My friend should buy a Mazda CX-5 Why? Because he has wrecked four cars in three
years and the CX-5 gives him a great chance of emerging unscathed from his next
incident. We know because it earned Euro NCAP's maximum five-star safety rating. That
is big news for someone who crashes more than a busted laptop running Windows Vista.
Euro NCAP's five-star rating breaks down to scores of 94% for adult occupant protection,
87% for child occupants, and 64% for pedestrians. This Ford Kuga rival also earned 86%
for the safety assist category that includes toys such as its electronic stability programme.
This reduces the chance my mate losing traction and ploughing through yet another fence.
Now, my friend insists that all his cars are versatile - despite only keeping them for
short periods. The Mazda CX-5 excels here too. It has a 503-litre boot, for starters, and
cargo capacity can be increased to 1,620-litres by folding the rear seats flat.
The latter is
comparable to a new Ford Mondeo Estate. Furthermore, the handling is sharp, the ride
comfortable, and the cabin feels nicely screwed together. It even has plenty of equipment.
As such high-spec trims have: parking sensors, Bluetooth, cruise control, leather seats,
and MP3 playback. Power comes from either a 2.0-litre 165PS petrol engine or a 2.2-litre
150PS diesel. These hit 62mph in a pleasing 9.2 seconds in manual form, and average
a decent 47.1 and 61.4mpg respectively. But how long before my mate wrecks his CX-5
too?
By Stephen Turvil
Tue, 04 Sep 2012
