Payne: Mazda fixed the CX-5. Except for the turbo-4

Posted by Talbot Payne on May 14, 2026

The 2026 Mazda CX-5 is all-new for its third generation.  
Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Southfield — Rarely do I attack a 180-degree cloverleaf with an SUV. Exiting I-75 in the all-new 2026 Mazda CX-5, I activated SPORT mode, stabbed the brakes, then rotated the 3,856-pound ute into the looooong turn, hugging the apex until the all-season tires screamed in protest. The CX-5 stayed true.

Yep, the CX-5’s poised handling hasn’t changed.

But everything else has. After lagging the segment in touchscreen ergonomics and interior room, the third-generation CX-5 has been remade as a roomy, cutting-edge tool for the digital age. But for the curious absence of Mazda’s turbocharged engine alternative, CX-5 is a high five.

Job One: The touchscreen

As an aspirational premium brand, Mazda made a splash with the second-gen CX-5 in 2017, equipping it with a chic remote-rotary-controlled infotainment screen in the fashion of luxury brands Audi and BMW. Mazda engineers also embraced the technology because it allowed them to move the touchless screen forward on the dash where it was more in the line of the driver’s road view.

But as smartphones took over the world — and our cars — Tesla-like touchscreens were the rage. We were driving iPhones on wheels! BMW quickly fell in line with a touchscreen to complement the rotary i-Drive it had, ahem, invented. So, too, Genesis. Audi went touchscreen, and suddenly … Mazda’s system was unfashionable.

And unloved. My son looooves his Mazda3, except for the clumsy remote controller.

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