2018 Mazda CX-5 vs Nissan X-TRAIL

What's the difference?

The CX-5 GT is a triumph of style and substance. The range is generally a tremendous value-for-money line-up and this upper-echelon offering is no different because a GT buyer will want for nothing – except perhaps Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and if we can live without those, you can too. More of a city-friendly SUV than a rough-and-ready off-roader, the GT is still capable of getting you to where you want to go, as long as you have a realistic notion of AWD-suitable terrain: think formed trails, well-maintained National Parks tracks and perhaps even, at a stretch, very firm sand.

Is the CX-5 a legitimate Adventure vehicle, or should it stay in the suburbs? Tell us what you think the comments below.

Should you buy a 2018 Nissan X-Trail ST-L N-Sport? If you can get your hands on one, then it could be a good option. The X-Trail in general doesn’t set any benchmarks in the mid-size SUV space, but it doesn’t do anything particularly badly, either. I guess that’s why it sells so well.

I would personally choose a Honda CR-V over it, or possibly a Mazda CX-5. But I could also be tempted to wait to see how the new-generation Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4 models shape up…

People who know me, know that I put more stock in what’s under the bonnet than appearance but, having said that, I am still capable of appreciating attractive things. The previous version of the CX-5 looked good; this new one looks damn good. Everything is simply neater, sleeker and more streamlined than before, inside and outside.

Fit and finish is tighter and all materials and designs complement, rather than clash with, each other. That bright white leather – adding a real overall touch of class – doesn’t hurt either.

This CX-5 looks and feels like it sits more comfortably in the realm of sports cars than that of family-friendly SUVs – but I spend zero time in sport cars, so what do I know?

Nissan has added the N-Sport models to its X-Trail, Pathfinder and 370Z ranges to ‘up the cool factor’ of each of the respective donor cars. But is there anything more uncool than trying to be cool?

Teenage insecurities aside, the X-Trail N-Sport essentially brandishes a black pack over the ST-L model, with 18-inch black alloy wheels (stepping up from 17s on the ST-L), gloss black mirror caps, a lower body kit with dark metallic front and rear bumper finisher and black side skirts, and a dark chrome front grille and black roof rails.

You can have the X-Trail N-Sport in four colours, and none will cost you any extra – 'Diamond Black' (which seems a bit pointless), 'Gun Metallic' (grey), 'Brilliant Silver' or 'Ivory Pearl' (white). 

It’s not the most attractive of the mid-size SUV set to begin with, and the N-Sport model arguably doesn’t make it any prettier, either…

And you don’t get anything else different, and the cabin remains identical - check out the interior pictures for proof.

From the front to the back everything is pretty well suited for day-to-day life.

There is ample room for driver and passenger up front with electric adjustment for those forward pews.

Second-row travellers also get stacks of leg and headroom and the driver seat goes nowhere near encroaching on space behind. When it comes time to collapse those second-row seats, it is a 40/20/40 split.

Storage solutions include a space for phones and loose change in front of the shifter, four cupholders (two up front and a pair in the second-row centre arm-rest), and a bottle-recess in each door. Annoyingly, there are two USB ports in the glovebox, which is deep enough for a dog to sit in (only joking!), so it is difficult for the driver to readily access those as a charging point.

There are air vents for both rows.

Down the back, cargo space is 442 litres with the second row up; and 1342 litres with that row flat.

The X-Trail’s cabin offers one of the roomier spaces in the mid-size segment: it’s a thoughtful cabin, and family buyers will be well served by it.

There is storage for bottles in all four doors, there are cupholders between the front seats and there’s a fold-down centre section of the back seat with cup storage, too (not an armrest, but a small portion that also doubles as a ski-port). There’s a pair of map pockets for those in the back, and good loose item storage up front, with a nice cubby in front of the shifter and a good covered centre bin.

Space in the rear is pretty good for the class, with easily enough room for me - a 183cm human adult man - to sit behind my own driving position very comfortably, with enough leg, head and toe room for long trips, and there’s enough width to the cabin to account for three adults, too.

There are the usual kid seat fittings - ISOFIX and top tether attachment points - and there are rear air-vents too.

While some versions of the X-Trail come with seven seats, the N Sport doesn’t. But it does have sliding second row seats to allow extra boot space or more legroom, depending on your requirements.

The boot is very clever - offering an adjustable false floor system known as 'Divide-n-Hide' that can be configured to suit whatever you’re carrying. The boot space luggage capacity is 565 litres with the back seats up, and that figure increases to 945L with the seats folded down.

There’s a space-saver spare under the boot floor, too. 

As practical as the X-Trail is, it doesn’t feel overly special inside. The flat-bottom steering wheel is sporty and all, and the materials are all of a decent quality… but there’s no real wow-factor to be had here. Even little things like the digital driver info display being really crisp, and the touchscreen multimedia system being more pixelated - they don’t make it feel loveable, even if it is very likeable. 

The Nissan X-Trail N-Sport model is based on the mid-spec ST-L petrol, retaining the same 2.5-litre engine and CVT auto, available with two-wheel drive (2WD) at $39,250, or four-wheel drive (4WD) for $41,250 (before on-road costs). 

There will be 600 examples of the ST-L N-Sport available, and the price increase over respective donor ST-L 2WD ($37,200) and 4WD ($39,200) models is $2050.

So, in addition to the sports pack/black pack elements and bigger wheels, what does the ST-L N-Sport come with as standard? We aren’t doing a full model comparison here, but the ST-L grade comes in midway through the model range, and is decently equipped.

Standard gear includes leather seat trim, heated front seats, a leather-lined steering wheel and gear knob, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation, USB input and Bluetooth (but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto phone mirroring), DAB+ digital radio and a six-speaker sound system. 

The N-Sport pack clearly adds 18-inch wheels (the ST-L usually rides on 17s) and there’s still a space-saver spare under the boot floor. Auto headlights are standard, but auto wipers aren’t, and nor is an auto-dimming rearview mirror. The ST-L grade (and the ST and TS versions) have LED daytime running lights and LED tail-lights, but they don’t get LED headlights, which is a shame.

However, the safety game is pretty strong for the 2018 X-Trail range - and we’re not just talking about the surround view camera fitted to the ST-L grade. Read more about X-Trail safety equipment in the safety section below.

How many seats in the Nissan X-Trail? Well, if you’re choosing the N-Sport, the maximum is five, but you can get an X-Trail ST-L with seven seats if you need that.

The GT has a 2.2-litre SkyActiv diesel engine – producing 129kW@4500rpm and a chunky 420Nm@2000rpm – matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. No complaints about this pairing.

The X-Trail ST-L N-Sport models are available only with a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing 126kW of power and 226Nm of torque. Those aren’t huge numbers, but it gets the job done just fine.

For the N-Sport model you can choose between the 2WD or 4WD model, the latter featuring Nissan’s intelligent shift-on-the-fly system, which will apportion torque between the front and rear axles as needed - but it’s a front-biased system.

Both the 2WD and 4WD models come with a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Towing capacity for X-Trail models with the 2.5-litre engine is 750 kilograms for an un-braked trailer and 1500kg for a braked trailer.

We recorded 8.3L/100km for about 160km of daily driving (country, suburban, city and freeway) and 8.7L/100km for 150km of AWD-appropriate touring (including a substantial amount of dirt-road driving). The CX-5 has a 58-litre fuel tank

Nissan claims fuel consumption of 7.9 litres per 100 kilometres for the 2WD model and 8.3L/100km for the 4WD version, which is heavier. The kerb weight of the five-seat ST-L 2WD model is 1493kg, while the 4WD tips the scales at 1549kg.

During our time in the X-Trail ST-L N-Sport 4WD we saw about 9.0L/100km displayed most of the time, but that fell to 8.6L/100km on open road, limited traffic cruising with two on-board. 

It has a 60-litre fuel tank, which allows good cruising range, and happily drinks standard 91 RON unleaded.

This CX-5 is 4550mm long, 1840mm wide, 1675mm high has a claimed kerb weight of 1744kg and an 11.2m turning circle. It feels low and long – even though it’s not really – and is rock-steady to drive, at any speed.

This CX-5 never feels like anything but a supremely well put-together unit and that makes for a smooth driving experience. Steering is light at the right time and takes on a real weight when you need it to; the 2.2-litre engine is eager and works well off changes in the six-speed auto.

It’s better suited to open-road cruising, than stop-start city driving as it tends to lag off the mark when you actually need it to swiftly budge.

Mazda reckons its staff have worked hard to make the current CX-5’s NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) levels much better than those in the previous model, but we’d never noticed anything in that earlier thing, and nothing in this latest model, so we have to take their word for it.

The GT is on 19-inch alloys, shod with Toyo Proxes R46 rubber.

In general there is nothing that the X-Trail does brilliantly in terms of the drive experience, but nor is there anything that it does really poorly. 

That’s true of the N-Sport model, too, even with the sportier exterior additions and bigger alloy wheels than the ST-L.

It still rides fine - not exceptionally well, but with enough composure over bumps to feel well controlled and comfortable enough. The back seat experience is a little more lumpy, but not enough to make the kids complain. 

It exhibits a bit of body roll in corners, and while the twisty mountain roads near Cairns and Port Douglas in Far North Queensland would have been much better suited to the 370Z N-Sport, and while my time behind the wheel of the X-Trail through about 40km of cornering roads was tolerable and hassle-free, it wasn’t fun. That may matter to you, or not. 

The steering is decently weighted and responsive enough, but doesn’t have the lightness and accuracy of a VW Tiguan, nor the involved nature of the CX-5 or CR-V. There’s some understeer if you’re pushing it - but that’s not what this car is about.

Its drivetrain does an okay job in most situations. It will punch hard when you plant your right foot to overtake or get away from an intersection quickly, and while the CVT auto makes for a noisy experience in those situations, it deals with getting things going just fine. Again, the perky turbo in the CR-V or Tiguan will offer more engagement, not to mention more refinement, too.

The Nissan X-Trail range scored the maximum five-star ANCAP crash test rating when it was put through its paces in 2017. 

Commendably, and unlike some of its big-name competitors - yes, we're talking about you, Honda CR-V - every model in the X-Trail range has auto emergency braking (AEB), plus forward collision warning. 

The ST-L (and therefore the N-Sport) adds blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, but you have to shop up to the Ti and TL models to get pedestrian detection and lane departure warning, but no lane-keeping assist. 

All X-Trail models have six airbags - dual front, front side and full-length curtains. 

Mazda offers a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty on the CX-5; capped price servicing is included. The servicing schedule is set at six months/10,000km and will cost from $317 to $387.

Nissan remains one of the few manufacturers to continue with a three-year/100,000km warranty for its models. Many competitors offer superior warranty plans, both in terms of duration and kilometre cover.

All X-Trails require servicing every six months or 10,000km, which is annoyingly short in terms of intervals, as plenty of competitors only need maintenance every 12 months/15,000km. However, Nissan’s capped price service plan covers six years/120,000km, which is better than the likes of Toyota (the current RAV4’s plan only spans three years/60,000km. 

X-Trail models with the 2.5-litre engine will cost you, on average, about $321 per service, or $642 per year. Not especially cheap - in fact, dearer than the likes of the German-sourced Volkswagen Tiguan.

Brake fluid top-ups are due every 24 months/40,000km at a cost of $32 each time.