It all comes down to your individual taste. . . .
By Gary S. Vasilash
Back in 1995 Chick-fil-A began its billboard campaign with two cows painting on the sign “Eat Mor Chikin.”
And since 1995, especially in the past few years, there has been phenomenal growth in the number of fast-food outlets ordinarily associated with beef patties on a bun offering chicken in various configurations.
But chikin.
Now for the most part a sandwich here and a sandwich there are essentially the same. Sure, there’s some distinctive variations, but it is, to drag in another metaphor, variations on a theme.
The same but different.
Which brings me to compact crossovers, which are to OEMs what chikin is to fast-food operators.
Everyone has one. And there isn’t a heck of a lot of difference between them.
In the chicken sandwich world there’s Chick-fil-A and then all the rest. Which is something like the Toyota RAV4 in the compact crossover space. (Don’t be misled by the RAV4 sales being off during the first half of this year because the company is in the process of launching the sixth generation, so once the production lines are humming things will resume, undoubtedly.)
Which brings me to the Mazda CX-50.
This is the first generation of the vehicle, which launched as a model year 2023 crossover.
It is the first vehicle that Mazda is producing at the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama.
(Although I used the RAV4 for analogy purposes only, given the name of that plant you might be wondering what Toyota does there—no, not the RAV4, but the Corolla Cross.)
The CX-50 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus in question has a Skyactiv-G 2.5L turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 256 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque. That’s if you fill the tank with premium. Nowadays you might opt for regular (at the time of this writing, the national average for premium is $5.35 per gallon and $4.45 for regular; a few gallons can make the difference on whether you get a chicken sandwich with fries or not). If you run it on regular then the numbers go down to 227 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque.
The vehicle features a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters. There is standard “i-Activ AWD,”
on premium 93-octane fuel or 227 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque on regular 87-octane fuel. The engine pairs with a Skyactiv-Drive six-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters and has standard i-Activ AWD.
And a word about that. This is a clever system that uses 27 sensors to determine driving conditions, both the vehicle and the environment. So rather than merely being reactive (i.e., wheel slippage occurs, kick on the system), it is predictive, basing what it does on those sensors).
The vehicle offers black badges and LED headlights. Automatic power-folding side mirrors and a full-color “Active Driving Display” (a.k.a., “head up display”).
On the inside there is leather and nice stitching on the trim. There are heated rear seats and a 10.25-inch color display.
The CX-50 is a very nice compact crossover. This trim is the top-of-the-line, so it has a starting MSRP of $42,900. The base trim starts at $29,000. There is an array of the ways you can have the CX-50 to fit your needs.
I know people who swear by Mazdas. And evidently through August, there are a lot of people who are opting for the CX-50, as it is now the best-seller in the company’s lineup.
Whether it is a chicken sandwich or a compact crossover, it is a matter of taste.
And the CX-50 is well done.
