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What's the difference?
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?
Pssst! Looking to buy a T-Roc R for six grand less? No, this isn't a fake. You're not going to have to go down a dark alley and talk to a guy in a trench coat, either. This is the real deal - the T-Roc R Grid Edition. Too good to be true? Well, there is a catch but I think it's well worth it... now follow me down this dark alley over here.
Yes, the T-Roc Grid Edition has arrived in very limited numbers with only 300 or so coming to Australia and this mini monster comes loaded with the same 221kW (300hp) turbo-petrol engine and all-wheel drive system as the T-Roc R, plus all the engineering which makes it superb on the road and the track.
But if you're willing to look past a couple of items which have been removed, then you have found yourself a cut-price superhero rival to Audi's SQ2.
Want to hear and see what it's like to drive, too? Then watch the video above as well.
Despite being far from the most modern option on the market, I'm surprised to see how well the CX-5 is holding up, particularly compared to more recently launched rivals when it comes to driving dynamics and cabin ambiance.
In fact, this car still feels so up to the task it's hard to believe Mazda is already moving its styling upwards and onwards with spiritual successors on the way like the CX-50 and CX-60.
For now, it's hard to go wrong in the CX-5 range, and actually, the Touring Active is the value pick of the bunch if you're willing to do away with certain small luxuries which this design feels like it should have.
It's not great that rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot warning haven't been included as part of the T-Roc R Grid Edition's safety package, but there are also things left out that I agree should be. Who needs the leather seats of a T-Roc R? Or power adjustable ones? Not if you can save thousands and keep all the grunt and dynamics.
Yes, the T-Roc R Grid Edition is great value and seriously good fun to drive with a superb high quality feel.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
What has always sold the CX-5 is its understated but upmarket-looking design. Even after all these years it oozes cool with its big trend-setting and deeply three-dimensional honeycomb grille, tasteful chrome highlights, and sleek light fittings, which of course are all elements now emulated by other brands.
The recent update brought with it new shapely LED lights front and rear, a tweaked face, new wheel designs and some updated features for the interior.
Meanwhile, this Touring Active grade scores some bright green touches inside and out, as well as additional silver trim pieces and gunmetal wheels.
Inside it's still hard to believe Mazda manages to make a car look and feel this good at the price. It's not hard to imagine someone test driving a Toyota RAV4 and subsequently being blown away by the premium look and feel of the CX-5.
The Lego brick neon green highlights in the interior of the Touring active, which form part of the vent surrounds and work their way into the seat trim, bring an unusually youthful flair to the usually serious Mazda cabin, but they won't be for everyone.
Other highlights include a tasteful smattering of silver trim, a blend of soft-touch materials in the dash and doors, and a more subtle approach to multimedia than many other brands, with low-set screens far from the driver.
The T-Roc R Grid Edition is just 4.2m long, 1.5m tall and 1.8m wide, making it small but not the littlest Volkswagen SUV you can get in Australia - that's the T-Cross.
Still, it's little and wearing a tough body kit the T-Roc R Grid Edition looks a bit cartoon-like - in a good way.
Really, the only way you can tell a T-Roc R Grid Edition from the regular T Roc R is by its 19-inch Pretoria wheels and the black roof rails.
The headlights and tail-lights are also slightly different, but this grid edition still looks savage.
Inside, the Nappa leather seats from the T- Roc R are swapped for fabric ones which I think suit this little monster better than the ones made of skin. Euggghh, that sounded gross, but it's true.
It's a premium cabin, as you'd expect from Volkswagen, with zero silliness in there, apart from the R button on the steering wheel.
Press it and you're in 'Race' mode which firms the dampers and gives this SUV a more menacing exhaust note.
At $54,300 the T-Roc R Grid Edition is a lot more affordable than its Audi cousin the SQ2 which has the same engine but lists for $68,200.
The Hyundai Kona N almost matches the T-Roc R Grid Edition for grunt, but undercuts it in price at $49,200.
As one of Australia's most popular mid-size SUVs, you'd hope the CX-5 is up to family duties, and the good news is it mostly aces the brief.
Up front, there's plenty of room for adults, with a good amount of adjustability, and great visibility despite a relatively high belt-line and dash.
The seats in this Touring Active grade are manual adjust only, which may be a downside for some, while the blended seat trim of ‘Maztex' synthetic leather and suede isn't my preference.
I'm more in favour of a basic cloth seat, which will be much easier to clean and will probably wear better, or the lovely real leather seats which appear on higher grades.
Nicely-sized bottle holders appear in the doors and centre console, and the latest update also brings a wireless charger under the climate unit, to match the wireless phone mirroring.
On the topic of phone mirroring, Mazda has taken the commitment to dial-operated systems to a fault.
The multimedia screen, perched atop the dash, is not a touch unit, and is instead operated only with the centre dial.
This dial is fine for operating Mazda's relatively straightforward software, but is downright clumsy when it comes to flicking through menus on Apple CarPlay, in particular.
Still, I appreciate the very straightforward climate panel, which consists of physical buttons and dials for all of its controls. Far preferable to the trendy touch panel, or worse, multimedia-screen interfaces on some rivals.
The rear doors open nice and wide, making it easy to fit child seats, and room back there is more than sufficient for adults in the outer two rear seats, as well.
I had plenty of legroom and headroom behind my own driving position at 182cm tall.
The quality trims continue in the doors, and there's a large bottle holder in each one, alongside a further two in the drop-down armrest.
Interestingly, this part also has a flip-open tray with two USB 2.0 connectors, a tidy way to get power to the rear passengers, but one which can't be used if the middle seat is occupied.
There are no additional outlets on the back of the centre console, although there is a set of air vents back there.
The boot measures in at 438 litres, which is not on the larger end for the mid-size SUV space, and may cause some families to run into issues, particularly if they need to carry a pram on top of regular luggage.
As it is though, it fit our CarsGuide demo luggage set with minimal room to spare. There is a space-saver spare wheel under the floor.
The T-Roc R Grid Edition is 4.2m long or about 50mm shorter than a Volkswagen Golf hatchback.
Volkswagen is superb at coming up with cleverly designed cabins with a focus on good storage and space, and the T-Roc R Grid Edition has big door pockets, a deep centre console box, four cupholders (two in the front and two in the rear fold-down armrest) and directional air vents in the second row.
The boot has a cargo capacity of 392 litres which is a smidge bigger than many of its rivals. Under the boot floor is a space saver spare - better than nothing.
Being based on the top-of-the-range T-Roc the Grid Edition is well equipped with conveniences such as proximity unlocking, wireless phone charging, directional air vents and four USB ports (two in the front and two in the back).
Space for those up front is excellent, although rear legroom is getting tight for me at 191cm tall if I sit behind my driving position.
Since it arrived Down Under in 2022, the updated CX-5, thanks in large part to its ongoing popularity, is available in a long list of confusingly labelled variants.
To be precise, there are now 11 different versions of this SUV, two basic front-wheel drive variants, and nine all-wheel drive models with three different engine options.
Confused? Me too. To cut to the chase with the Touring Active, though, it's the third cheapest all-wheel drive version, featuring the least powerful of the three engine options.
For roughly the same money you can get into a base model Toyota RAV4 GX all-wheel drive hybrid, or mid-grade all-wheel drive versions of the Hyundai Tucson (Elite) or Kia Sportage (SX+), although I would argue none of those options have quite the visual appeal of our Mazda.
Standard equipment on the Touring Active grade includes 17-inch gunmetal alloy wheels, ‘Maztex' synthetic leather and suede interior trim, a new-for-the-update 10.25-inch multimedia screen with dial control (more on that later), a semi-digital instrument cluster, updated navigation system, and wireless phone charging to match the wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
There's also dual-zone climate, and re-designed LED light fittings front and rear.
Despite the swish look, there are things missing here. For example, my partner was surprised the seats were manually adjusted in a car which looks this nice inside, and I have to agree.
Plus, you have to spend significantly more to get into a version with the turbocharged engine. There's also no sunroof at this grade, nor is there a powered tailgate.
The T-Roc R Grid Edition lists for $54,300, which is $6000 less than the T-Roc R.
A lot of that saving is down to the Grid Edition not having Nappa leather seats or a power adjustable driver's seat. Instead there are manually-adjustable fabric sports seats.
The Grid Edition also doesn't come with the 'Matrix LED' headlights of the T- Roc R. But it does have performance LED headlights, it also has 19-inch 'Pretoria' alloy wheels, plus an angry R body kit and quad exhaust.
There's proximity unlocking, dual-zone climate control, a 9.2-inch media screen with sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as digital radio and wireless phone charging.
For such a contemporary looking car, things feel a little dated when it comes to engine tech.
Rather than employing a fancy hybrid or downsized turbo unit with a tricky transmission, Mazda relies on a regular 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, mated to a traditional six-speed torque converter automatic transmission.
The engine produces 140kW/252Nm, hardly on the high end for the segment, and it needs to drive all four wheels.
If this doesn't sound like enough punch for you, there's also a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine (140kW/450Nm) available on the Touring Active grade, but it carries a roughly $3000 premium.
In the snout is a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine making 221kW and 400Nm. It's the same engine as the Golf R, just a smidge less powerful.
Like the Golf R the T-Roc R Grid Edition is all-wheel drive and the transmission is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
All of that is enough to accelerate the T-Roc R Grid Edition from 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds. That's the same time as the Audi SQ2 and more than half a second faster than the Kona N.
As you'd imagine, a 2.5-litre engine with no electrical or turbocharged assistance can punish you at the fuel pump.
While the hybrid RAV4 has managed to bring fuel efficiency as low as 4.8L/100km to the mid-size SUV space, our Mazda has a comparatively high official combined efficiency of 7.4L/100km.
After 400km of driving in real-world suburban conditions, my test car consumed 9.0L/100km, decidedly higher again.
Thankfully, the CX-5's relatively low-tech engine is capable of consuming entry-level 91 unleaded. It is only compliant with Euro 5 emissions standards, and has a 58-litre fuel tank.
Using the official economy figure, driving range comes in at just over 780km.
The T Roc R Grid Edition needs premium unleaded petrol and quite a lot of it with Volkswagen saying it'll use 8.3L/100km after a combination of open and urban roads.
At that rate, and with its 55-litre fuel tank, the range of the T-Roc R Grid Edition is about 660km.
If you've driven any Mazda in the last decade or so, this latest CX-5 won't throw up any surprises. The drive experience adheres to the sporty, firm and purposeful ethos which Mazda has cultivated over a long period of time.
This is defined by nice accurate steering, an overall light and springy feel for the car, and a firm ride.
While the engine has to push harder than some in this class to move along its mid-size bulk and the demands of all-wheel drive, it's still a comparatively fun family SUV to drive.
Especially when compared with the comfortable-but-tame RAV4, and perhaps overly tech-y turbocharged dual-clutch versions of the Tucson and Sportage.
In this way, the Mazda's old-sounding powertrain may be an advantage. In particular, the six-speed automatic transmission is smooth and predictable, great for family buyers and won't throw up any surprises, particularly for those coming out of older vehicles equipped with similar components.
For its most recent CX-5 update, Mazda has tweaked the suspension further, which has thankfully gone a long way to taking the edge off the once too-hard ride.
It's still a firm and reactive SUV, though, amongst the more entertaining to drive in the segment.
It's only March but I'm going to put it out there and say the T-Roc R Grid Edition is going to be up there in my Top 10 funnest cars I'll drive this year.
How could it not be? It's a little car that's only a bit bigger than a kitchen table with 300 horsepower, big disc brakes, lowered sports suspension (independent rear) with adaptive dampers, all-wheel drive and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Add Volkswagen's quality and superb build and it drives exactly how you'd think - almost darn perfectly, in that you don't drive it but more wear it and it responds instantly, predictably, rewardingly.
At the same launch I drove the Tiguan R Grid Edition too, but I'd say the little T-Roc R Grid Edition is even more agile, more pointable, and more fun because of its smaller size and lighter weight.
Quick in a straight line, with great grip even in slippery corners, reassuring traction from all-wheel drive and steering that's so precise with good road feel, the T-Roc R Grid Edition is a gem to pilot.
There are no optional pieces of safety equipment in the CX-5 range, and thankfully the active systems are minimally invasive for the driver, too, letting the drive experience shine further.
Standard equipment includes auto emergency braking (works high speed going forward, and low speed in reverse), lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear-cross traffic alert, traffic sign recognition, as well as adaptive cruise control and front and rear parking sensors.
As a bonus, there's a nice high-def reversing camera, although you'll have to spend more for the 360-degree version, and a tyre pressure monitoring sensor, too.
The CX-5 has five airbags, dual ISOFIX and three top-tether mounting points across the rear row, and maintains a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from when this generation launched back in 2017.
The T-Roc R Grid Edition has the same maximum five-star ANCAP score as the T-Roc, but this is from 2017 and, well, the world of safety has moved on a lot since then.
That said, the T-Roc R Grid Edition comes with AEB, lane keeping assistance, manoeuvre braking (front and rear) and adaptive cruise control.
Missing is blind spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert. This is because of the semiconductor shortage globally right now preventing the installation of that technology.
The thing is, the regular T-Roc R comes with those other safety features but not the Grid Edition.
For child seats you'll find two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor points across the second row.
Curtain air bags protect those in the back and front, while the driver and their co-pilot have side and front airbags.
Mazda keeps things simple here with five years of warranty, five years of roadside assist, and a five-year capped price service program.
For the latest update, the service intervals have been pushed out from 10,000km to 15,000km and 12 months, and the average cost works out to be $423 per year for the 2.5-litre petrol engine option as tested.
This is not the cheapest servicing in the segment, but it's not unusually expensive, either.
The T-Roc R Grid Edition is covered by Volkswagen's five-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
A five-year servicing plan costs $2950 and you'll need to get it service every 12 months or 15,000km.