News: Subaru shows off new Forester

Subaru has released the first official photos of the all-new Forester SUV, which will go on sale in Ireland next summer. Subaru claims that it will come with competitive pricing, and improved fuel economy.

The fourth-generation Forester builds upon the outgoing model’s credentials as a go-anywhere, user-friendly SUV, with improved performance, safety and efficiency and a larger, more practical cabin. Subaru’s unique Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system remains at the heart of the vehicle, while a low centre of gravity and improved body rigidity contribute to improved refinement and a typically engaging drive on the road.

Confirming the of the Forester, Subaru has also announced outline details of the engine line-up, which will include the existing 150bhp 2.0-litre Boxer diesel and petrol units, as well as a new high-performance 2.0-litre direct injection turbocharged petrol engine, producing 280bhp. That model is rather unlikely to reach Irish shores, sadly.

All engines will feature a six-speed manual transmission as standard, while Subaru’s Lineartronic (CVT) transmission is available as an option on petrol models.  The Lineartronic transmission has been modified to manage the increased power while also providing improved fuel efficiency, and ensures that both CVT-equipped petrol engines achieve the 2015 Japanese fuel economy standard.

Road Test: Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE

Price as tested: €37,785

+ Space, quality, comfort, steering, off-road ability, styling
– Cabin too plain for this price level, some refinement issues
= A solid SUV from Honda, but will find life tough against sharp competition

It seems almost crazy to think of it now, but back when the original Honda CR-V was launched, the Japanese brand controlled one quarter of the Irish SUV market. Back in 1998, it seemed, we just couldn't get enough of one of the original soft-roaders.

Spool forward to 2012 and things have changed rather a lot, not least of which, the CR-V itself. The outgoing generation was larger than before, and centered around a Diesel engine rather than the petrol-focused original. High in quality and comfort, it was a rival to the likes of the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 as much as its more obvious sparring partners, the Toyota RAV 4 and Ford Kuga. But good car though it was, the outgoing CR-V had to content itself with a much smaller slice of the market, not least because instead of the mere handful of rivals the 1998 original had to contend with, now there is an army of them.

With this new generation model of CR-V, Honda will be trying to claw back some of that original sales dominance and it's going about that in three distinct ways.

For a start, the new CR-V carries over the previous models' two most successful features; its cabin space and its 2.2-litre 148bhp diesel engine. The spacious interior and cavernous boot mark the new CR-V out as one of the few SUVs that can actually boast proper Utility; you can really cram it full of people and cargo, not something you can say for all  of its rivals.

Meanwhile, the still-excellent 2.2-litre iDTEC engine, while it lacks outright power compared to such rivals, is still smooth, punchy and impressively economical. It has even managed to drop a tax band, from Band D to Band C, saving owners a significant amount in annual motor tax.

The second strand to the CR-V's strategy is its styling, which looks much bluffer and more striking than it did before. The old CR-V always looked a touch apologetic. This new one is much more assertive, and all the better for it.

Finally, Honda has realised that it must compete on price, and the most affordable version of the new CR-V clocks in with a €37,795 price tag – within €1,000 of its most significant new rival, the new Hyundai Santa Fe.

The CR-V can even trade equipment and specification blows with the Hyundai, for while it lacks some toys as standard (such as Bluetooth phone connection, and it also lacks the Hyundai's seven seat layout) the CR-V comes with four wheel drive as standard.

And that all-wheel-drive is not just there for show. Honda was quite happy for us to take our test car off into the muddy outback, slipping and sliding over surprisingly tough terrain. Few owners, if any, will put it to the test, but the CR-V can certainly tackle the rough stuff.

On the smooth, it's as good as ever, retaining the old CR-V's combination of tidy handling, a comfortable ride quality and sharp, alert steering. Again, it's very close to the Hyundai in dynamic terms, and that's a good ball park to be in.

There are two let-downs to the CR-V though, and both of them are inside. We've already mentioned the excellent space, and the seats, both front and rear, are comfy and supportive. But there's a lack of flair to the cabin design and layout, a sense of plain-ness that disappoints, especially given Honda's premium-status aspirations.

That's not helped by a distinct, bassy boom that comes up from under the boot floor, and makes its presence known throughout the cabin from speeds as low as 70kmh. It's a black mark against the CR-V's refinement, which is a shame.

Those two issues apart, though, it's hard not to like the CR-V. The new styling is pleasingly distinctive, the engine and chassis as good as ever and the cabin and boot as spacious as you could hope. We can't think of a good reason why it wouldn't be close to the top of your SUV shopping list.

Well, actually, there is one good reason. It's that this 2.2-litre, 4WD CR-V might not be the best CR-V to buy. Later in 2013, there will be a front-wheel-drive CR-V, using Honda's all-new 1.6-litre Diesel engine, that will be more affordable again and will, apparently, boast astonishingly low 99g/km Co2 emissions, putting this large, spacious SUV on a tax band par with the likes of a Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. So while we like this new generation of CR-V, it might be worth holding off on buying one for a while yet...


Honda CR-V 2.2 iDTEC SE
Price as tested: €37,795
Price range: €37,795 to €50,095
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 148bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.7sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (51mpg)
CO2 emissions: 149g/km
Road Tax Band: C. €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

News: Volkswagen plans new SUVs, launches hotter Scirocco

Volkswagen has confirmed that it will begin developing a huge range of SUV style vehicles, dramatically expanding its range beyond the current Tiguan and Touareg,


It's not exactly a surprising move, considering that compact SUVs are pretty much the only market segment still capable of pulling in a few buyers at the moment, and VW's range is looking somewhat light on SUVs compared to some rivals, especially Nissan's

So, two new SUVs are already in the works, both designed to compliment the next-generation Tiguan (which should look very similar to VW's CrossCoupe concept car, above). The first will be a compact, Polo-based car designed to take on the Nissan Juke, Mini Countryman and in-house rival Skoda Yeti. The current CrossPolo kind of fills that niche at the moment, but VW product planners are convinced that what buyers want is a car that's more obviously 4x4 based and more versatile too.

Then there will be a Passat-based seve-seat SUV, to take on the likes of the Hyundai Santa Fe and next-generation Land Rover Freelander. That won't arrive till 2015 at the earliest though, and kind of revives an abandoned plan that would have seen the last-gen Passat spin off a luxurious seven-seat Mercedes R-Class rival.

In the meantime, VW is tilting at enthusiasts with the new Scirocco GTS. Don't get your hopes up; there's no new or more powerful engine. GTS is a trim level that includes those bonnet stripes,  red mirrors and brake calipers, spoiler, diffuser and 18" wheels. Inside, there's loads of red stitching, piano black panels and a retro-eighties golf-ball gearknob.

Road Test: Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort

Price as tested: €36,995
+  Style, comfort, dynamics, engine, quality, price, equipment
–  Some cheap cabin bits, 3rd row seats very small
=  Could genuinely take the game to the premium brands



The first thing that strikes you when you climb aboard the new Hyundai Santa Fe is that you’d be very happy to do a very long journey in one. The seats are comfy, the quality of the cabin excellent and the steering wheel, in spite of some oddly slippery leather wrapping (was someone a bit too enthusiastic with the old Son-Of-A-Gun?) feels good in your hand. As a driving environment, it’s a hard one to beat.

That’s a confirmation confirmed when you twist the key and fire up the upgraded 2.2-litre diesel engine. Aside from a brief burst of diesely-clatter on a cold start, it’s a remarkably refined engine, something that becomes even more remarkable when you realise that our test car had just 94km on its odometer. If it’s this good now, it could potentially be even better with a few loosening-up miles on the clock.

Select first and nudge out of the gate and do all those positive first impressions survive a meeting with the road?

Well, we’ll get to that in a minute, but for a moment, let’s consider the Santa Fe’s place in Hyundai’s firmament. I have to confess that I despised the original 2000 Santa Fe. Rugged and reliable it may have been, but it was lumpy to look at, lumpy to drive and had some of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever sat on. The 2007 replacement then, was as much relief as revelation, and a precursor to the recent product revolution at Hyundai, arriving as it did just ahead of the first generation of Hyundai’s i-models. Now, the Santa Fe could boast pleasant styling, a useful seven-seat cabin (even if the third row of seats was suitable only for small children) and competent on-road dynamics. And decent seats, thank the lords of motoring.

Since when, Hyundai has been on a major roll, with cars like the i30, i10, ix35, i40 and Veloster coupe proving that it can now make cars that are not only good, but good enough that the company can effectively abandon its old pricing policy. Whereas Hyundais of old would always be priced around €1,000 or so cheaper than the likes of a rival Ford or Toyota, now the prices are comparable, even if Hyundai continues to offer better value for money in terms of equipment and its impressive five-year warranty.

Certainly, you would have to say that the new Santa Fe requires no financial incentive if you were to judge it on looks alone. The photos simply don’t do it justice, as it looks classier, chunkier and more substantial by far in the ‘flesh’ than it does on the screen. There is a genuine sense of style to the Santa Fe now; the slightly upright, plain and simple look of the old one gone  and replaced by a thrusting look, quite American (not surprising considering Hyundai’s stateside success) and verging on the brash, but in a nice way. Love the big, chrome-y grille.

Inside, the seven seat layout is retained (and once again, it’s kids, and small ones at that, only in the third row) and the cabin is spacious and comfortable in the third row. A genuine surprise was to find that our test car was the most basic Comfort specification (albeit with optional leather seats) because quite frankly, it was rather hard to find any equipment lacking. Standard toys include a multifunction steering wheel, electric lumbar support, Bluetooth and USB connections for phones and media players, air conditioning, a built-in music hard-drive, a bevvy of airbags, ESP, a Land-Rover-style hill descent control (even though our car was front-wheel-drive) and more. One pleasant, practical touch; the bottom of the doors now wraps under the sill, meaning that you can get in and out without dragging the backs of your trousers or tights on muddy door bottoms. Nice.

Under the bonnet, the 2.2-litre diesel engine is familiar in size but its performance and economy have both been improved. With 197bhp and 420Nm of torque, it’s certainly sprightly, and while the Santa Fe clocks in with a kerb weight of 1,961kg, it can still spin its front wheels up pretty easily, and there’s never a sense that you don’t have more than enough power to get about. Best of all though is the already-mentioned refinement. It’s genuinely quiet and relaxed in the cabin. It’ll make a great long-haul cruiser. Co2 emissions are pretty impressive too, at 147g/km for the 2WD version (149g/km for the 4wd) and Hyundai claims you’ll burn just 5.6-litres for every 100km traveled. That’s well into 50mpg territory, which sounds like a bit of a stretch to us. On the basis of our (admittedly brief) first test drive, we’d say mid-sixes, around 40-45mpg would be more realistic, and still pretty impressive.

The driving experience is pretty good too. Now, we’ve criticised Hyundai’s three-setting Flex Steer system before. It allows you to toggle between Comfort, Normal and Sport modes for the steering, and theoretically offers you lighter or heftier settings depending on your mood or need. In reality, there’s not much difference between the three modes and you can’t help but feel that the development budget would have been better spent on one setting that did everything well. Aside from that, the Santa Fe is very pleasant to drive, well balanced and rides with a BMW-esque firm pliancy, only being upset by truly viscious, sharp-edged potholes.

In fact, the BMW comparison is apt, as Hyundai is reckoning on tempting premium German SUV buyers with the new Santa Fe, and there’s a range-topping automatic Premium version that costs the guts of €50k. Ambitious, overly so for a Hyundai? Possibly, but you know what? This is a very impressive car, handsome to look at, pleasant to drive, with an excellent engine and terrific build quality. I personally can’t see why someone considering a BMW or Audi wouldn’t, if they put aside badge snobbery for a moment, seriously consider a Santa Fe now. It really is that good.

Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort
Price as tested: €36,995
Price range: €36,995 to €48,995
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 197bhp
Torque: 420Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.8sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 147g/km
Road Tax Band: C €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

News: New Subaru Forester caught undisguised

Subaru's all-new Forester has been caught by spy photographers undisguised and out in the open.

Featured on US site Carscoop, the new Forester looks largely familiar, but gains a new front end with a bolder, more chrome-filled grille and lights that wrap further around the corners than the current model, taking clear inspiration from the new XV crossover, launched earlier this year.

The new Forester grows a little, being 35mm longer and 20mm wider, while the boot expands to a whopping 505-litres. It's expected that the existing 2.0-litre flat-four Boxer Diesel with 150bhp will be carried over more or less unchanged. It's unclear yet though whether or not Subaru will offer a fornt-drive Forester to gain a lower Co2 rating. All-wheel-drive and serious off-road ability have always been a central part of the Forester's DNA, but with a front-drive version of the XV available, Subaru may well consider the lower Co2 rating and tax band a worthwhile trade-off.

The new Forester goes on sale in November in Japan and will arrive in Europe in the middle of next year.

News: Hot Porsche Cayenne arrives but Lambo & Bentley may delay SUVs

Porsche has just launched a range-topping Cayenne Turbo S but its sister brands in the VW Group, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be delaying their own SUV projects because of darkening economic clouds.

The Cayenne Turbo S gets titanium-aluminium turbine wheels in the turbos to spool power up to a massive 542bhp, backed up by a more than ample 750Nm of torque. That means this 2-tonne 4x4 can sprint from 0-100kmh in a BMW M3-threatening time of just 4.5-seconds and run on to a top speed of 283kmh. Quite why you'd need a 4x4 with those kinds of figures, we can't quite imagine, but it's probably good fun.

Astonishingly though, Porsche claims that the extra power and performance over the standard Turbo model have not come at the expense of, well, expense. The Turbo S records the same 11.5-litres per 100km (about 26mpg) on the European combine cycle.

But while it's raa-raa all round for Porsche's hot 4x4, its VW Group sister companies, Lamborghini and Bentley, may be rolling back on their plans to launch (admittedly somewhat controversial) SUVs.

We've seen both the Lamborghini Urus and Bentley EXP 9F at various motor shows over the past year, and both their paths to production seemed pretty clear. After all, what the world's monied car buyers seem to want more than anything else are cars with premium badges, four wheel drive and chunky tyres. Porsche itself sells way, waaaaay more Cayennes than it does 911s and Boxsters, so both cars seemed to make perfect financial sense for Bentley and Lambo.

Today though, the word is that both projects are on hold. According to Automotive News, VW is starting to get a bit more careful about how it spends its money. The European car sales crisis that is so damaging the likes of PSA Peuegot Citroen and Fiat hasn't really started to affect the VW Group yet, but it seems that the bean-counters in Wolfsburg are starting to prepare for the worst, even if it never comes.

News: Land Rover updates Discovery

One of our favourite cars, the Land Rover Discovery, is getting a makeover for the 2013 model year, including an understated new "Black Pack" that does away with some chintzy chrome.

For 2013, the Discovery 4 gets new optional features including the Extended Leather Pack inspired by the HSE Luxury Limited Edition, and distinctive Black Design Packs available with 19" or 20" all-black painted wheels and a host of black trim finishers and design details such as gloss black grille and fender vents.

Customers also now have a choice of five additional body colours and two new interior colours and trim enhancements, offering customers an even greater opportunity to personalise their car.
The infotainment system has been upgraded to include the latest generation DAB radio and a new digital TV tuner, whilst the navigation system now comes with premium features such as Off-Road guidance and 4x4i.

The existing 256bhp 3.0-litre LR-SDV6 and entry level 211bhp 3.0-litre LR-TDV6 diesels continue to power the Discovery with the ZF's 8-speed automatic transmission, producing CO2 emissions of just 230g/km and 224g/km respectively in EU5 markets, whilst the 375bhp 5.0-litre V8 naturally aspirated petrol engine is also still available, but presumably only id your surname is Al Saud...

"The Discovery 4 continues to win awards for its unrivalled versatility and breadth of capability, accommodating up to seven passengers in comfort whatever the terrain. For 2013, the breadth of choice gets better, with equipment upgrades and our new Black Design Packs enhancing the key design attributes that our customers identify with today. As the ultimate all-purpose vehicle, the Discovery 4 is now more compelling than ever before," said John Edwards, Land Rover Global Brand Director.

News: Suzuki refreshes Jimny 4x4, but not for us. :-(

It's not on sale in Ireland any more (shame) but Suzuki is not only keeping the little Jimny off-roader in production, it's actually updating it.



It was the high emissions of the standard 1.3 petrol engine that killed off Irish sales (still no diesel after all these years) but elsewhere in Europe and the world, buyers will now be able to get a Jimny with a new bonnet, grille and bumper, some new cabin trim, new colours and the option of heated seats for the first time.

The Jimny may have been a bit crude on the road but it was a properly good off-roader with astonishing mud-plugging ability. We kinda miss it...

Road Test: Subaru XV 2.0 TDS SE Premium

Price as tested: €34,995

+ Cracking engine, chunky good looks, good to drive, solid build, foul-weather ability, space
– Too-firm ride, pricey, some cheap cabin fittings
= Best new Subaru in ages, but price means it’ll struggle against rivals

You could have forgiven the average car buyer if Subaru had fallen off their radar in the past couple of years. Ever since its rally team, once equally feared and fearless, was pensioned off at the end of 2008, a little of the magic that once haloed the iconoclastic Japanese company had disappeared. Without those iconic blue-and-gold Imprezas bursting through forests with a McRae, a Burns or a Solberg at the wheel, Subaru’s sense of purpose seemed to be gone.

Sequential launches of two rather underwhelming cars didn’t help. The current Impreza hatch and Legacy saloon and estate are fine, or at least fine enough, but too obviously tilted towards Subaru’s largest market in the USA to be of particular interest over here. A shame; the previous generation Legacy had one of the most sympathetically-set-up chassis for Irish conditions that we’d ever experienced.

All that being the case though, Subaru us still capable of turning out a fine car. The Forester SUV is still providing rugged, practical transport to those who have discovered its charms and much of the Toyota GT86 coupe’s dynamic brilliance is down to Subaru, now part-owned by Toyota, being responsible for much of the engineering, being as the GT86 is paired with its own BRZ coupe.

Now, there’s this, the XV; a car that seeks to distill Subaru’s traditional combinations of rugged build, four wheel drive and driver appeal into a package designed to appeal to the Qashqai and yeti buying set.

Right off the bat, it’s off to a better start than either the Impreza (with which it shares most of its underpinnings) or the Legacy because it actually looks good. In fact, it’s the first truly handsome Subaru for a generation or more; chunky, appealing and distinctive, even in the rather washy baby blue paintwork of our test car.

Inside, things are not quite so good. The cabin can best be described as functional, and it lacks many of the soft-touch surfaces or design flourished of its rivals. A Yeti instantly leaves it in the shade for interior ambience, although it’s about on a par with the equally dour Qashqai, and at least both quality of assembly and space are there in abundance. There are also plenty of toys on this range-topping version, with a reversing camera, rain sensing wipers and Blutetooth wireless connection for both phone and music.

Twist the slightly-old-fashioned looking key and the familiar flat-four Boxer Diesel fires into life with a throaty whirr. Its 147bhp and 350Nm of torque seem fine, rather than exceptional figures these days, and its 146g/km Co2 emissions actually beats the Yeti when fitted with four wheel drive, but is trounced by the larger Mazda CX-5. Still, the Boxer is one of the few diesel engines with a true sense of character. It soon shrugs off a low-rpm diesel clatter for a more traditional Subaru woofle, underlaid with all manner of chirps, whistles and cheeps. Different, for sure, if not necessarily to all tastes. It’s easy, accessible performance should please though, as will a decent 6.4-litre per 100km fuel consumption.

Subaru does seem to have forgotten its old magic touch when setting up a car for Irish tarmac, though. The steering is the high point, dynamically speaking. A little numb around the straight-ahead, but becoming ever more garrulous as you apply lock. The XV certainly feels more up-and-at-’em than most of its rivals, and it’s a reasonably entertaining  car to drive. Combine that with Subaru’s traditional all-wheel-drive that gives you a smug feeling of security even as rain-mageddon breaks out all around you, and you have a car seemingly ideal for Ireland and Irish drivers. A pity then that the ride is just too stiff, too ready to jiggle and bobble over rough surfaces. Surely with all that extra ride height a little more suppleness could have been found?

But the XV faces one final, possibly insurmountable, hurdle. Its price. OK, so our test car was the range-topping version and perhaps its €34,995 price tag can be explained purely from that point of view. But to place it just €1,000 cheaper than the entry-level (larger, more practical) Forester seems silly and the fact that an entry-level XV costs €28,495, and with a petrol engine at that, seems closer to daft. In fairness to Subaru Ireland, it’s struggling with an unfavourable exchange rate with the Yen, but the unpalatable truth is that the Yeti or Qashqai beat it for value, as do larger rivals like the Mazda CX-5 and Ford Kuga.

Which is a shame. The XV is engaging to drive and has a personality that’s both distinct and charming. Given Subaru’s reputation for reliability and shrugging off even the very worst weather that the winter (or spring, or summer) can through at you, it would be a tempting prospect. But at that price level, it’s giving itself an uphill struggle for even committed Subaru fans, never mind more casual buyers.


Subaru XV 2.0 TDS Premium
Price: €34,995
Range price: €28,495 to €34,995
Capacity: 1,998cc
Power: 147bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 198kmh
0-100kmh: 9.3sec
Economy: 5.6-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 146g/km
Tax Band: C. €330 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 86% adult, 90% child, 64% pedestrian, 86% safety assist

Road Test: Mazda CX-5 2.2d Sport

Price as tested: €29,495

+ Steering, performance, economy, refinement, quality
– Dark cabin, jiggly ride, quite pricey
= SkyActiv tech makes it frugal, Mazda engineers make it fun.



There is only one segment of the motoring world that is actually seeing much growth at the moment, and that’s the compact SUV and crossover market. It’s not hard to see why, really. Families, outgrowing hatchbacks but not fancying much the suburban sameness of estates or, worse, MPVs, are flocking in droves (well, as close as we get to droves these days) to the likes of the Nissan Qashqai, Skoda Yeti and Ford Kuga. You get the appealing SUV style you crave, the space and practicality you need but you’re not mugged every time you visit the fuel pump or pay your road tax. Everyone wins.

That being the case, pretty much every car maker is scrambling to get a foothold on the ladder that Nissan effectively invented with the Qashqai. Mazda is the latest to try its hand, but it’s going about the launch of its CX-5 rather differently to most.

For a start, Mazda is making the bold claim that the CX-5 will be the enthusiastic driver’s choice in the segment, but it’s also using the car as the launch vehicle for its new SkyActiv technology.

SkyActiv is a holisitc system that sees vehicle weights trimmed, engines made ever more efficient, transmissions made lighter and with reduced friction and every little tweak and twonk that will help push down emissions and raise fuel efficiency. It’s how Mazda is able to offer the new CX-5 with a large, torquey 2.2-litre 150bhp diesel engine yet also claim best in class Co2 emissions (119g/km, so your road tax will just be €160 for now) and fuel economy (4.6-litres per 100km claimed, or around 60mpg).

Those are impressive figures, but sadly, our necessarily brief test route didn’t allow us to put any strain on them. It’ll just have to wait for now, but in fairness to Mazda, it’s not a firm given to extravagant claims.

Or extravagant anything, really. Mazda has always been admirable for its championing of both driver pleasure and reduced vehicle weights and while that hasn’t done its sales much good of late (the firm posted a global $1.2-billion loss last year) its SkyActiv tech is much to be admired, especially as it majors on driver pleasure while delivering real-world figures that will trounce a needlessly complicated hybrid.

Driver pleasure? Oh yes, the CX-5 is indeed a sweet little thing to drive. The steering is beautifully weighted and feeds back nicely, allowing you to point the nose tight into an apex, sure in the knowledge that grip is there, even on the slippery, rain-slicked Cork roads we tested the car on.

The snick-snick six-speed gearshift helps too, much inspired by the MX-5 roadster in its weighting and motions and generally the CX-5 feels all of a piece, hingeing nicely around the driver as you tackle a twisty road.

On a cruise, it settles down nicely, and that punchy 2.2 diesel engine keeps its noise levels pleasantly low at pretty much all times. It’s a very impressive unit, pulling hard with 380Nm of torque and only betraying a diesely rattle or breathless turbo at very high rpm. If this is the future of SkyActiv, then count us in. Wind and road noise are also well suppressed, although it did give in to an occasional bout of tyre roar, depending on the surface.

You will feel everything on that surface though. Perhaps Mazda is focusing the CX-5 as the driver’s choice simply because it excuses a ride quality that’s very firm and jiggly. Even on a smooth surface, there’s a constant pitter-patter and that may prove an issue for the family market that Mazda wants to attack with the CX-5. Our test car was a Sport model, so perhaps an Executive or Sport SE would be a touch smoother.

Otherwise, on the family front, the news is good. The rear seats are spacious, the boot large and square at 500-litres and the cabin feels beautifully put together and of very high quality, even if it is a touch too dark and lacking in eye-catching detail. We love the ‘Karakuri’ rear seats though which flip down at the tug of a lever in the boot. Very handy in the B&Q car park.

Standard equipment levels are very good, with a touchscreen, Bluetooth, air conditioning and, standard across the range, a city braking system that slams on the brakes if it detects an incoming low-speed collision. If you can’ avoid that collision, the body is largely constructed of high-tensile steel and Mazda is expecting some high marks from EuroNCAP.

As well as SkyActiv, the CX-5 is also the launch point for Mazda’s new ‘Kodo’ design language, which will also be appearing on the new 6 saloon come January. From the front, it’s very effective, with a deep, bold grille, nicely detailed lights and a general air of sportiness. It’s less good around the back, though, where the CX-5 tends to blandness, but the overall style is nice and it bodes well for future models.

A word on pricing. When the 2.0-litre petrol model (which you may be tempted to ignore, but which actually has very reasonable Band B emissions of 139g/km) the CX-5’s entry price point will be €25k. For now though, it’s  €28k for an Executive-spec 2.2 diesel and €29k for the Sport which Mazda reckons will be its top seller. That puts it in a very competitive spot when compared to the likes of the Ford Kuga and VW Tiguan, not to mention the premium brands, which apparently some customers are already trading into CX-5’s from, but it’s a significant amount more than you’d spend on a Nissan Qashqai or a Skoda Yeti. Mazda claims that such vehicles aren’t in the CX-5’s sphere, because of size, price, spec and engines but we reckon that some customers won’t see it that way.

Still, Mazda has made a very effective product for itself here. If the economy figures stack up, then that smooth, punchy 2.2 SkyActiv diesel is a  genuine revelation and the chassis, ride aside, will be seriously pleasing when you get your CX-5 to yourself on a twisty road. Kids will appreciate the spacious rear seats and the SUV style, owners will appreciate the road tax figures and Mazda’s iron-clad reputation for reliability and quality. Fix the ride and brighten up the cabin a bit and we’d call it nigh on perfect.

Addendum: It turns out that our test car was given to us with over-inflated tyres which were running a wrecking ball through Mazda's carefully honed suspension settings. Having sampled some other CX-5s since, with correct PSI settings, we can confirm that it rides firmly, but comfortably. Nice one.



Facts & Figures

Mazda CX-5 2.2d 150 Sport
Price as tested: €29,495
Range price: €25,195 to €34,895
Capacity: 2,191cc
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 380Nm
Top speed: 202kmh
0-100kmh: 9.2sec
Economy: 4.6-100km (61.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 119g/km
Tax Band: A. €160 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Features: Freelander in the desert

It’s early November and the weather is just glorious. Obviously I’m not in Ireland. I am within the walls of the Medina in the 18th century city of Essaouira on the coast of Morocco. As I wander through the old city, breathing in the fresh air of a city free of traffic I take in the splendour of a UNESCO World Heritage city and have one of those ‘how did I end up here?’ moments.

By Brian Twomey.

A group of world-weary Land Rover personnel are in Morocco to launch the new Freelander 2. The Freelander is the type of car that, for all its 4x4xfar virtues, is as likely to be inching down the M50 or circling Dublin city centre vainly looking for a parking as any other family orientated 4x4. Land Rover has brought us here to show us otherwise, that life with a Freelander doesn’t have to be like that and that the genes that made the Defender the chosen car for explorers still live on in their smallest, most practical car.

So to business. I commandeer the keys to a Freelander from one of the Land Rover girls and take to the roads leading from the isolated tarmac that passes for an airport here. The petrol Freelander is a 3.2 litre item, a straight-six that Land Rover say they co-developed with Volvo and tuned to their own requirements. It’s in the Freelander to try an convert Americans who never liked the last car. Oddly, this engine is mounted longitudally and produces 231bhp which it sends to all the wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox with the now obligatory sporty sequential gear change option. It’s not a slow car, 0-100km/h in a claimed 8.9 seconds and 200km/h flat out, but it wouldn’t pin you in your seat in the way you’d think a big engine in a fairly small car would. It is very smooth, quiet and quite responsive but a bit blighted by the gearbox which is a touch slow to down-change when you ease the throttle down. This is a pity because generally the self-shifter is well mannered and unobtrusive.

I’d go for option B; the cheap and more economical 2.2 diesel. Two less cylinders and 160bhp mean that the Freelander is slower here but the precise six-speed manual gearbox and 400Nms of torque more then compensate. The chassis feels identical but the diesel trades high end power for low end torque making it smoother and more rewarding to drive across unpredictable terrain or twisty back roads. The smallest Land Rover is a remarkable achievement dynamically. The steering has decent levels of feel and the car responds sharply to steering inputs although Land Rover seem to making the steering in their newer models a lot lighter these days. Do the dog on it and it will push into very mild understeer but otherwise it is happy to do your bidding even at high cornering speeds. The only thing that distinguishes it as a 4x4 is the body roll which is modest by class standards but more dramatic than a similarly sized estate car.

The accomplishments of the engineers in making the Freelander drive this well is further reinforced when you venture off road. The local youth offering pale tourists a ride on his camel can’t compete with Hill Descent Control and the numerous settings Land Rover fit to everything above the Neolithic Defender. The bonnet vibrates as I strike the bottom of a sand dune with horrific force and sand is hurled over the car as it crests the top of it. The Freelander takes its punishment well although again the manual diesel wins out. To go dune bashing or rock climbing the automatic petrol has to spend a lot of time revving quite hard to maintain momentum. At one point the auto gearbox nagged that it was overheating. Admittedly a fair bit of abuse came its way but the manual diesel feels like it is suffering less in the rough stuff. In these conditions the Defender genes start to show through. As I bounce past a beached Freelander I find myself off-course, waste deep in sand at 60km/h and trying to gather it up before I drop down another dip. The sump on this thing must be yards thick…

The softness of the suspension and the sharpness of the steering come into play in the rough stuff. The ride quality is good on road but fantastic off it while the steering is always cooperating, never fighting a driver in extremis. Clamouring over rocks is impressive, if a trifle boring and to be honest I wouldn’t be risking my bling-bling alloys trying to find a shortcut onto Dollymount strand this way. That said, I spent a day trying to break a 3.2 petrol HSE and another day trying to demolish a 2.2 diesel HSE and the worst that happened was that a retaining clip under the bumper bent when I hit a 50 degree slope at national primary route speeds. I looked under the car expecting to see a puddle of oil and I got a blemish that a Pebble Beach Concours judge would miss. Not only is the off-road route Land Rover picked fun to cover but the Freelander is a fun car to do it in.

As the fleet of pre-production models sits outside the walls of the Medina, cooling in the late afternoon sunlight I step back from them. I admire the crisp, simple, conservative styling. The beautifully detailed, comfortable interior is a great venue for me to explore Africa for the first time, even if some of the fixtures don’t exactly look childproof. I admire the refinement and strength of the straight-six but to be honest I’d have the diesel as it feels more at home under the bonnet of the Freelander. My only problem is that back in Ireland I can’t think of anywhere I could use this amazing off-road ability and to buy one of these cars and never experience that would be a tremendous shame indeed.