Unfortunately, the touch element of the screen only works when you are stationary, making on-the-fly changes to radio stations and especially the CarPlay interface only possible through the jog/select wheel on the console and we’d argue that doing this is much more involved and distracting than just tapping the screen.

The MZD Connect infotainment system works well with Apple CarPlay and the DAB tuner is a good inclusion at this level.

The leather-wrapped wheel is nice to hold and visibility around the cabin is The rest of the cabin is cleanly finished, with the cloth trimmed seats providing decent comfort and support, and while there is no power adjustment, once you have your driving position set nicely, the CX-5 is a pretty solid place to eat up the miles.

It’s a generous list in anyone’s currency, especially considering there is a near $5000 jump up the range again to the 2.5-litre AWD CX-5 Touring.Īnd while you do miss out on some of the more convenient and luxury features of a higher-spec car, the Maxx Sport is, as I said earlier, a great way to understand the strengths, and weaknesses of the CX-5. That’s on top of automatic LED headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, an 8-inch LCD touch screen (well, an ‘occasional’ touch screen) with integrated DAB digital radio and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and push-button start, that are all included on the base-level car. While our car shares a mechanical setup with the entry-level $33,190 Maxx (2.0-litre petrol with front-wheel-drive), it throws LED fog lamps and tail lamps, dual-zone climate control, a dimming rear mirror, integrated satellite navigation and steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters into the mix.

Priced from $36,490 before on-road costs, the Maxx Sport is the second-model in the CX-5’s six-variant range hierachy (Maxx, Maxx Sport, Touring, GT, GT SP, Akera).

2021 mazda cx5 msrp