2019 Mazda CX-5

It's time to revisit our compact-SUV comparison test to see if changes to the 2019 Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5 mean they can unseat our current champion, the Honda CR-V. Last year, the Honda CR-V took the crown, but the Toyota RAV4 has been totally redesigned, and the Mazda CX-5 has a new engine and a new luxurious top trim level. We test all three crossovers at the track, drive them in the suburbs, load them full of cargo, and figure out what all the buttons do so that we can pick a winner. Which small SUV is the best? Watch our triple test to find out.

[MUSIC PLAYING] MARK TAKAHASHI: Outside of pickup trucks, small crossover SUVs are the most popular class of vehicles. Considering how versatile, convenient, and easy to drive they are, it's really no surprise. Last year, we pitted our favorites-- the Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5-- against the sales leading Toyota RAV4. But that really wasn't such a fair fight, considering the RAV4 was just about to be redesigned. This year, the RAV4 is the new kid on the block, while the Mazda and Honda have gotten some key updates. That means this battle should be closer than ever before. WILL KAUFMAN: As always, you can get more information and great deals on these three vehicles and all of their competitors at Edmunds.com. Also, we've got more comparison videos coming up, so make sure to subscribe. But back to these three. ELANA SCHERR: We've got the Toyota, the Mazda, and the Honda. All have an MSRP between $35,000 and $38,000. All three seat five, offer all wheel drive, and come with a full suite of active driver safety aides. But which one does it best? Let's meet our fighters. [MUSIC PLAYING] This is the Honda CR-V in Touring trim. It's friendly and predictable, but is it stellar or a snoozer? Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you what's new on the Honda. It now comes with a volume knob. MARK TAKAHASHI: The last time we ran this test, the Mazda CX-5 got big points for performance and refinement. This time around, it gets a new turbo charged engine, as well as a top Signature trim. Those promise more power and luxury than ever before. WILL KAUFMAN: Well, brace yourselves, because this is the 2019 Toyota RAV4 Limited all wheel drive. For 2019, Toyota completely redesigned the RAV4 from the ground up. It's more powerful, has more technology, and more off road capability. But more than that, it's got way more attitude, both inside and out. Still, the old RAV4 lost the comparison test last time around. Does this redesign give the RAV4 the edge it needs to win? Let's find out. ELANA SCHERR: When it comes to bragging rights, the Mazda CX-5 is the most powerful in the bunch with 250 horsepower. The Toyota RAV4 is next with 203 horses, and the CR-V is third with only 190. But what's in a number? When we tested the cars' 0 to 60 times at the Edmunds track, the CX-5 was quickest. That's no surprise. But the RAV4 took a whopping 8.9 seconds to hit 60, while the CR-V did it in only 7.9. Power isn't everything. WILL KAUFMAN: Obviously, the numbers don't tell the whole story. To find out how these cars stack up, we're going to have to drive them in their natural habitats-- the suburbs. Let's hit the road. [MUSIC PLAYING] MARK TAKAHASHI: Will, Elana, this is the Mazda CX-5, which I consider the prettiest-- the best driving of the bunch for a number of reasons. It's got more power and I think the suspension is just tuned a little more sporty. ELANA SCHERR: Do you think that the sportiness and the power make you feel more like a dad or more like you're on a road trip with your super attractive and fun friends? MARK TAKAHASHI: I don't know how to answer that, but I'll take door number two. Yeah, it doesn't feel like I'm sacrificing driving engagement for the convenience of driving an SUV. WILL KAUFMAN: How do you feel about that upgraded engine, though? Do you think that's worth the extra money? It's a pretty big price bump. MARK TAKAHASHI: I don't see a big enough difference between that and the base engine. The base engine already has plenty of punch, I think. WILL KAUFMAN: It feels like they've aimed for luxury a little more than sport, like a premium feel. The engine just doesn't have a very sporty response, even though it's strong. ELANA SCHERR: The Mazda is fast, but it really wants you to know that it's working hard for it. Like it's like, I am going to be very loud about this. MARK TAKAHASHI: It doesn't sound terrible, though. It almost has that weird Subaru flutter. Here we go. [ENGINE REVVING] ELANA SCHERR: Oh. MARK TAKAHASHI: Right? It doesn't sound like you're hurting the engine. It sounds decent. It's almost to the point where it encourages you to drive just a little bit harder. ELANA SCHERR: But it does sort of sound like it's going, like, woo! [LAUGHTER] Get some! [LAUGHTER] MARK TAKAHASHI: This is a nice looking interior. You are paying more for it in this car. Mazda is making this push to be more of an entry level luxury brand, and you know what? The materials quality, I think, is better than the other two. I like the design. It's less cluttered. You know, are you going to buy this against an Audi? Probably not. So I have two USBs under my elbow. Hey, Elana, how many USBs do you have back there? ELANA SCHERR: I don't see any. [LAUGHTER] MARK TAKAHASHI: Trick. It's behind you. It's in that center armrest. You have to flip it down, and that's also where the seat heater controls are, which seems like a really bad place for both. ELANA SCHERR: You aren't lying. MARK TAKAHASHI: All right. Good. How's comfort wise back there? ELANA SCHERR: If we were going a long distance, I would prefer to be on one of the side seats because there's a big hump in the floor here and it makes it sort of awkward. There's nobody else in here, so it's fine right now, but I wouldn't want to be in here with other people or with car seats. How's the comfort up there? MARK TAKAHASHI: Will, you're pretty particular about seat comfort. Let's hear it. WILL KAUFMAN: I am. They're pretty supportive, they're a little narrower than they need to be-- a little more sport oriented. But the support is good and the cushioning is pretty good. I mean, I like sitting in the Mazda. It's one I could sit in every day. It really does feel like more of a four passenger vehicle, though, with the placement of the seat heaters and the USB ports and sort of the narrowness of that back seat. It just doesn't feel like it's meant to carry five people. MARK TAKAHASHI: Which might be a reason why I like it. I like smaller cars. I like cars that feel like it's wrapping around. You're almost wearing them, and this certainly has that feel. ELANA SCHERR: Of the three cars in this test, this is the one I would take if I was going on a road trip with my friends. It just felt like the most adult fun car. WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah, this is also the car with the best stereo in the group, which means that when I get sick of listening to you guys talk, I can just drown you out. [MUSIC PLAYING] Yeah. ELANA SCHERR: We're in the Honda CR-V, and Mark, before we started this test, you told me that I was going to be surprised by the Honda. MARK TAKAHASHI: Yes. ELANA SCHERR: And you were right. Everything about it is better than I expected it to be. The performance, the comfort, even the styling outside and inside is just not as soul sucking as I associate with small SUVs. MARK TAKAHASHI: And we have this conversation mirror so you can keep tabs on the rugrats in the back. WILL KAUFMAN: That's good. I need supervision. ELANA SCHERR: Stop that. The biggest surprise for me, though, was-- [ENGINE REVVING] It actually moves out. I mean, I'm not going to go crazy. I'm not going to say it's fast, but it is considerably faster than I was expecting it to be. WILL KAUFMAN: But it's only a second slower to 60 than the much more powerful CX-5. MARK TAKAHASHI: And it has a CVT, which generally have a tendency to suck the life out of any car. It's impressive how they tuned it, how they engineered it. It just works. ELANA SCHERR: I think that if you put somebody in this car and you had them guess the power train, they would never say 1.5 liter turbo 4 with a CVT. MARK TAKAHASHI: But handling wise, I mean, not that it's a priority for a lot of people-- how does it feel behind the wheel? ELANA SCHERR: It's certainly not scary. I mean, you're not going to worry about driving on a twisty road like, oh man, I've got to slow down to like 30 miles an hour and, you know, everyone behind me is going to be mad. MARK TAKAHASHI: As far as ride quality, though, I really like it. It's smooth. It's got the right amount of compliance to soak up all the bumps. This is just a much nicer ride quality. ELANA SCHERR: Oh yeah. I mean, comfort is probably the first word I would think of to describe this. The seats are big and plush. They're supportive enough. I really think SUV manufacturers tend to err on the side of making the seats, like, really stiff like, oh man, everybody wants to be in a sports car. And it's like, nope, nope. I want to feel like I'm in a recliner. I want the car to be quiet and I want everything to be soft and gentle. MARK TAKAHASHI: Speaking of quiet, floor it. [ENGINE REVVING] WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah, it doesn't sound bad. MARK TAKAHASHI: It doesn't. WILL KAUFMAN: It's not as nice an engine note as the CX-5, but it doesn't sound like you're hurting the car. ELANA SCHERR: I also don't think it's very loud. I mean, that was floored, and-- MARK TAKAHASHI: Yeah. ELANA SCHERR: If I had music on, I don't even think you'd hear it. Hey Will, how's the backseat? WILL KAUFMAN: The backseat in here is-- I mean, there's a lot of space back here. I actually think the side seats are really comfortable. The center seat is wide enough. I actually think you could fit three people across here, especially if you're dealing with kids. This is actually a five person SUV for a family. ELANA SCHERR: Among the many things that are easy in the Honda, visibility is one. There is plenty of room to see around the front pillars, the rear window is big, and you could see out even if there were three people in the backseat. Talking about surprises in the CR-V, I expected it to cost more than it does. MARK TAKAHASHI: I did, too. This is the top trim, and it comes in just a few hundred dollars under the RAV4, which means both of them are a couple thousand dollars less than the Mazda. It's impressive. You get a lot for that money. WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah, and I mean, it's really practical. There's a lot of smart solutions and thoughtful design. It's a car that does everything you need it to. It really helps you get everything that you need to do done, but it actually goes a little bit above and beyond that mission. It's a little nicer than just practical. ELANA SCHERR: Yeah, it solves all of your problems and it's a little bit fun. WILL KAUFMAN: Welcome to the RAV4. This is completely redesigned for 2019, so it's the newest vehicle in the bunch. It's also, in some ways, the oldest. The RAV4 was really the vehicle that started the small SUV craze. It's clearly changed a lot since then. For starters, it is much bigger in here. ELANA SCHERR: It's huge in here, actually. I mean, I know you meant that the whole car was bigger, but is it possible for a front seat to be too big? Like, I feel like I'm bouncing around. MARK TAKAHASHI: I actually am totally fine back here. I've got a ton of room underneath the seats. My knees aren't banging into anything, and Elana's seat is actually moved further back than what she normally needs. I'm totally fine back here, but that said, I didn't go on the RAV48 Tour, so I'm probably not the best person to talk about long distance comfort. WILL KAUFMAN: Yes. Elana and I each took a turn driving a RAV48 across all 48 contiguous states in just seven days, which meant we spent a lot of uninterrupted time sitting in these seats. ELANA SCHERR: A lot of the things that came up are still things that are coming up in this review. WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah. I mean obviously, the wheezy engine, you know, and I actually had issues with seat comfort in this car on a long drive. I found the front passenger seat just a little uncomfortable. These head rests are sort of aggressive. From the three cars we have here today, this has got to be my least favorite to sit in for a long time. ELANA SCHERR: One of the things that going on a long road trip in winter meant for testing this car is that we got to see what it was like in snow, in ice. WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah. I mean, it handled all of that stuff fine. You know, the vehicle sort of is the only one of this group that makes any even nod towards being off road capable. Even in this street oriented, feature filled version, you get a terrain select knob. You have a button specifically for a snow mode in the car, and it handles those things perfectly fine. MARK TAKAHASHI: But we're talking really light off roading. ELANA SCHERR: Do you feel like the big weakness is ground clearance or do you feel like the big weakness is the fact that it can barely make it up a paved hill? [LAUGHTER] WILL KAUFMAN: Yeah, the fact that you get all that torque way up high in the rev range and there's no low range gearbox in here means this is not at all a serious off roader. Let's see what happens when you actually stand on this car. [ENGINE REVVING] Oh, and you can-- oh, you can hear and feel the shifts are just sort of slow and a little slushy. It's not the best transmission. ELANA SCHERR: I feel bad. I feel bad for this car. I think it's embarrassed. WILL KAUFMAN: There is a solution to the problem of this engine, fortunately. For about $800 over a regular all wheel drive model, you can get the RAV4 Hybrid, which makes a bunch more torque, and the electric motors actually fill in some of that low end torque that you miss. And you get 40 miles to the gallon. It is an amazing deal, and I think if you were going to buy one of these, that's the one that you get. Of course, most people won't. One nice thing about the RAV4-- it actually has the best visibility of all three. The pillars are relatively narrow and they're placed so that they don't get in the way of your view. It has nice, big mirrors. It's got a big view out the back. It even has, in this trim, a camera mirror, just in case you've packed the back up with so much stuff that the regular mirror won't work. ELANA SCHERR: I definitely think the RAV4 is one of those vehicles where it was first to the market, it has a great reputation, people still believe in that great reputation, and when you actually get in the new one-- got laurels. They're being rested on. [MUSIC PLAYING] MARK TAKAHASHI: The Mazda CX-5 is gorgeous on the outside, but it's also really nice on the inside, too. It's my choice, as far as refinement and luxury go. If you look at the design, it's simple, but elegant. It also gets my vote for the best infotainment system, and I use those quite a bit. Sure, Apple CarPlay evens the playing field some, but this is the only one with one of these knobs here that we've become accustomed to from BMW, Audi, and Mercedes. But it's also a touchscreen, and that's great because Apple CarPlay-- it lends itself to being a touchscreen. Technology is also well represented because it has a head up display. That makes it unique among this group. It allows you to keep your eyes on the road, but still see all the vital information you need, including navigation, turn by turn prompts, speed limit signs. It all puts it right there, right in front of your view. Materials quality is excellent throughout. It fights well above its weight class, when it comes to the interior. Everything that you touch is nice, soft touch material, and it's well grained and it has excellent stitching throughout. With Mazda eyeing the entry level luxury market, this is a really promising start. When it comes to interior storage, however, it's not at the top of its game. I actually think the RAV4 and CR-V beat it. But I do have more than enough space for my stuff. If I had a car full of people, that might be a little challenging. There isn't a wireless charging pad, unfortunately. You have two USB ports under here, two moderately sized cup holders, and the bins in the doors-- you can put a decent size water bottle in there, but not much else. When it comes to visibility, the CX-5 is a little bit challenged. This roof pillar here in front is pretty thick. That means in a really sharp left turn, you kind of have to bob your head back and forth to see past it. Another bright spot in technology is the driver assistance features that the CX-5 has. It doesn't have more than the others, but I contend that it's better tuned. I didn't get any false alarms for frontal collision or for lane keep assist. And the other assistants, like the adaptive cruise control, is full range, all the way down to a stop. Even better, it reacts more like I drive. It just drives nice and smooth, in a logical manner that the RAV4 seems to be challenged by even more. WILL KAUFMAN: Toyota definitely gave the interior of the RAV4 an upgrade, in terms of design, personality, and material quality. Everywhere you look, the design is solid. There's some contrasting colors and textures. Most of what you touch is soft touch, padded materials. There are definitely still hard plastics around to bump into, but it's not that objectionable in this class. It's also nice they've added some rubberized knobs, these chunky climate control knobs, and the chunky grab handles on the door. Interior storage space is interesting. It's not as good as the CR-V. It's a little better than the CX-5. You get a big tray for your cell phone on higher trim levels. It's a wireless charging pad, which some people really like. The center console box is relatively small, but to make up for that, you have these nice little shelves that are placed around the cabin that neither of the other vehicles have. They're big enough for a cell phone. They're pretty useful. Something else I'd point out that I like in this vehicle, versus the other two, is the really big sunroof. There's a lot of light that comes in through that. This is a top trim vehicle, so you'd expect all the goodies on this, and it has stuff like dual zone climate control with a separate cutoff for the back seat. You have heated seats, and of course, the technology features. One thing you don't get is a heated steering wheel. You also don't get ventilated seats, which you can get on that CX-5. Even on the base trim, you get a pretty good set of active safety features. This car has the whole package. It has adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist. Those features work OK if you're at speed, but once you get into stop and go traffic, it just doesn't know how to behave. It wants to leave a lot of room between the RAV4 and the vehicle in front. Overall, it doesn't behave the way that you'd want when you're in stop and go traffic. One thing this vehicle offers that the other two don't is lane centering. Now, what that does is it tries to keep you centered in the lane, rather than sort of ping ponging back and forth between the lane markers like with regular lane keep assist. It's a system that works well at speed, but when I'm driving around town or on my commute, I just want it turned off because it is always beeping at you. It loses track of the right lane. It beeps at you. It drops out of lane centering to regular lane keep. It beeps at you. It goes back. It beeps at you. Loses track of the left lane. It beeps at you. You drift a little too far. It beeps at you. Every once in a while, it gives you a false positive and beeps at you. It just is always making noise. It's one of those things that's kind of nice to have on a long freeway cruise, but when I'm driving around the city or when I'm on my commute, I just want it turned off. Toyota gave this a pretty big infotainment screen. You get a volume knob and a tuning knob. Unlike the CR-V, you get hard buttons, so it's easy to navigate between the different menus that you want to use. Unfortunately, it's just not the easiest system overall. It doesn't look fantastic, the graphics look a little low resolution and dated, and some of the functions are a little harder to access than I'd like. It took me a little while to figure out how to pair Bluetooth on my phone. And sadly, the RAV4 only offers Apple CarPlay, and not Android Auto, which means about 50% of smartphone users are out in the cold. You can download the Entune connected app. That gives you a little bit more functionality, but it's not the easiest thing to use. I would rather just use Bluetooth, and then, I guess, rely on the kind of lame nav in this car. They came to this generation after the CR-V and CX-5, so they had an opportunity to leapfrog them. And instead, what they've done is make something that's fine. It gets the job done. It does the things you need to do. There are one or two nice things. It's a little bit more rugged and off roady. You can get the hybrid version. Beyond that, what you have here is a vehicle that just doesn't seem to offer as much as its competitors. [MUSIC PLAYING] ELANA SCHERR: The CR-V's biggest strength in its interior is the use of space. There's so much of it. The console is really low, so it doesn't get in your upper body area. Lots of room for your elbows. Lots of room for your passenger. The console doesn't come out too far, so it doesn't hit your knees. Just in general, the driving position is comfortable and it gives you a lot of room all around you. The materials are a mix of soft coverings and hard plastics, which is pretty much to be expected in a car at this price range. Everywhere you're actually touching, it's pretty nice and squishy. The thing Honda has going for it is not just that there's a lot of space, but it makes smart use of it. The console is divided into specific and convenient little cubbies, including a sliding tray that you can put your phone on, or you can tuck it away where the USB ports are. Even though I like the design of the center stack, I think Honda made some weird choices about where it put some of the controls. Like the Economy button is huge and over here, and the other driving buttons, like the things for your lane watch and the emergency braking warning-- that's over here. It seems like all those driving things should be in the same place. There's also this big screen, but only, like, this much of it is being used. I don't understand that decision. I do love the fact that they added in a volume knob. I mean, we joke about it, but this is a really valuable thing. I like the layout of the dash on the CR-V. It has this cool design for the fuel gauge and for the temperature, although it's not super legible. So definitely sacrificing style. Plus, even though it has a digital dash in the middle, they got really stingy on the controls for cycling through that menu, and you have to switch it using this information button to say whether you want to control the center menu or you want to control the menu on the screen. It's very confusing and not awesome to do while you're driving. The CR-V has adaptive cruise control, and it works really well. You can set it even at a very low speed. You can change the speed that you want it to go at. And I felt like overall, the car does a good job of controlling its speed on the freeway, depending on the traffic. But it's a very, very small icon on the dash that tells you when it's on, and because it's very easy to turn it off by, like, tapping the brake or something, I feel like it's dangerous to not have it be more obvious. I know Honda can make a really obvious warning because when the emergency braking warning is on, it's, like, this big and bright orange and flashing. They should do the same thing for when the adaptive cruise control is on. WILL KAUFMAN: One of the big reasons people choose SUVs over sedans is how much cargo space they offer. So let's see how these three stack up. The CR-V easily fit all of our very precious cargo, and it actually could have taken more. We had the floor in the higher position, and it can be lowered a bit. The RAV4 looks like it took almost as much, but what you can't see is how much more time we spent trying to make everything fit. The CR-V was just a lot easier. And obviously, the CX-5 comes in last. Behind the rear seat, it's more than 20% smaller than the CR-V, and you can really see the difference. [MUSIC PLAYING] ELANA SCHERR: Hey. MARK TAKAHASHI: Hey. ELANA SCHERR: We have tested them on the track and we have driven them in the suburbs. I think we're ready to declare a winner. Will, do you want to start us off? WILL KAUFMAN: Well, the 2019 RAV4 has been completely redesigned, and it's definitely got more attitude and more personality. It's also the most rugged of this bunch, but it's been slipping in terms of performance and value, and for that reason, it's both fallen down our rankings at Edmunds, and it comes in third in this test. MARK TAKAHASHI: The CX-5 remains my choice for the power, the performance, and the luxury. But I realize it does have some shortcomings, so I yield to the CR-V. WILL KAUFMAN: Way to ruin my surprise. I mean, nobody knew what was coming next. The CR-V is good at everything and bad at nothing, so it's the big dog in our small SUV comparison. Undisputed winner. Number one. MARK TAKAHASHI: For more information on all three of these SUVs, as well as its competition, head on over to Edmunds.com. To see more videos like this, hit Subscribe! ELANA SCHERR: Oh, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and Myspace and Reddit. WILL KAUFMAN: Like a Wattpad? ELANA SCHERR: And Friendster. WILL KAUFMAN: Got a Wattpad? A LiveJournal. ELANA SCHERR: And, like, come visit.