Simple Elegance

[mddriver]

The styling on the CX-5 is the thing that drew me to it in the first place. The inside is so clean and functional. Somebody on this forum compared the interior to an Apple product that does what it is suppose to do, does it with smooth simple controls, and does it beautifully. This was really driven home to me yesterday when I had a rental GMC Terrain for a day long business trip from Baltimore to Washington DC. It was a brand new with only a few hundred miles and fully loaded. This thing had more bells and whistles than a circus dog act. We were driving down I-95 from and the blind spot warning would go off with each car we passed and the collision alarm seemed to light up when there was a car anywhere near us. It was like driving a pinball machine. Finally figured out how to turn off the audible alarms. The dash and the controls and the radio were really busy. There were reds and greens and blues and grays.



What really put the icing on the cake is when we got to our meeting and pulled into the parking garage and put the lights on. The center console lit up bright red with every button and dial outlined. What a mess. It was so nice to get back to basic black, with six button and two knobs of the radio and three dials and four buttons for climate control.

 

[ReManG]

I have to second your opinion. The human factors engineering is always better with less. IMHO, Mazda hit it on the head. Personally, I did think the GT version dual climate control area was too crowded for my taste, but it was the minimum for all the functions that it controlled and was well laid out for as many options you have with dual zones/automatic, etc. I had a rental Ford Focus and the SYNC system did have better voice recognition, but the buttonology was overwhelming for what it controlled. I hate that Apple products have become synonymous with good engineering, as they have their detraction's as well, but the CX-5 will age well in my opinion, which is the true test of good design......

 

[under200]

The dash layout was a huge factor in my cx-5 purchase. Very clean while maintaining a high end look. Reminds me a lot of older BMW design before they became busy.

 

[katmar]

The dash layout was a huge factor in my cx-5 purchase...

Me too (in my almost about to purchase lol), as it's very similar to my RX-8, including the piano black trim. I do prefer the RX-8's digital speedometer, and I wish the CX-5's gauges had a little more character (like some contrasting blue lighting here and there), but I do appreciate how easy things are to see at a glance.

 

[CX-SV]

The interior (and dash) of the CX-5 is very nicely done, especially for a vehicle in this price range. After owning/driving it for 5 months, the materials have held up well.

 

[Jcanracer]

I favor the spartan interior of my CX5 waaay more than my wife's 2012 Focus.
Function>Form