2023 Mazda CX-5 vs 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

What's the difference?

VS
Mazda CX-5
Mazda CX-5

$25,800 - $51,490

2023 price

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

$19,857 - $44,990

2022 price

Summary

2023 Mazda CX-5
2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Inline 4, 2.5L

Inline 4, 2.4L
Fuel Type
Unleaded Petrol

Unleaded Petrol/Electric
Fuel Efficiency
7.5L/100km (combined)

1.9L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Hardly cutting-edge drivetrain tech
  • Clumsy dial-operated phone mirroring
  • Fuel consumption could be better

  • Too expensive for what you get
  • Smaller boot and back seat than non-PHEV models
  • Poor human-machine interaction
2023 Mazda CX-5 Summary

Australia loves Mazda.

We have all sorts of Mazdas. Big ones, small ones, relatively affordable ones, expensive ones, but one which stands above the rest is the CX-5.

That's because this mid-sizer does a lot of the heavy lifting for the Japanese brand, keeping it in the fight against titans like Toyota in the sales charts.

If you're ready to feel old, this second-generation version of the CX-5 with its eye-catching design is now a whopping seven years old, although it has been tweaked recently in 2022 to bring a few updates, as well as the addition of the variant we're looking at here, the Touring Active.

So, the question we're wrestling with is whether this car's continued massive popularity is still warranted.

Is this still one of the best mid-size SUVs you can buy for your family, or should you be considering more recently arrived alternatives?

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2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Summary

The 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross has a new high-tech powertrain that allows it to run as an electric car, or run using the petrol engine, or even use both at the same time. 

But the new hybrid SUV is not like a Toyota hybrid - because this one can be plugged in at home to recharge the batteries, and you should be able to get at least 50 kilometres of EV driving out of just a few dollars worth of electricity.

We’re talking about the new 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross Plug-in Hybrid EV, or PHEV as we’ve called it in the past. The brand has renamed it to include both ‘Hybrid’ and ‘EV’ in the name because, well, it reckons those terms have a bit more cut-through today than when the company first launched its Outlander PHEV back in 2014.

But with the new Eclipse Cross PHEV variants attracting a huge premium over the regular petrol-turbo models, does the extra money buy you a better car? Let’s find out.

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Deep dive comparison

2023 Mazda CX-5 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross

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