2014 Mazda CX-5

The Mazda CX-5 offers a winning combination of superior storage and an unbelievably high fuel rating for a crossover SUV.

Not every vehicle can do it all. If you want more storage you buy a bigger vehicle. If you want better fuel efficiency you buy a smaller vehicle. But what do you do if you want both? You may be surprised to know that you have two options. The first is to buy two vehicles. It’s really quite a simple solution. That is if you can afford to do that. The second option makes getting everything that you want even easier. It is the 2014 Mazda CX-5.

Let’s start with the capacity of this beast. With the rear seatback in the upright position, the CX-5 can seat five people comfortably. By people we mean adults, and by adults we mean six-foot grown men. Pull down the clever 40/20/40 folding seatback and you’re looking at an available 65.4 cubic feet of cargo carrying space. The comparable 2013 Buick Encore offers only 48.4 cubic feet of space with the rear seats down. As a comparison, midsize sedans typically offer 14 to 16 cubic feet of trunk space. Think about how much more you can store with that amount of space.

The 2014 Mazda CX-5 is available in three different trims, the most fuel efficient being the Sport, and the most powerful, the Touring and Grand Touring. Although, all three are capable of more than 30 mpg highway, the CX-5 sport tops the charts at 35 mpg highway and 26 mpg city. Go ahead and catch your breath. The Touring and Grand Touring are not far behind with the four wheel drive model getting 32 mpg highway and 25 mpg city. The loss in fuel economy rating for the Touring trims is compensated for in the engine. Rather than the standard 2.0-liter 155 horsepower engine, the Tourings are loaded with a 2.5-liter 184 horsepower engine. Both of the engines utilize Mazda’s SkyActiv technology which is how they are capable of such high fuel ratings.

The 40/20/40 rear seatback offers many different options for storage and seating.

As we said, not every vehicle can do it all. Although, there are many vehicles which can do two or three things really well, and the 2014 Mazda CX-5 is no exception. Storage and fuel efficiency don’t often go hand in hand, but if there is any car manufacturer that can pull it off, it’s Mazda. We have all three trims available to check out online, but we recommend you stop in for yourself so you can really get an idea of how much this crossover SUV can hold.