Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD 2024 Review

From January 2024, the Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera turbo-petrol all-wheel drive is priced from $54,970 plus on-road costs.

That’s because of a minor update that changes the grille design, adds a hands-free function to the power tailgate and swaps from timber accents to Nappa leather trim in the door and dash.

But mechanically our MY23 test car is still representative of what you will be sampling at your Mazda dealer from this month.

It’s unlikely to change much, if at all, from this point as the second-generation CX-5 is in the closing stages of its career. Even so, it remains one of the most popular vehicles in its segment.

With the end of the turbo-diesel engine option in 2024 the G35 Akera now becomes the most expensive member of the CX-5 line-up and only one of two – along with the G35 GT SP AWD (from $52,780 plus ORCs) – that gets the turbo-petrol (G35) engine.

There are numerous alternatives to the CX-5 to consider because the medium five-seat SUV segment is very popular. Key rivals include the turbo-petrol Hyundai Tucson Highlander and Kia Sportage GT-Line, Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER, Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed, Toyota RAV4 Edge and the outgoing Volkswagen Tiguan 162TSI.

As the flagship in the range, the 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD comes with exclusive equipment that includes 19-inch bright alloy wheels and body-colour mirror housings, wheel-arches and lower cladding.

Internal upgrades include ventilated front seats, rear seat heating, Nappa leather seat trim, a heated steering wheel, LED ambient and glovebox lighting and a frameless rear-view mirror.

Key equipment shared with lesser CX-5s includes a power glass sunroof, the aforementioned power tailgate, a 10-way powered driver’s seat and a six-way powered front passenger seat. Both front seats are also heated and the driver gets two-position memory.

Beyond all that there’s also keyless entry and push-button start, dual-zone climate control, an electric park brake and leather-wrapped gear shifter and steering wheel. The spare tyre is a space-saver.

The CX-5 is protected by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and comes with service intervals freshly stretched from 10,000km/12 months to 15,000km/12 months. Overdue that.

There are nine colour choices, six of which cost an extra $995.

Capped-price servicing is offered out to seven years or 105,000km. It adds up to $3472, averages $496 per visit, charges a low of $354 three times and a high of $830 once.

The Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD really shows its age with its 2017 ANCAP five-star score from the year it launched. That rating is now well and truly outdated compared to current protocols and is so old it’s actually been deleted by ANCAP for 2024.

Not that Mazda’s left the CX-5 sitting unattended since 2017. It’s been subject to a series of updates that have kept its safety inventory pretty competitive.

So that list includes forward autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with day and night pedestrian detection and daylight cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, lane centring, keeping and departure warning, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, tyre pressure monitoring and a driver attention alert.

The G35 Akera also comes with front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera and adaptive LED headlights with a selective dipping function to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.

It has six airbags, missing out on the latest centre-front airbag. It also has two ISOFIX anchor points and three child seat top tethers in the rear seat.

It’s not only safety upgrades that have come regularly for the Mazda CX-5. In 2023 the 10.25-inch infotainment screen – previously limited to Akera and GT SP – was made standard across all models.

In the current Mazda way, the screen is mounted too far from the driver to comfortably reach and is operable only by dials, buttons and voice and has no touch function. This, Mazda argues, is a safety benefit, because there is less time with eyes spent off the road.

There’s a head-up display above the analogue/digital instrument cluster, again for safety reasons.

Functions operated out of the infotainment screen include wireless and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, embedded sat-nav, AM/FM and digital radio bands and Bluetooth phone and audio streaming. Sounds are pumped out by a 10-speaker Bose audio system.

Smartphones can be charged wirelessly and there are two USB-C points located in the first row and two USB-A ports in the second row.

The 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera comes powered by the familiar Skyactiv 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that’s also found in models as varied as the departing CX-9 large SUV and aged – but still great – Mazda6 family sedan that Mazda Australia says should be around for a year or two more.

Introduced to CX-5 in 2019, it produces 170kW at 5000rpm and 420Nm at 2000rpm hooked up to a six-speed auto that can be manipulated through Normal and Sport modes or manually shifted via the lever or small flappy tabs mounted on the steering wheel.

Next step along the driveline is an on-demand all-wheel drive system dubbed i-Activ that hooks up the rear wheels via an electronically-controlled coupling when a multitude of sensors reckon the time is right.

The claimed combined fuel consumption average for the 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera is 8.2L/100km.

During our 4209.4km sojourn, the average emerged at 9.6L/100km. That’s acceptable for a fully laden vehicle being asked to work hard.

Helpfully, that was achieved using the cheapest 91RON fuel (where available). Combined with the 58-litre tank that delivers a comfortable range of almost 600km.

Our plan for this 2024 CX-5 G35 Akera AWD drive was to take the road less travelled as much as possible.

So our route from Melbourne to Coffs Harbour went via Yarra Glen, Benalla, Wagga Wagga, Temora, Grenfell, Mount Panorama (yep, a lap was completed), the Bylong Valley Way bypassing Sydney, then Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and across to the coast road at Taree.

The way back included stops at Bonny Hills, Wellington and Culcairn.

It was a trip that included wide open plains, rolling hills, coastal byways and the roughest, patchworked and most flood damaged roads I’ve ever driven on. Seriously.

There was one section near the village of Cargo and another north of Gloucester where there was no point trying to idle through on the smoothest line. There was no smooth line.

We feared for the tyres and wheels in these awful conditions, but escaped with a large nail through the tread rather than a gouged sidewall or dinged alloy.

On such rough roads it’s easy to expect the CX-5’s cabin to be a cacophony of noise given Mazda’s traditional reputation. But that was not the case, the combination of Toyo Proxes rubber and coarse bitumen produced some intrusions, but it was never objectionable.

It might also be suspected that the firm independent suspension set-up of the CX-5 would be its undoing on such unfriendly surfaces. But only the worst potholes produced rear-end shimmy or a serious noise and vibration back into the cabin.

The CX-5 has really well resolved spring and damper tuning. Hits are rounded off and resolved in one movement of the body, meaning the comfort of the car is maintained and the handling – when allied with its accurate steering – is well controlled.

The compact size of the CX-5 and its reactive AWD system (and perhaps more subtly the G-Vectoring Plus that brakes individual wheels and modulates throttle to aid cornering) also helped with its nimble handling.

Compared to the equivalent Hyundai Tucson turbo-petrol AWD the Mazda is 55mm shorter and 20mm narrower with a 55mm shorter wheelbase. That helps explain its manoeuvrability. Sport mode heavies up the steering, but to no good purpose.

The engine really aids the feeling this car has purpose to it. Apart from some tip-in throttle hesitation, response is robust all through the range. It is well ahead of the 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated engine that’s the biggest seller in the CX-5 line-up and aeons ahead of the 2.0 in the entry-level front-driver.

The turbo engine delivers high confidence overtaking and climbing hills and that power, combined with the dynamic capability, makes the Akera feel more sporting than the models lower down the range.

Yet once on freeways – yes, we had to go there at times – the Akera cruised happily with its drive assistants taking some of the load. Only the cruise control misbehaved, plunging well below the target speed climbing hills and then rushing past it descending the other side.

Yep, the 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD can tackle moderate off-road challenges – it’s even got an off-road drive mode that basically feels like it dulls down responses a tad.

In the last couple of years Mazda’s also added off-road traction assist to CX-5 AWDs, which is an electronic locking rear diff we tested back in 2020.

The compact size that aids the 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD’s on-road poise is not an asset when it comes to stowing people and stuff.

Nor is the cabin amongst the best for packing away your bits and bobs. Rear-seat space is a bit tight on for legroom if you are 180cm tall and sitting behind a similarly sized driver or front passenger, and the boot is a mediocre 438 litres, expanding to a more generous 1340 litres with the tri-section second row split-folded.

By comparison, the Tucson boasts 539 litres and 1860 litres in the boot.

Still, we did okay for space on our trip. Two adults up front, two Dachshunds in the rear in their travel seats, the boot full of suitcases and a bicycle on the roof attached to Mazda accessory roof bars.

The driver has reach- and rake-adjustable steering and plenty of seat movement and support to help attain a good driving position. Our long days in the saddle produced no complaints when it came to the enduring quality of the seat.

The speedo sitting in the centre of the instrument cluster is clear and legible, as is the HUD above it. The safety advantage of the non-touch infotainment screen remains debatable as you still have to turn your head from the road to use the rotary controller and other buttons and read the screen.

Happily, the tactility of those buttons remains a Mazda strength, as does the overall standard of the interior build. Japanese cars built in Japan remain the best-quality affordable cars in the world.

Storage options up front include door bins, a lidded centre bin and a glove box. But the wireless smartphone charger occupies some handy space in the centre console.

In the rear seat passengers are offered overhead lighting, adjustable air-con vents, dual seatback pockets, door bins, a fold down arm rest with inbuilt cup holders and dual USB-A points. By Mazda’s normally parsimonious attitude towards rear seat passengers, that’s very generous.

Having driven the 2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera more than 4000km and survived the experience without any dramas (apart from one flat tyre), there’s no doubt this remains a very decent mid-size SUV.

Yep, it’s in its dotage, smaller, not as smart inside as much of its opposition and more expensive than plenty as well.

But it’s also well built, zestily enjoyable to drive thanks to its turbo engine and all-wheel drive dynamics and capable of taking you far and wide across this wide and varied land.

Hopefully its successor will be just as capable.

2024 Mazda CX-5 G35 Akera AWD at a glance:
Price: $54,970 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 170kW/420Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 191g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Unrated