Mazda CX-8 Sport 2WD 2019 review

The three-car CX-8 range starts with the front-wheel-drive Sport, then an all-wheel-drive version, and a range-topping Asaki. My car for the week was the front-wheel-drive Sport, which arrives at $43,410.

You get 17-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo with DAB, auto LED headlights, auto wipers, three-zone climate control, cloth trim, sat nav, reversing camera, huge safety package, active cruise control, rear parking sensors and a space-saver spare.

The Sport variant of the CX-8 wears 17-inch alloy wheels.

After a long wait, Mazda's MZD Connect system now features both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The 7.0-inch screen can be operated by touch when the car is stationary, and by using the rotary dial once you're underway.

The 7.0-inch multimedia screen now features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

I dare you to pick the CX-8 out of a line-up. Unless it's right next to its CX-5 sibling and they're in profile, you just can't tell. That's no bad thing; it means both cars are very attractive. But both need big wheels to look their best, and in this Sport spec they're too small... if you're worried about that sort of thing.

The CX-8 is a very attractive car.

Inside, again, it's pretty difficult to separate the two with the obvious exception of the third row. Mazda interiors are beautifully made, and over the years have been cleared of fiddly buttons, switches and lights. It's a particularly thoughtful, if dark and colourless interior.

Mazda interiors are beautifully made, but this one is dark and colourless.

The CX-8 interior is much bigger than the CX-5 and not that much smaller than the CX-9, which is a bit odd. But there you go. 

Front-row passengers have a deep central console bin (with USB and 12V power), two cupholders and a tray under the centre stack. All four doors have a bottle holder.

Rear seat occupants have two cupholders in the centre armrest and a handy storage tray with two USB ports. There's also an Audi-like rear climate-control panel, but third row occupants miss out on that. They don't miss out on cupholders, though (there's a grand total of six), and also have somewhere to put phones and other detritus. The boot also has a 12V power outlet.

In the back is an Audi-like rear climate-control panel.

With all seats in place, Mazda says you have 209 litres of storage with a further 33 litres underneath. That seems... conservative to me. Stow the third row and you have 742 litres, which is huge and wagon-like. Mazda doesn't offer a total figure with all seats folded, but it's bound to be north of 1000 litres.

The third row is reasonably easy to access. The middle row seats flip forward and slide, creating a space for kids to slip into the final row. I was able to sit down and pull the second row towards me, and with it all the way back, I fit. When I say fit, I mean like a rubber glove one size too small, but I can get in. But the generous amount of sliding distance available in the middle row means I can be comfortable in a knees-in-my-face kind of way for a short trip.

The sliding second row makes it easier for people to get into the rear seats.

The third row seats are also easy to operate. You just pull them up with one hand and lock the headrest in place. Another pull of the fabric tape, the headrest drops and you push it back into place. It doesn't leave a seamless boot floor, though, so things might go missing in the gaps.

As with the rest of the Mazda range, the company seems to have made too many SkyActiv badges so has slapped them on not just the engine but also the transmission. This entry level machine is powered by Mazda's 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder with 140kW and 450Nm to move its 1840kg kerb weight. 

The 2.2-litre turbo-diesel makes 140kW/450Nm.

All that power and torque is sent to the road via a six-speed automatic that pushes grunt to the front wheels only. Its 0-100km/h seems a bit slow at 9.5 seconds, but there you have it.

Mazda claims the CX-8 will burn diesel at a rate of 5.7L/100km, aided by stop-start and the fact it's a diesel.

I got 8.5/100km in traffic and suburbia and a bit of highway running, which really isn't terrible given how much stuff and how many people this car will haul around.

Like its looks, the CX-8 is very difficult to separate from the CX-5 on the road. I was expecting more of a CX-9 feel, but the 8 is subtly softer than either of them. There's a bit more body roll and a less firm ride, which just makes it a bit more of a relaxed place to be.

Rear-seat passengers won't be bounced around by bumps, either, and that's probably helped along by the Sport's higher-profile tyres.

I didn't really miss all-wheel drive around the city. The CX-9's petrol engine is always more than happy to light up the front tyres when you accelerate out of a corner or look at the loud pedal in the wet. The softer torque delivery of the diesel in the CX-8 means far less spinning and chirping, so the lack of four-wheel drive wasn't really an issue.

Like the other CXs, though, it steers really nicely, with a sensibly weighted and geared rack. You won't be twirling your hands and arms around to park and the response to inputs is unusually snappy for this kind of car. I like it.

I also like the spec level; the CX-8 isn't missing much at all, other than perhaps vents for the third row. There's a lot of tech, too.

I wasn't particularly enamoured with the spongy feel of the brake pedal. The car always stopped, no dramas, but it felt a bit dodgy under the foot.

As with most Mazdas, the CX-8 is fully loaded with safety gear. Along with six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, you get blind spot monitoring, forward and reverse AEB, rear cross-traffic alert, auto high beam, lane departure warning, forward obstruction warning and traffic sign recognition.

You also get four top-tether restraints (two in the middle row, two in the third) and two ISOFIX points in the middle row. Those third row top-tether points are, in my experience, rare.

The CX-8 scored five ANCAP stars in 2018.

Mazda offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Mazda now throws in what they call Premium Roadside assist (as at 1 April 2019), but it's not clear for how long that lasts.

Capped-price servicing covers the first five services. Mazda wants to see you every 12 months (good) or 10,000km (not so good). The first, third and fifth services are $325, while the second and fourth are $397, meaning a total cost of $1769. Given the average yearly mileage of Australians, that's really only going to cover three-and-a-bit years.