Think light-duty applications. . . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Because COVID caused a whole bunch of people to suddenly like going off road—or going off roadish—there are an abundance of vehicles that have been put out there that can do the job or can at least sort of pretend to do the job.

A great example of both poles are the Ford Bronco and Ford Bronco Sport, with the former engineered to eat rocks and the latter engineered to make traversing gravel roads more of an adventure. Although there are undoubtedly more people who don’t drive on Moab-esque terrain, it is interesting to note that in the first quarter of 2026 Ford sold nearly as many Broncos as Bronco Sports: 31,197 to 35,021.

But this is about the Mazda CX-50 S Meridian, not Ford (although here’s a fun fact: for 36 years Ford and Mazda had a partnership that ended in 2015 when Ford sold its remaining shares of Mazda).

And that vehicle is one that’s pretty much made for the gravel roads, not sandstone formations.

The vehicle is powered by a Skyactiv-G 2.5L naturally aspirated 187-hp four-cylinder engine. It produces 185 lb-ft of torque.

There is a six-speed automatic transmission.

And it comes straight out of the box (i.e., standard) with i-Activ AWD and Mazda Intelligent Drive Select (a.k.a., on the switch in the center console, “Mi-Drive”) with Sport and Off-Road modes. (And you’ve got to take those last two with a sizeable grain of salt.)

It has 18-inch alloy wheels wrapped with P225/60R18 all‑terrain tires that look absolutely ready to take on whatever.

But the things that make a difference are the 17.8-degree approach angle, the 24-degree departure angle and the 8.3-inch ground clearance. If those angles mean nothing to you then you’re probably not going off road. If those angles mean something to you, you probably know that you’re going to be doing light off-roading. (And the ground clearance, of course, is important because things like rocks and fallen trees stick up out of the ground, so if they are higher than, say 8 inches, and you try to drive over them . . . .)

Still, compared to other vehicles in the compact ute category, it has the sleek Mazda styling (which sort of makes the taking it off the smoothest surfaces seem almost counter to its looks). This particular trim offers three paint colors—Jet Black Mica, Polymetal Gray, and Zircon Sand—as well as gloss black Mazda badges and black roof rails.

Inside there is attention to details, which is almost something of a category-above, particularly as this vehicle has a starting MSRP of $33,150, which in the current market is remarkable.

To bring it back to the Bronco Sport comparison, there is the Bronco Sport Heritage trim that has a starting MSRP of $33,395.

The Mazda provides more horsepower (187 vs. 181) and greater ground clearance (8.3 inches vs. 7.8 inches). While they probably have the same light-off-roading capabilities, the Ford looks like it belongs out there while the Mazda seems styled for city streets.