Just 9-months after the release of the second gen, the 2018 MY provides improved safety, efficiency, comfort, and convenience. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Nov. 23, 2017 2018 Mazda CX-5 Sport - $25,125 to start incl. the $975 D&H Charge. EPA ratings will be announced shortly. The Mazda CX-5 record sales continues unimpeded since the second generation went on sale this past spring. In just one MY, Mazda has added some very enticing new features providing the consumer an even better vehicle. For the 2018 MY, the CX-5 now includes small updates to reduce internal friction including its segment-exclusive cylinder-deactivation technology. The engine can imperceptible shut down the two outside cylinders at cruising speeds to improve efficiency and is standard on all trims. Mazda is the only automaker to equip an I4 with cylinder deactivation in North America. The 2018s EPA ratings have not been released yet, but it should be telling of there is an increase in highway efficiency or not from the current 2017s very average 24/31 mpg (FWD) and 23/29 mpg (AWD) city/highway ratings. New standard equipment includes a leather-wrapped wheel and shift knob. On the safety front, Blind Spot Monitoring with Rear Cross-Traffic Alert is also standard across all trims including the base model. The entry-level CX-5 Sport features cloth upholstery, standard LED headlamps, 17” alloys, electronic parking brake, MAZDA CONNECT infotainment with a 7” display and Bluetooth. For an additional $625 The Sport i-ACTIVSENSE Package adds auto High Beam, Lane Departure Warning, Lane-Keep Assist, Mazda Radar Cruise Control, Smart Brake Support, rain-sensing windshield wipers and automatic on/off headlights. This safety pkg. at that price on all trims is a no-brainer!!! The CX-5 Touring adds standard 19” alloys for 2018 and the full i-ACTIVSENSE suite of safety features. Mazda CX-5 Touring includes leatherette seats and Proximity Key with Push Button start. Additional Touring features include heated front seats, 6-way power adjustable driver’s seat, dual-zone auto climate, rear seat A/C vents and two rear USB ports for charging smartphones or tablets. The available Touring Preferred Package includes an auto-dimming rearview with Homelink, BOSE 10-speaker audio with Centerpoint and AudioPilot, navigation, a power glass moonroof and a power liftgate. The Touring Preferred Package for the top-trim CX-5 Grand Touring includes new 2-position memory driver’s seat and 6-way power adjustable passenger seat. CX-5 Grand Touring comes standard with leather-trimmed seats, LED fog lights and tail lights, Adaptive Front-lighting System and XM satellite radio. The Grand Touring Premium Package includes windshield-projected Active Driving Display head-up unit with Traffic Sign Recognition, heated steering wheel, heated second-row outboard seats and windshield wiper de-icer. All CX-5 models sold in the U.S. come with a standard 187 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque 2.5L I4 mated to a 6-speed AT with manual-shift plus Sport mode. i-ACTIV AWD is available on every trim. CX-5 has earned the IIHS “Top Safety Pick+” designation for the fifth-consecutive year in 2017. 2018 Mazda CX-5 Interior One of the best looking interiors in the segment! 2018 Mazda CX-5 Pricing (FWD/AWD) CX-5 Sport: $24,150/$25,450 - Sport i-ACTIVSENSE Package $625/$625 CX-5 Touring: $26,215/$27,515 - Touring Preferred Package $1,200/$1,200 CX-5 Grand Touring: $29,645/$30,945 - Grand Touring Premium Package $1,395/$1,395 Premium Paint Upcharge Soul Red Crystal: $595 Machine Gray Metallic: $300 Snowflake White Pearl Mica: $200 The 2018 Mazda CX-5 will arrive at dealerships nationwide in the beginning of December.
Hi Thunderstruck: I never understood these paint upcharges. The Mazda Soul Red looks great but $400? On a modern day assembly line that has to be what, an OEM $1.50 upcharge if their is even an upcharge? Wayne
The paint surcharge is for the reflective layer they add beneath the translucent topcoat and clear coat on some colors. Mazda has a whole thing on their website about how they do it. Naturally it takes more time to spray, dry, and inspect the extra reflective coat. The depth of the paint has to be very precise for the right effect. Also, it will be very tough for a body shop to repair or duplicate the paint if you're in an accident. I really like that Mazda has LED headlights standard on all trims. Headlights are not the place to cheap out and yet some OEMs still do. BSM with RCTA standard is also a very thoughtful and useful standard feature. I really dig the looks of this SUV. The MX-5 and CX-5 are the prettiest cars from Japan to my eyes. We get a look at the new Mazda6 at the LA auto show next week. New Mazda3 sometime soon?
I disagree. I think I'm almost alone on this, but I find LED and HID lighting distracting. I don't think it's the brightness, but the colour range. My eyes are drawn to it but even after I've got my eyes back where they should be, my brain is still focusing on that different colour light instead of what my eyeballs are aimed at. It's really distracting. Not to where it's obviously dangerous, but maybe so on the margins. And certainly annoying.
It is usually the purple or green headlights that bother me (not kidding... I don't know how they get away with it), and the various color fringe effects on projector lamps. I've learned to avert my eyes on blinding lights, HID or improper use of high beams. LED headlights have not bothered me yet, usually seen on Corollas the past couple/few(?) years. I refuse to use the auto high beams on the Prius Prime though my wife seems to like it. I find my scene recognition faster than the car's.
The IIHS rated headlights for the first time last year. Most of the cars they test scored poorly with marginal or poor ratings. Only one car earned a good rating: the Prius V. The Mazda 6 was among the 11 cars with an acceptable rating. The Prius V has LED high and low beams. The Mazda6 also has LED high and low beams. Most of the other "acceptable" cars had LED low beams, some had HID Low and High. One had halogen low and high. Quite a few had LED low and halogen high beams. Point is, it's possible to design good headlights or bad headlights with any technology but LED is the most efficient and the most expensive. HIDs are cheaper and less efficient than LED but much more efficient than halogen. HIDs don't produce full output for several minutes which is why they aren't often used for high beams. LEDs, of course, produce full output immediately. Halogen produce full output after a few milliseconds. It's also possible to use LEDs with the same or nearly the same color temp and CRI of halogen. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskt...-headlight-ratings-show-most-need-improvement Manufacturers like to cheap out with halogen because they are so much less expensive but car owners never stop paying for those cheap halogens. A typical field-coil alternator is only 50% to 60% efficient and it takes a lot of power to run those two 50W space heaters in each headlamp. You never stop paying for halogens in gasoline and then you pay for them all over again when they burn out. It's a major pain to replace those crappy halogen bulbs in my RSX!
Hi All: For me the advantage of LED headlamps is their instant on nature and the more natural "white" making it easier for me to see within the beams spread. With oncoming cars, LEDs are not bothersome either. HIDs before the DOT jumped down BMWs throat were bothersome as heck from another drivers perspective but from within were the best headlamps I have ever used. It still all comes down to adjustment and Toyota LEDs are so restrictive that the field of view is very limited until you go to the high beams. Bill, I thought the Auto High Beams of the 4th gen Prius/Prius Prime worked really really good. Regarding the CX-5, it is one of the best CUVs when you consider the interior look and feel, the R&H, and now safety advantages when you include the safety suite for the small $695 upcharge. A very compelling choice imho. I lost interest in the SKYACTIV-Gs efficiency when Mazda began pushing the 2.5L in the 3, 6, and CX-5. They lost so much potential compared to the 2.0L and today's EPA results show them sitting in the middle despite all that SKYACTIV push including sky high 13 and 14:1 CRs, friction reduction, and highly efficient 6-speed AT talking points. Looking at the EPA list directly below, what did all of that technology get us? Hopefully the 2-cylinder deactivation will help propel the CX-5 back closer to the top but the releases wording indicates no change in the EPA. I pulled the following efficiency detail from the story because it was weasel worded. My take away from that is there are probably no EPA improvements just as I did not experience any with the 2015/2016 Mazda6 (28/39 and 27/38) w/the i-ELOOP system that imho did not add a single digit to the EPA city/highway results despite the pre 2017 EPA adjustments indicating the system added up to 2 city and 1 mpg highway increase. In the real world, the CR-V with the new 1.5T absolutely dominates in the efficiency department with the Rogue being a few mpgs back and the rest falling behind even further. I have not driven the Escape with the 1.5T yet so maybe I should leave that out of the efficiency discussion? 2018 Honda CR-V 1.5T - 28/34 mpg city/highway 2017 Nissan Rogue 2.5L - 26/33 mpg city/highway 2018 Chevrolet Equinox 1.5T - 26/32 mpg city/highway 2017 Mazda CX-5 2.5L - 24/31 mpg city/highway 2017 Ford Escape 1.5T - 23/30 mpg city/highway 2017 Hyundai Tucson 1.6T - 25/30 mpg city/highway 2017 Toyota RAV4 2.5L - 23/29 mpg city/highway Wayne
It seems that Skyactiv Mazdas always dominate in the real world for fuel economy even if their tests show them as being mixed in with the rest of the field. So the diesel is still MIA? It's about time Mazda got on board with standard active safety systems. VW still makes you go to the highest time to get the driver assist options. This is really short sighted IMHO, it will sync the used car values in 3-5years when this stuff is standard and expected across the board. Honda and Toyota making it basically (low cost) standard on the Civic and Corolla really puts the pressure on across the whole market for safety systems.
I get all of this, truly, but convincing whatever lizard brain function which drives my distraction has thus far been a moot effort. I do like good headlights though. As I've gotten older, I've gradually started to appreciate visibility, including headlights, a clean greenhouse, etc. I run Sylvania Xtravisions, and I really need to buff out the rest of whatever looks like an only mildly yellowed set of headlights, as I'm wasting their more limited lifespan with a much dimmer output.
Good headlights should be standard equipment across the board. My volt has excellent headlamps. When I get in other peoples cars I'm constantly asking them if their headlamps are turned on cause they are often so dim (was in a new Toyota 4 Runner that had terrible halogens, no excuse at that price point). http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/chevrolet/volt-4-door-hatchback/2017 The IIHS is a little funny, all the gen2 volts have the same headlights but they give the premier a higher rating than the LT (maybe it's for the auto highbeam function the premier has). Regardless, I'm glad someone is finally holding the manufacturers feet to the fire about headlamp quality. I've had some terrible headlights over the years.
That link was for 2016, there are couple more good ratings for 2017+ thankfully. But most of the good headlamps are optional equipment unfortunately. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskt...fety-pick-winners-meet-new-headlight-criteria Seven models earn top headlight rating Among 2017 models, only seven are available with good-rated headlights. They are the Chevrolet Volt small car, Honda Ridgeline pickup, Hyundai Elantra small car, Hyundai Santa Fe midsize SUV, Subaru Legacy midsize car, Toyota Prius v midsize car and Volvo XC60 midsize luxury SUV.
Mazda has a new animated video explaining the virtues of it's new cylinder deactivation tech and the multi-spray fuel injection system. I really enjoy these high-quality animated videos. Mazda is one of the better companies at explaining its tech to the masses.
Hi Jay: That was indeed an excellent vid! I sure hope this really improves efficiency beyond the current 40+ percent state of the art gasoline fueled drivetrains from Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota. Wayne
