2019 Mazda CX-5 fuel economy takes a hit with new turbocharged engine

We learned all about the

2019 Mazda CX-5

last week, and now we’ve discovered

fuel economy

for its new 2.5-liter turbocharged engine. Unsurprisingly, it gets slightly worse fuel economy than its naturally aspirated counterpart. The 2019 turbo

crossover

in front-wheel drive form gets 23 mpg city and 28 mpg on the highway. Opting for all-wheel drive brings those figures down by one each.

Front-wheel drive

CX-5s with the naturally aspirated 2.5 liter

net you 25 mpg city and 31 mpg highway — all-wheel drive drops one mpg in both categories, just like the turbocharged engine.

For a little comparison, the turbocharged engine makes 250 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque on 93 octane gasoline, while the non-boosted engine makes 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque. You’re definitely taking a hit in fuel economy, but the gain in power might be worth it, since the decrease isn’t that terrible.

Cars in its price and power range with all-wheel drive have comparable fuel economy. The

Ford Escape

with the 2.0-liter turbo is rated at 20/27;

Chevrolet’s Equinox

with the 2.0-liter turbo is 22/28 and the

VW Tiguan

gets 21/29. There isn’t really a clear winner in fuel economy for this much power when you look around the segment, but

Mazda’s

engine is half a liter larger than everyone else. This translates to better torque than most of its competitors, but Mazda manages similar fuel economy.

Also similar to many of these decked-out compact crossovers is the new high price of the Mazda we wrote about before. You won’t be getting in to the turbocharged

CX-5

for any less than $35,865, and that’s before adding all-wheel drive. If you wanted a bigger Mazda like the

CX-9

, its fuel economy figures aren’t significantly worse than the CX-5. Front-wheel drive versions are rated 22/28, and it drops two mpg in each category for all-wheel drive. The updated 2019 CX-5 should be coming to

dealers

soon.

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