I had the same mental debate when purchasing my CX-5 last December. After getting the opinions/experiences of a few forum members, and thinking about it, I decided to just get the package. My opinion on the package features:
- Radar Cruise Control: Love it! If you do some highway driving, then this is a great feature to have to make the drive more relaxing. Additionally, it's a great safety feature if you (for whatever reason) take your eye off the road for just that split second and the car in front slows down (or someone slower than you moves into your lane). I know you're probably thinking 'I'm a driver, I don't want this technology stuff!'. I too love to drive (that's why I chose the CX-5 over a Rav4 or CR-V), but let's be real, highway driving is straightforward and sometimes quite boring. Having the radar cruise control is a very nice thing especially on long highway road trips.
- Smart Brake Support: This is brake support when going at higher speeds than the Smart City Brake Support. I've had this feature engage/intervene a couple of times when fast moving highway traffic suddenly comes to a halt. Again, I know you probably feel you're a driver and you'll always be prepared and ready, but this is just an added layer of safety if you don't react quick enough. Is it a life saver? Probably not, but it can definitely be an accident saver..which means it's also an insurance claim saver, headache saver, etc. You won't need it often, but it's nice to know it's there.
- Lane Departure Warning: Eh, as many have said, it's annoying due to its sensitivity. But again, it's just a warning system to help alert you. I still keep this feature on, but instead of the annoying beep sound, I changed it to the rumble strip sound. I wouldn't have added this option if Mazda allowed you to pick n' choose each option, but it's part of the package so oh well.
- Distance Recognition Support System: This is only really usable if you engage the Radar Cruise Control. It allows you to control the gap to the car ahead when using the radar cruise control. I always just keep it set at the closest distance, so I don't really use this feature to adjust the gap.
- High Beam Control: Can be handy in the right environment. With my highway miles, it also includes some night time rural driving. I thought this would be the perfect environment for this feature, but unfortunately the system is very sensitive and switches the high beam off due to a stop sign in the distance reflecting light back at the car. It's a great feature in the right environment, but I'm an alert (and respectful) enough driver to just operate my high beam manually.
I have no problems with utilizing technology to bring an added layer of safety to my or my family's driving. I don't view these features as making you lazy and less of a driver, but they're just safety or comfort features there to help you out when you need/want it. Since I do a lot of highway miles on the weekend, the Radar Cruise Control was the main selling point. My plan is to keep the car for about 10 years, so for that period of time having this feature alone made it worth the price of the package. When I thought about it some more, ... yeah it's a little vain, but having a 'fully loaded' car is cool....and also, the package is $1,500, while the car is a tick over $30K, so you're adding another 5% to the price. Honestly, that's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
Hope this help. Feel free to ask any specific questions.