MAZDA’S CX-50 2.5 TURBO MERIDIAN EDITION – LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES

MAZDA’S CX-50 2.5 TURBO MERIDIAN EDITION

LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES

The Mazda CX50 Meridian Edition offers a great value for its $43,850 price tag; in fact, it’s the CX-50 trim – of far too many trims – the editors at Car and Driver would buy.  Pricing for the CX50 starts at $31,720 and goes up to $44,720 for the Premium Turbo Plus model. There’s no question I would go for those models having the 2.5 Turbo engine. It has great get-up-and-go and the six-speed transmission is very smooth. 

Its wagon-like profile’s overall length of 186 inches sits on a wheelbase of just under 111 inches, and its height is a lowish (for the segment) 63.9 inches. Inside, the CX-50 offers 31 cubic feet of stowage behind the rear seat, and an expansive 56 cubic feet with the rear seat folded.

Mileage ranges from 23 mpg in the city to 29 mpg on the highway. The interior is well-appointed and the Meridian model has great-looking, very comfortable seats. The interior has very little plastic and most surfaces are soft touch. 

Safety standard features include automated emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. The design is better looking than Subaru’s Outback or Crosstrek (I’d liken it to Audi’s Allroad – ed.), but everyone has their taste in styling. As this is an all-wheel drive model its ground clearance will limit how much aggressive off-road surfaces it can tackle, but in the north and east – where you find both moisture and frozen moisture – it will do fine. And in the Southwest, where gravel roads will lead to your offroad adventure, it will do equally well.

The only two options on the CX50 Meridian Edition are the paint color and the roof rack; the rack I’d forego as the wind noise is horrible with the sun roof open. The standard equipment list is too long to list; I’ll simply say this is an inredibly well-equipped SUV. 

Two areas of concern: At outside temps over 100 degrees (Hello, Dallas!) the air conditioning has a hard time cooling the cabin, and the CX-50’s Infotaintement system is not very user-friendly – it seems to have a mind of its own! 

Enhancing the CX-50’s footprint are the tires, Falken Wildpeak A/Ts; they add significantly to the CX-50’s gravel grip, while working just fine on asphalt and, in many cities, broken asphalt. The color choice is Zircon Sand Metallic with terracotta trim on the seats. The other is a Polymetal Metallic with the same terracotta trim. 

In sum, Mazda’s CX-50 is a good value, well worth the price. And it compares favorably with other crossovers – such as Honda’s CR-V, VW’s Tiguan and Mazda’s own CX-5 – in  its class.