2017 Subaru XV vs Mazda CX-5

What's the difference?

The Subaru XV remains a solid pick in the small-car segment, especially for those looking for something just a little different to the norm. And while the top-spec 2.0i-S isn't particularly cheap, you'll want for little in terms of technology and safety, and you won't be required to splash out on the option list, either.

The new CX-5 has certainly picked up where the old one left off, and is better in every way. The new diesel is a cracker and the safety package belongs on a much more expensive car. 

Mazda has lead the way for so long and the CX-5 was such an accomplished car, a face-lift barely seemed necessary. While it's not all-new from the ground up, this is the kind of thing Mazda has taken to doing really well - every time we drive a freshened-up machine, it's those little details that add up to the feeling a lot of work has gone on to build on a solid base.

And with this diesel engine, the big wheels and those sharp looks, the CX-5 has something for pretty much everyone.

It's more of the same, this new XV, with the 2018 model retaining the ready-for-action looks of its predecessor. Highlights outside are the 3D-effect, black-on-silver 18-inch alloys, and the black-cladding that runs along the entire bottom half of the car, giving the XV a kind of toughness.

It still has that angrily cubist design theme, and it can feel a bit plasticky in places, but it looks powerful and capable from just about every direction. Side-on, it's still more wagon than SUV, and the silver roof rails are a little reminder that you can actually use this car for more than city transport.

The interior is great, too. The doors are a mix of perforated and smooth soft-touch materials, with a sprinkling of faux carbon fibre and elaborate cross-colour stitching throughout the cabin. And if that sounds a little busy, it somehow just works in the new XV.

If the first CX-5 impressed with its understated good looks, the new one goes further by being a very pretty car. Mazda's 'Kodo' design language looks good at just about any size, but this latest evolution puts the CX-5 in genuinely beautiful territory.

The slimmer headlights work well with a longer-looking nose and a body that looks more pulled down over the wheels. Despite bearing more than a passing resemblance to the old car, all the panels are new and that's partly because a shift of the A-pillars of just 35mm was enough to make everything move.

The cabin has come in for a much bigger change. There wasn't a great deal wrong with the old one, but it was feeling a bit old, and some of the materials weren't quite there. As ever, the CX-5's first generation launched into a completely different, rather more sparse segment. With competition from all sides, the new interior had to deliver a more premium feel.

With improved plastics and fittings, a more cohesive design (something simple like consistent fonts go a long, long way to giving that impression) and the sort of detail improvements I've come to expect from Mazda, the new interior is lighter, feels better, and looks better. Job done.

Having said all of that, I can't really recommend the white leather. It looked pretty good with the red exterior and well-judged interior materials, but it's unlikely kids will be kind to it.

Pretty damn practical. The XV 2.0i-S, with its wagon-cum-SUV shape, strikes a best-of-both-world balance between on-road dynamics and load-lugging practicality.

To put its 4465mm length, 1800mm width and 1615mm height into some sort of perspective, the segment's best-seller, the CX-3, measures a diminutive 4275mm, 1765mm and 1550mm respectively, and you can feel the extra space at work in the XV.

Up front, the orange-stitched seats are big and comfortable, though they could be more figure-hugging around the hips. There are two cupholders that separate the front seats, and there's room in the front doors for bottles, too.

The auxiliary, power and dual USB connections live in a little storage space under the climate controls, and the central storage bin between the seats is big and deep, and home to another two USB connection points and a 12V power source.

Climb into the backseat and space is ample. Sitting behind my 174cm driving position, there is miles of room in front of my knees. Head space is good, too, with a strange kink in the roof that dips between the first and second row of seats, but climbs again to give backseat riders plenty of clear air.

Better still, you can definitely fit three humans across the rear - although the middle rider will be splaying their legs over the central tunnel. If you choose to go two-up, the backseat divider houses two extra cupholders, joining room in the back doors for bottles.

There are no air-con vents back there, though, and while backseat riders don't get easy-reach USB or power connections, they can use the set in the central storage bin that separates the front seats. There are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each window seat in the back.

Step around to the boot and you'll find a useable enough space (310 litres, seats in place, and 765 litres with the rear seats dropped) along with a space-saver spare hidden under the flat-bottomed storage area.

Never a class-leader in the spaciousness department, this CX-5 is still at the rear of the pack, but it hardly seems to matter. Boot space is up by 39 litres to 442 (VDA) with the seats up, tripling to 1342 litres with the seats down. The seatback is split 40/20/40 and you can drop each section individually, which is unusually generous.

The CX-5 has four cupholders (a pair up front and a pair in the rear centre armrest), a tray for your phone, bottle holders in each door and vents for the rear seat. Courtesy of a new higher centre console, the storage bin is deeper and also hides two USB ports.

The new car isn't any bigger, so the rear door aperture is still on the tight side compared to, say, Volkswagen's Tiguan or Hyundai's Tucson. It doesn't seem to bother owners I've spoken to, but it's worth noting. 

Once you're in, there is plenty of leg and headroom for rear passengers, providing the driver or front passenger isn't a Canadian Redwood.

The GT sits towards the top of a typically complex Mazda range that includes front or all-wheel drive, petrol and diesel engines, and a choice of manual gearbox or auto transmission.

Only the fully-loaded Akera is pricier. Kicking off at $44,390 for the petrol auto, the price rises $3000 to $47,390 for the diesel we had over Christmas.

Standard for your money is a 10-speaker Bose-branded stereo with digital radio, 19-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, a whopper of a safety package, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, electric front seats, LED foglights, active automatic LED headlights, sat nav, auto wipers, head-up display, leather trim, electric tailgate, powered and heated folding mirrors, power windows, a sunroof and space saver spare tyre.

Few things are missing in this spec, but the lack of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is frustrating (although not uncommon in the segment). Mazda's 'MZD Connect' multimedia is reasonably good, however, and with 10 speakers and basic-but-useful smartphone integration, you should get by. 

Presumably, the lowish-res 7.0-inch touchscreen is part of the reason Apple and Android aren't along for the ride.

The only option is the gorgeous 'Soul Red' paint finish of our test car, an entirely reasonable $300.

There's just the single engine on offer in the XV range, including in the 2.0i-S, and that's a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder "Boxer" engine that's good for 115kW at 6000rpm and 196Nm at 4000rpm. It's paired with an automatic CVT, sadly, and sends its power to all four wheels.

The 2.2-litre 'SkyActiv' diesel is the only turbo in the range, for now at least. Developing 129kW and a very decent 420Nm, it has a portly 1744kg to move. Power reaches the road through all four wheels via a traditional six-speed automatic.

The diesel is also fitted with technology to reduce the clatter reaching the cabin, start-stop tech and Mazda's 'G-Vectoring Control'.

Towing capacity is rated at 1800kg for braked trailers and 750kg unbraked.

The XV 2.0i-S will sip seven litres per hundred kilometres on the claimed combined cycle (though we were using 11.3L/100km at the conclusion of our test). Emissions are a claimed 159g/km of C02.

The XV's 63-litre tank accepts the cheaper 90RON fuel.

The sticker on the windscreen reckons you'll get 6.0L/100km on the combined cycle while exhaling 158g/km of CO2. With a 58-litre tank, that suggests a range just short of 1000km. And you know what? You might be able to do that if you don't spend too much time in traffic.

Mazda's 'i-stop' technology meant that over three weeks, we averaged 7.8L/100km in mostly urban and suburban driving. While that's a bit above the combined figure, it's not far off the urban number, 7.0L/100km.

Calling something a Jack of all trades is one of those things that sounds like a compliment, but actually rarely is. In short, it means something does lots of things adequately, but nothing truly spectacularly. Take a Porsche 911, for example; it's good at exactly one thing - going very fast - and it does it with an uncompromising focus, so taking one to Bunnings would be a very silly idea.

But the exception to that rule is the XV 2.0i-S, which is a Jack of so  many trades we lost count, some of which it's really very good at indeed. It is super practical, will swallow humans and cargo with ease, it's well equipped, and offers plenty of safety stuff. Better still, it's dynamically pretty sound, too.

Yes, practicality is the main game here, but drivers won't feel like they're swapping space for fun in the XV.

The XV is riding on Subaru's new global platform (the same that underpins the Impreza), which injects a little small-car athleticism. There's a lovely weight to the steering, too, but it doesn't feel quite as sharp as some of its smaller competitors, feeling a little top-heavy through corners.

Downsides? The engine feels a little anaemic up hills (though you wouldn't accuse it of feeling under-powered, necessarily), and like most CVT setups, it gets noisier with every push of the accelerator. So if you have a heavy right foot, you'll create a drone that drains the cabin ambience.

Yes, practicality is the main game here, but drivers won't feel like they're swapping space for fun in the XV. Well, not all the time, anyway.

The CX-5 has always been at or near the top of the medium SUV heap when it comes to the drive. The same couldn't be said for overall refinement. The old car suffered quite a bit from a classic (and fading) Mazda fault - cabin noise. The front suspension was the worst offender, with every bump, thunk and pop reaching your ears, along with tyre roar. 

It wasn't insurmountable - you could just turn up the stereo - but around town you got used to a cacophony of noise.

The new CX-5 - as with most major updates - has changed all that. While the underbits have barely changed (testament to the popularity of the car and the quality of its fundamentals), every spare gap has been filled with noise deadening materials, there's more carpet and just more stuff to reduce the racket. While it's not exactly silent, it's not far off the Tiguan, which is arguably the class benchmark.

As before, it's a lovely thing to drive. Easy-going but accurate steering, a firm but compliant ride (this car is not intended for off-roading) and a responsive transmission all combine to make life very relaxed behind the wheel.

The star of this car is the 2.2 diesel. Quiet, smooth and distinctly un-diesel in its aural character (inside at least), it makes the CX-5 a proper all-rounder. It cruises at speed in sixth, overtakes with just a little bit of toe pressure and is quite frugal, coming reasonably close to matching its claimed figures. Around town there is little lag to deal with and the power comes on nice and smooth.

The only complaint we had was that the blind spot monitor is perhaps a little over-enthusiastic, seemingly beeping every time we used the indicator to change lanes.

To achieve a five star ANCAP safety rating, Mazda fits six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, reversing camera, blind spot monitoring, reverse cross traffic alert, front and rear auto emergency braking (AEB) and speed sign recognition (which is easily fooled by, a) school zone signs, and, b) the appalling sign placements on Sydney's South Dowling Street).

Further to that package is a pair of ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchors.

The CX-5 earned its five star rating in September 2017. If you want lane keep assist and active cruise, you'll have to step up to the Akera.

The XV range is covered by a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, and requires servicing every 12 months or 12,500kms. Subaru's capped-price servicing program sees maintenance costs limited to between $348 and $757 per service for the first five visits to the dealership.

Mazda's three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is part of the CX-5 package, along with capped price servicing. Roadside assist is offered at $68.10 per year.

Your dealer will expect to see you every six months or 10,000km and will charge you between $317 on three of the five scheduled services, $387 for the second and $359 for the fourth. Extra items include $69 for the cabin air filter (every 40,000km) and $64 for brake fluid every 40,000km or two years.