2014 Mazda CX-5, the Thin Mint of SUVs: Motoramic Drives

Last week, I was driving down Shoal Creek to pick my son up at Sunday school. A local Girl Scout troop had set up a cookie stand. I decided to get in good with the wife by picking up a box of Thin Mints. That sounds like a pretty badass morning, I know. Try not to be envious.

I pulled over in my just-from-the-factory 2014 Mazda CX-5. It was candy-apple red, gleaming like a freshly polished fingernail. The 2.5-liter engine, new for this model year, hummed nicely. I rolled down the window and placed my order.

“Oh my God, dude,” said one of the Girl Scouts. “I love your car.”

“It’s new!” I said excitedly.

“It is so awesome,” she said. “So cute!”

Until this moment, I’d been having trouble placing the CX-5 into context. The compact sports utility vehicle segment doesn’t get a lot of love from my cohort. They’re not fast or stylish enough, and not really big enough for much more than a family of four. Essentially, they mark the evolution of the monstrous SUV into nothing more than a large hatchback. I like that development, but understand why it’s not exactly the car industry’s glamour shot.