terms of the
05:16space there. So, definitely good news on all those fronts. Bigger in every regard. Let's jump inside
05:22the cabin though. This is a huge departure from where Mazda was previously. So, while we don't have
05:26literage yet for the cargo space, they have spoken about 50mm longer in terms of depth and a drop in lift
05:33height. So, that is the height of the lip when you're loading things into the vehicle. Not exactly
05:36a huge amount, but it is going to mean a bigger cargo space for your things. Now, have a look at
05:40this interior. So, an enormous 15 plus inch display in the centre there. Now, it is interesting,
05:47Mazda was big on individual buttons for things like climate control and critical elements inside
05:52the cabin. They have all gone. So, a lot of these buttons are now integrated into the screen.
05:57So, you can see here that climate controls are here on the screen. All of the critical menu items are on
06:02the screen. So, that is a bit disappointing because people just always seem to complain
06:07about a lack of physical buttons. And this is kind of the extreme in the opposite direction where all
06:13of the physical buttons are integrated onto the screen there. And it is a big screen as well.
06:17Mazda used to be one of those companies that just integrated smaller screens into their cars and
06:21they've now followed that trend of just fitting these enormous screens in there because I guess that's
06:25what people want. But just on the basics here, you can see they've retained AM radio. This is
06:29something that seems to be disappearing from a lot of cars recently. This could also just all be
06:34Photoshopped, but it says AM there twice. Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, all stuff that obviously has
06:39been in Mazdas before. Hopefully, all touchscreen functionality now as well. I can't see a rotary
06:43dial there anywhere. So, it means that everything will now be driven through that touchscreen.
06:48And it also looks like they've actually integrated apps into here as well. So, down here, there's a Play Store
06:52button and then a Maps button too. So, there's a chance here that you'll be able to load your own apps
06:56and have a bit more interactivity there with that infotainment system. That'll be exciting to see
07:02how that works. Now, there is a little glimpse here as well of the steering wheel. What you can
07:06see there on the steering wheel, that has all totally changed there in terms of the buttons.
07:09They sit quite flush with the wheel there and these centre buttons here sort of depress in,
07:14whereas these all appear to be sort of those roller joystick style buttons. And they've integrated
07:20their phone. What else have we got there? Button there for the camera, the steering assistance.
07:24They're talking big talk here about ADAS functions. They haven't specifically talked about it in the
07:30launch because it will come at a later date, but I suspect this is going to have some kind of a level
07:35two semi-autonomous driving system and perhaps a bit more focus on some of those ADAS functions.
07:40Again, these things are some of the most frustrating features that manufacturers fit to cars these days.
07:45So, I'm hoping that Mazda has tuned it correctly and we're not going to find that this is a system that
07:49just beeps and bongs at you constantly when you take your eyes off the road for a second,
07:53because that stuff is incredibly frustrating and very distracting as well, ironically.
07:58There's a screen in the background there as well. So, again, stuff we've seen on Mazda products
08:01before, nothing sort of overly revolutionary there. Now, further to that as well with the interior,
08:06they've spoken about ambient lighting specifically for the front portions of the car here, nothing for
08:11the second row, but it should just introduce a bit more sort of comfort inside the cabin there and
08:16just give it that airy feel. You can see here they've gone with a lighter colour on the roof there,
08:19availability of lighter coloured seats as well and decent storage too. So, centre console lid just
08:25there with storage down the front there as well and then a traditional gear lever. So, nothing sort
08:29of too crazy or out of the ordinary there. Notice as well on the roof there, they have a glass panoramic
08:36roof. So, previously with CX-5, you only had the availability of a sunroof, whereas now you've got a
08:41panoramic opening sunroof. And then there is a shot here as well with one of the kids in the second row
08:46where they're accessing USB-C charging ports. And just adjacent to that as well, where that kid's
08:52hand is, you can see their heated seats for the second row and air vents as well. They do also
08:57have quite a funny shot here. Well, not a funny shot, but a very optimistic marketing shot of a very
09:03small lady in the second row there where they talk about being enough room for adults to cross their
09:09legs. I reckon if I got in the second row there, there wouldn't be a great deal of leg crossing. So,
09:13yeah, it does look like it is a wider and more open space, but I wouldn't expect miracles there
09:20in terms of how much they can actually cram inside the cabin. We're going to put on the screen here
09:25a comparison between the new CX-5 and some of the other vehicles on the market in terms of their
09:30dimensions and how much size they're able to cram into the packaging for a medium SUV. You've got to
09:36remember as well that Mazda has really complicated things with CX-5, CX-60, 70, 80, 90. There are
09:44just so many different cars there and it is really confusing to understand which one is which. There's
09:49even a CX-50, which we don't get in Australia. So, just getting your head around all of this,
09:53even for consumers, is quite confusing. Let's talk about engines. So, this is probably the bit that
09:59surprised me the most and not so much in a good way. So, Mazda talks about the all-new CX-5 launching
10:05with a two and a half litre Skyactiv-G four-cylinder engine, which produces 132 kilowatts of power and
10:12242 newton metres of torque. So, not exactly a huge amount of power and torque. It is an engine that is
10:19familiar to the Mazda range, but being a naturally aspirated petrol engine, it is going to be a bit of
10:25a screamer, made it to a six-speed automatic transmission. Hopefully, this is going to be a
10:30different gearbox to the one that Mazda developed in-house for some of their bigger products because
10:34that gearbox has been a bit of a letdown. So, hopefully, this is a gearbox that they are going
10:38to just carry over from the current generation car. But they are talking about all-wheel drive
10:42there, two and a half litre powertrain. So, yeah, look, it'll be interesting to see how that
10:47sort of pans out. It's not exactly the world's most engaging engine, but knowing Mazda, they'll probably
10:53pull a couple of tricks out of their sleeve there as well. So, at this stage, that is all the
10:57information we have. We do know that it'll be launched in Australia in 2026, and we typically
11:02get these cars pretty quickly. So, that should mean for the international market that this car will go
11:07on sale later in 2025 or early 2026. I'm keen to have a drive for it, keen to have a poke around the
11:13cabin. Mazdas typically have felt really nice inside, but with the price direction some of the Mazda
11:17products have gone with the introduction of six-cylinder drivetrains, it is going to probably mean
11:22that this will hike up in price. And with the influx of Chinese market cars, it'll be interesting
11:27to see how Mazda combats that. This doesn't seem to have any groundbreaking technology or features,
11:31so they can't exactly go and just jack up the price for no reason. So, they're going to have to be
11:35very considered in their approach and how they manage this. So, anyway, let me know your thoughts
11:40on the new CX-5 in the comments section below. Do you like the look of it? Do you think they have
11:44done a good job, or do you think they could have done better? What do you think about the drivetrain as
11:48well? And where do you think the pricing is going to land? Again, sorry about this super sort of self-shot
11:52random video in my hotel room, but I thought I'd get this out as quick as I could. If you did enjoy
11:58this video, please make sure you like it and you share it with your mates. But until next time,
12:01take it easy.
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