2026 Mazda CX-5: Better Than the Old One? | Alanis King

Video Description from YouTube:

Let’s test drive and review the new 2026 Mazda CX-5! And thanks to @homefieldapparel for sponsoring this video.

This new CX-5 is the launch of the third generation of the crossover. The CX-5 originally launched in 2012, and I think the cool thing about Mazda’s design language and progression is that it slowly transforms over time instead of fully overhauling. If you look at the first-generation CX-5, it’s still got that bubbly, giddy front-end design that we saw from cars like the Mazda3 and Mazda Miata in the 2000s. Then, when the second generation came around, we got a CX-5 with a similar shape but more serious styling and squintier headlights.

This third-generation CX-5 doesn’t look revolutionarily different from the outgoing one, but the front end is more busy. Our grille area has two outer layers versus the single outline on the old car, and the running-lights pattern is more layered as well. I’m not totally sold on it yet, but change takes time.

This new CX-5 has also grown in comparison to the last one. The 2025 model, which has a base MSRP of U.S. $29,050, is 4.5 inches shorter and half an inch skinnier than this new 2026 model, which starts at $29,990 for the base-model 2.5 S trim.

Mazda currently offers five trims of the 2026 CX-5 with the 2.5-liter engine. The base “S” model ($29,990) comes with the base 12.9-inch infotainment screen, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 17-inch wheels, and manual front-seat adjustments. The next trim is the Select, which starts at $31,990 and adds things like rear seat vents, auto-folding side mirrors, wireless phone charging, and wireless CarPlay and Android Auto. Then comes the $34,250 Preferred, which adds features like 19-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, a power lift gate, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and a power-adjustable driver’s seat. The penultimate trim is the $36,900 Premium, which adds ventilated front seats, a power passenger seat, heated rear seats, ambient interior lighting, additional rear USB-C charging ports, and more. The top dog is the $38,990 Premium Plus, which adds a ton of safety features, lane-change assist, an included 15.6-inch infotainment screen, paddle shifters, and more. 

We’re driving gas-powered, 2.5-liter CX-5s today, which means this Premium Plus trim has an inline 4-cylinder Skyactiv-G engine that makes 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. That goes through a 6-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels, because this new CX-5 has standard all-wheel drive (AWD). The unknown is that the outgoing 2025 CX-5 has turbocharged versions that make 256 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque, and Mazda didn’t mention a turbo version when revealing the 2026 model. But the company did say a hybrid Skyactiv-Z is in the works for 2027.

This new CX-5 isn’t just an exterior-design shift for Mazda. It also represents a big overhaul of the technology, branding, and interior of the car. If you’ve been in a lot of modern Mazdas, you’ll know that this interior features a new infotainment system. Much of Mazda’s lineup currently has a very 2010s-era screen that’s kind of small and long, and in order to make it a touchscreen, you have to dig deep in the settings menus and check off a box called “touchscreen in motion.” Otherwise, you’re using a dial system in the center-console area to work the screen. 

This new CX-5’s replacement for that system is the big tablet that a bunch of other automakers are doing, with our climate controls all set in here instead of assigned specific physical buttons.

In this video, we’ll talk about all kinds of things: the exterior; interior; performance; acceleration; how the crossover rides; upgrades and downgrades from the last CX-5; what I hope to see in the long-term future of the model (turbo edition? please?); driver-assistance and displays; and more.

Thanks for watching my YouTube channel. Enjoy the drive (and the video)!

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