I was born with a lead foot so I want acceleration and torque, but I get your drift, so to speak.
I review cars and Mazdas are my favourite Japanese vehicles. Every one of them is great to drive. Probably the only Japanese cars I’d buy with my own money, though I like Toyotas a lot, too, but for different reasons.
I’d be really torn if I had to buy a car now. Mazda, Kia, Hyundai, Volkswagen/Audi or Jaguar.
My budget forbids the higher end stuff, except for used. I own a 2005 Audi A4 wagon, basically a stealth S4 w/o the V8 and Recaro seats, my first German car after 40 years of Japanese. Bought used, mint, four years ago.
I’d look for a Jag XE used next time, but am disappointed they don’t make a wagon version.
Enjoy your CX-5. Great vehicle. And lots of vehicles these days have gigantic “pillars.” They stuff airbags into them. I’d rather have a more lithe vehicle with which I could avoid collisions, but no one ever asks me, and a lot of, if not most, of this stuff is regulatory Bs.
Get ready for really annoying nannies!
Cheers,
Jim
The only other thing I don’t like about mine is the keyless ignition. It is a real pain to split the key and hide the ignition part in a tin box under the seat when I go to the beach. I’d like to just hang the car key around my neck