Going Upscale: The 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature AWD

The 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature AWD.

The Mazda CX-5 has long been a favorite of ours here at TireKicker.  Our last review, two years ago, amounted to raves, and if you'll follow the links in that piece, you'll find the story of how it won our hearts in the spring of 2015 with a jam-packed long weekend trip to Southern California and back packed with people (including two teenage girls---my stepdaughters) and their things.

Even Better: The 2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD

The 2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring.

One of the surest ways into my heart is to be a good travel companion.  I've married the best human one I know, and in terms of vehicles, the Mazda CX-5 is certainly on the list.

It earned its place two years ago, when Mrs. TireKicker (known at the time as Navigator) and I took her two daughters to Southern California for a few days of fun and sun, museums and observatories, a legendary restaurant, a then-endangered coffee shop and an Iranian ice cream parlor...oh yeah, and 16 hours at Disneyland.  And our ride for those four jam-packed days was the then-new 2016 Mazda CX-5.

UPDATED: What I Drove On My Spring Vacation: The 2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring

The 2016 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring.

Regular TireKicker readers know we love roadtrips.  Anytime I can get behind the wheel with Navigator sitting to my right is a good time. The grandaddy of them all (so far) was 2014's eight-day, 1,800 mile camping trip through Nevada and Utah. Our just-concluded Spring Break trip is a close second...five days and 1,100 miles.  We had the one-size-larger Kia Sorento for the summer trip, which was only two people, but included a tent, firewood and food and supplies for the entire eight days.

This time, it was four people, three of them female (Navigator and her two daughters). We'd be sleeping on the sofa and in sleeping bags at a friend's apartment in Santa Monica, so we could skip the tent and the firewood, but there's still five days of clothing for four people, sleeping bags, pillows, an air mattress and road food for a 20-year-old and a 15-year-old, which is a lot more boxes and bags of profoundly unhealthy things than you can imagine...plus whatever would be picked up along the way and brought back to Folsom.

Why The 2015 Mazda CX-5 Keeps Its Crown

The 2015 Mazda CX-5.

There are very few constants in life. One of them, at least for the nearly six years of TireKicker's existence (and the 11 years as an automotive journalist before I founded it) is:  Mazda doesn't make bad cars.  In fact, they usually make cars that are arguably better and more involving for a driver than everything else in their class. Mazda 2, Mazda 3, Mazda 6, MX-5 Miata, the CX-9...about the only Mazda that never won us completely over was the departed RX-8 (though that one got better near the end).

Mazda's small crossover is the CX-5.  Playing in an intensely competitive segment (Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Nissan Rogue, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Ford Escape, Chevy Equinox, Jeep Cherokee, Volkswagen Tiguan and others), it needs to stand out, and does...if you equip it right.

New Car Review: 2014 Mazda CX-5 Skyactiv

Big changes rarely happen in year two of a new vehicle. But Mazda’s not known for coloring within the lines and, frankly, it can’t afford to hold good stuff back for the mid-cycle refresh three or four years down the road. It needs your attention now. And if the 2014 Mazda CX-5 doesn’t get that attention, it’ll be your loss as well as Mazda’s.

The big news is a second engine option:  A 2.5-liter SKYACTIV-G mill brings 29 more horsepower and 35 more pounds per foot of torque to the party than the standard 2.0-liter SKYACTIV-G, but gives up only one mile per gallon, dipping from 26 city to 25 and 32 highway to 31 (EPA estimates for automatic transmission front-wheel drive models).