The Mazda CX50 Turbo Premium SUV is a delight to drive, but before I get too deep into my likes and dislikes, I need to make a public confession. I WANT ONE. It’s hard to test drive a car, then you have to give it back. If you are a woman, and most likely you are because the readers that look to me for advice, expertise and review pleasure are women drivers. I don’t mean women who simply shuffle the kids around. I’m talking about women who drive for sport, women who drive for leisure, women who drive to relax, or just get away to enjoy their very own machinery.
Great For Curves: It should come as no surprise the 2023 Mazda CX-50 is at its best on a sharp, twisty road, where its incredibly precise steering and well-damped suspension give the kind of precision expected from a sports car. Mazda’s G-Vectoring system makes wise use of the center and rear differentials to control weightiness transfer; among its magic, it keeps weight on the front end to sharpen corner turn-in.
Drive Modes: The 2023 Mazda CX-50 features multiple drive modes, something Mazda has steadfastly avoided in the past. We looked for a marked difference between Normal and Sport modes, but Mazda intentionally avoided this; the company’s take is that drive modes should not change the car’s character, but rather preserve it—in other words, ensure a consistent driving experience even when conditions change. That’s a notable goal, but it also misses the point somewhat. In our view, one of the purposes of multiple drive moves is to give a driver a break during less-demanding conditions. Good as the CX-50 was on that one curvy lane (and yes, we tried it in Normal and Sport modes; the differences were quite subtle), it would have been a lot less fatiguing on average roads if we could have dialed down the steering effort and off-center response. Mazda’s philosophy works better on dirt and gravel surfaces, where the Off-Road mode makes the car respond much as it does on dry pavement. On terrain uneven enough to get a wheel in the air, the CX-50 did a great job getting power to the ground. Perhaps it is, but after descending a steep, loose hill while trying to modulate the brakes with the CX-50 in a semi-slide, we were reminded that a gimmick that provides peace-of-mind is a useful one indeed.
CX-50s with a turbocharged engine can tow up to 3,500 pounds. We got a chance to tow at max capacity and were impressed by the SUV’s stability. The CX-50 has a Towing drive mode (which replaces Sport when a trailer is connected) that once again uses the center differential to shift weight forward and improve steering response. We found the difference too subtle to feel, but to be fair, a strong sense of self-preservation prevented us from jerking the wheel with the trailer attached.
Global One Magazine 