2023 Mazda CX-50 is fast, fun and affordable. Just don’t expect an off-roader

Mazda may be the world’s most frustrating automaker. Not because it builds bad vehicles, but because it builds good vehicles and consistently undermines them with muddled brand communications and stubbornly inconvenient controls.

The new 2023 CX-50 is no exception. It’s an attractive, affordable and sporty compact SUV that will eventually replace the popular CX-5. The striking CX-50 offers more power and improved features — everything you would expect from the next generation of a successful vehicle.

But Mazda couldn’t leave well enough alone. In the grand tradition of people and brands who aren’t quite certain who they are, it couldn’t resist a little embellishment. It’s not a mortal sin; we’ve all done it at one point or another. The fish we caught. The witty comment we thought of just after the perfect moment. The rock-crawling capability other SUVs offer. The likelihood our owners will drive more than 50 feet off the road in the Sonoran Desert.

But why? There are plenty of reasons to buy a CX-50 without playing those games.

Offroad-ish

In painstakingly crafted sentences, Mazda promises the CX-50 enables “drivers to venture further into the outdoors and off road” and has “expanded off-road capability, allowing drivers to be closer to nature” than its previous vehicles.

I’ve felt close to nature watching hummingbirds from my patio. Does that count?

Based on Mazda’s voluminous photos, performance claims and the CX-50’s technical specifications, the CX-50 is perfectly at home on dirt roads and two-tracks through relatively level forests and fields.

The CX-50 is bigger and more powerful than the CX-5. It has up to an extra inch of ground clearance and standard all-wheel drive, but no low range of gears for rugged territory.

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It is marginally more off-road capable than other Mazdas, with selectable drive modes that were created not to expand its envelope of operation, but to make driving on dirt feel as similar as possible to driving on pavement.

That should be more than enough to please CX-50 owners, as long as they don’t expect capabilities Mazda hints at but wisely doesn’t promise.

Safety and driver assistance features

• Lane departure warning and assist

• Blind spot alert and assist

• Cross traffic alert

• Automatic high beams

• Driver attention alert

• Automatic low-speed braking with pedestrian alert

• Automatic reverse braking

• Collision alert and automatic front braking

• Adaptive cruise control

• 360 view monitor

• Traffic sign recognition

How much?

Prices for the 2023 CX-50 start at $26,800. All-wheel drive and a sporty six-speed automatic transmission are standard equipment. The base models have a normally aspirated 2.5L four-cylinder engine that produces 187 hp and 186 pound-feet of torque.

Upper models get a turbocharged version of that engine that produces 227 hp and 310 pound-feet of torque or 256 hp/320 pound-feet, depending on whether you use 87 octane gasoline (regular) or 93 octane (premium). Curiously, Mazda recommends 91 octane, generally called midgrade, but doesn’t list output figures for that.

Turbo CX-50s start at $36,400. All prices exclude a $1,225 destination charge. ($1,270 in Alaska.)

I tested a loaded CX-50 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus that stickered at $41,945, excluding destination charge.

CX-50 prices compare well to other compact SUVs, few of which match its handling, style and the turbo’s power.

Competitors include the Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Nissan Rogue, Toyota RAV4 and VW Tiguan.

2023 Mazda CX-50 prices and trim levels

CX-50 2.5 S: $26,800

CX-50 2.5 S Select: $28,200

CX-50 2.5 S Preferred: $29,500

CX-50 2.5 S Preferred Plus: $31,940

CX-50 2.5 S Premium: $34,400

CX-50 2.5 S Premium Plus: $36,400

CX-50 Turbo: $36,400

CX-50 Turbo Premium: $39,550

CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus $41,550

All prices exclude $1,225 destination charge ($1,270 in Alaska).

Great to drive, and look at

The CX-50 looks tougher and more rugged than the CX-5, thanks to up to an inch of extra ground clearance and a wide opening hatch to accommodate tents and other large cargo. The new SUV is 5.7 inches longer, 3 inches wider and as much as 2.1 inches less tall, sporty proportions. The lower roof also makes it easier to load gear on top. Flared fenders and liberal use of black decals and cladding complete the picture.

The CX-50’s drivetrain and suspension live up to the promises made by its styling. The turbocharged model I tested had excellent throttle response for confident acceleration around town and on the highway. The steering is firm and precise.

The suspension delivered a comfortable ride but kept the CX-50 stable and planted in quick maneuvers.

The performance-tuned AWD system eliminates torque steer and delivered power smoothly.

The turbo can tow up to 3,500 pounds, good for a compact SUV. The naturally aspirated engine will tow an equally commendable 2,000 pounds.

A new way to make controls annoying

The interior is roomy and comfortable. There’s plenty of front seat storage in the center console. Rear leg and head room are good and the cargo compartment is among the segment’s best. Other available features include a head up display, Bose audio and  a 10.25-inch color touch screen.

Mazda’s controls for audio, navigation and phone have been a weakness for years. The automaker routed all these functions through a multipurpose rotary controller in the center console. Like most such, the controller was frustrating to use while driving, requiring more time and attention than simple buttons or a well-designed touch screen. In a particularly annoying choice, Mazda gave its vehicles a touch screen, but disabled it when the vehicle was in motion.

Mazda improved that slightly in the CX-50, which has standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, both of which can be operated from the touch screen while you’re driving.

That felt like a breakthrough, until I tried to use the touch screen with the car’s embedded audio and navigation features. Nada. In a truly baffling decision, Mazda decided an in-motion touch screen is a good thing for smartphone features like audio and navigation, but it’d be wrong to offer the same simple, intuitive control for the car’s built-in features.

That reasoning, to use the word very loosely, is just another example of Mazda getting in its own way, and in the way of drivers enjoying vehicles that are excellent in so many other ways.

2023 Mazda CX-50 at a glance

Base price: $26,800 (all prices exclude $1,225 destination charge/$1,270 in Alaska)

All-wheel drive compact 5-passenger SUV

On sale now

Specifications as tested

Model tested: 2.5T Premium Plus

Price as tested: $41,945

Engine: 2.5L turbocharged four-cylinder

Output: 227 hp at 5,000 rpm 87 octane gasoline/256 93 octane;310 lb-ft of torque 87 octane gasoline/320 93 octane

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

EPA fuel economy estimate: 23 mpg city/29 highway/25 combined. Regular gasoline.

EPA estimated annual fuel cost: $3,000

Top speed: 142 mph

Wheelbase: 110.8  inches

Length: 185.8 inches

Width: 72.9 inches (mirrors folded)

Height: 63.9  inches

Passenger volume: 98.3 cubic feet

Cargo volume: 31.4 cubic feet behind rear seat; 56.3 with rear seat folded

Water fording: 19.7 inches

Ground clearance: 8.6 inches

Curb weight: 3,907 pounds

Towing capacity: 3,500 pounds

Assembled in Huntsville, Alabama

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 Mazda CX-50 is fun and affordable. So why does it make me crazy?