Mazda’s popular CX-5 crossover has been introduced this Thursday home in Japan. The SUV has received several important updates, which will most likely be available in other markets. One of the biggest news is a new engine under the hood of the 2019 Mazda CX-5, but it’s not the only update. No, the carmaker surprised us with a new and amazing handling feature, too. The exterior design, on the other hand, stays untouched, which is not bad at all as the current model looks really outstanding.
Regarding the new engine, the 2019 Mazda CX-5 gets what we’ve expected. The SUV will some coupled with a 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-4 that’s available under the hoods of the Mazda6 and the flagship CX-9. The interesting mill delivers 250 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, which is more than enough for the mid-size CX-5 SUV. The markets where Mazda sells the oil-burner CX-5 will get a new six-speed manual transmission for the 2.2-liter twin-turbo diesel engine.
As for the new handling feature we’ve mentioned earlier, from now on the 2019 Mazda CX-5 is going to be mated to the G-Vectoring Control Plus system that’s essentially just an addition to the already available G-Vectoring Control system. In other words, so far the SUV was able to improve traction during cornering by controlling the vertical load on each axle, but from now it adds braking functions to the list. More precisely, the GVC Plus is here to provide an additional stabilization by a light braking force to the outer wheels. Basically, the feature will be quite useful on a slippery road or when changing lanes.
There are no too many notable changes in the design. Moreover, as far as we’ve seen, the updated 2019 CX-5 gets only new materials and extra speakers in the standard audio system. The automaker, on the other hand, made a CX-5 Exclusive Mode special edition that offers some extras like Nappa leather and real woodgrain decorative panels, as well as a 7.0-inch display in the instrument cluster and a surround-view camera monitoring system.
