The SUV segment is somewhat more appealing. The Mazda CX-5 is one that
just oozes dynamic sensuality.
Ever noticed the difference in atmosphere when you travel in different
vehicles with friends?
There may be more chatter about the car and perhaps, it becoming their dream
car someday.
Receiving the keys, or rather a dongle for the smart keyless system of
the Mazda Cx-5, I did not know what to expect of this aerodynamically-styled SUV.
The timing was perfect too, as it coincided with my trip to the
Swiss-Garden Beach Resort for the inaugural Shafie Memorial Cup at the Damai
Laut Golf & Country Club. It will be hard to forget a dear friend of the
media and the Swiss-Garden Cup.
The alarm on my mobile “crowed” at 5am, as I had to get ready to fetch
Eddie Hoo and his wife, not to mention having to squeeze prizes into the SUV.
My arrival at 6am triggered off the barking of dogs in Eddie’s
neighbourhood, as they sniffed a stranger, and a new ‘deep crystal blue mica’
2.5L Mazda CX-5.
In the boot, we managed to squeeze in two golf stand bags, a large box
of 30 Crest Link golf shirts, two small
boxes of Wilson Staff balls, four bottles of Old Pulteney single malt whisky
and three overnight bags.
Amazingly, we managed to complete the loading, or stuffing, with a PGA
Tour 9” cart bag and another OnOff Cart bag by standing them up behind the
driver’s seat. It had taken us nearly 20 minutes and it was time to hit the
highway.
The one thing that makes this SUV special is that it is not as heavy as
it looks. The Skyactiv body is 30 percent more rigid and eight percent lighter.
This reduction in weight further complements this energy efficient
vehicle (EEV) with the new generation Skyactiv-G direct injection petrol engine
with i-stop. Some of the technical breakthroughs include a 4-2-1 exhaust
system, cavity pistons and multi-hole injectors that translate into an
extraordinary compression ratio of 13.0:1, a world’s first.
Putting pedal to the metal when we hit the highway, the car touched the
100 k/ph mark within seconds. The CX-5’s powerful engine proved to be very
quiet, even when I switched it to manual transmission to downshift a gear
before overtaking.
Exiting at Sungkai, the twisty sections revealed the exceptional
handling of the vehicle shod with 225/65 R17 tyres. Obviously, the Dynamic
Stability Control (DSC) and Traction Control System (TCS) did play a part in
making this two-wheel-drive SUV feel like it was a four-wheel-drive.
Going up and down the gears, the only thing that was lacking were paddle
shifters that would have made gear changes faster. Furthermore, it felt that I
had to reach a little more for the gear knob.
Averaging 140 k/ph on straight stretches of road, we arrived at the
Damai Laut club house in slightly more than 3 hours. And, that even included a
half an hour breakfast stop at Sungkai.
The full leather upholstery and 9-speaker Bose sound system certainly
added to the comforting journey. As Eddie and the wife would say later, “It
didn’t feel like a three-hour plus journey at all.”
Chances
are, they may just place an order for a unit soon.
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