It still looks exotic, though, As We drive past in our 2013 Mazda CX-5 prototype. When the 2013 Mazda CX-5 arrives next February, the automaker Will be looking again at the heart of the market.
"The Biggest outflow from the C-segment car (Mazda 3) is into the small crossover segment," Jim O'Sullivan, president of Mazda North America, Tells us. The CX-5 will not be a niche player. "O'Sullivan expects the 2013 Mazda CX-5 to Become the brand's No.. 2 seller in the U.S., easily matching the combined annual total of the CX-7 and CX-9 (58.000 in 2010).
The Mazda CX-5 prototypes remind you it's possible to build a small, fuel-efficient crossover That is not a bore to drive.The CX-5 rides on a 106.5-inch wheelbase and measures 178.7 inches from nose to tail, so it's not that much Smaller than the CX-7, the which has a 108.3-inch wheelbase and has an overall length of 184.3 inches. The current Mazda 3 five-door hatch is about the same length as the CX-5, but its wheelbase is 2.5 inches shorter, and it's almost 3 inches narrower.
The differences the between the 2013 Mazda CX-5 and the three are obvious As We settle into the driver seat of the well-worn, the European-spec Mazda developmental prototypes has invited us here to drive.
All 2013 Mazda CX-5s Will come to the U.S. with Mazda's new Skyactiv-G direct-injected, 2.0-liter, inline four-cylinder gasoline engine. The engines in these development mules have the same 14.0:1 compression ratio as the Mazda 6 prototypes Engineering Editor Jay Cavanaugh drove last month. Mazda engineers Obsessed over reducing friction, and compared to the older MZR port-injected 2.0-liter engine Offered on the Mazda 3, it's down by 30 percent.
We get to drive one 2.0-liter-equipped Mazda CX-5 prototype with Mazda's new six-speed manual transmission driving its front wheels, while the other has the new six-speed automatic and a haled clutch-type all-wheel-drive system - meaning its front-drive until wheel-speed sensors identify a threat traction.Mazda has not released Curb weights, but there's little doubt That Both mules are well under 4.000 pounds, as the 2.0-liter engine provides adequate motivation. Mazda has not decided whether to offer it on the US-spec CX-5s.
Mazda CX-5 promises best-in-class fuel economy, the which does not seem far-Fetched given the 28 mpg city/38 mpg highway estimates for the 2012 Mazda 3 hatch (28/40 for the sedan).
"I've been fantasizing about a Skyactiv-D-equipped MX-5," Cavanaugh wrote after driving a Mazda 6 prototype with the company's new 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel. Take That to hearts, Because the diesel-equipped Euro-spec Mazda CX-5 prototypes are just as impressive. It Gives the CX-5 a genuine performance bent.Lower compression also allows the uses of lighter components, the which enable the engine's unusually high 5.200-rpm redline.
The Mazda CX-5 electric steering is coming together nicely.
