hi guys welcome to driven powered by Petronas dynamic diesel euro-5 with Pro Drive and Petronas premix in this episode we’re featuring the new 5th generation on the CRV and its closest rival is this the Mazda cx-5 it’s a brand new second-generation model and it’s expected to give the Honda CRV a very good run for its money and me I brought along a proper wildcard here the Peugeot 3008 forget the weird old one this new version means business and to me it’s a proper alternative to these to mainstream SUVs yes we could have gone with the Volkswagen Tiguan but if you’re going for a left field option we think the 3008 is the most standard candidate after all if you’re going for a change you better go big or go home the 6’5 is the series most obvious mainstream rival but the Mazda is a very different machine compared to the Honda they take fundamentally contrasting approaches to making a family SUV the CRV well it’s not only seen as the ideal SUV in Malaysia because for a long time now it’s the ideal family car period regardless of body type as its rivals gets stronger so has the Honda interestingly all three models will launch within the past one year so they’re all new it’s a level playing field there is no advantage or disadvantage and today we’ll also find out if the Honda CRV is still the best family SUV that you should get and we’ll give you a clear-cut answer along the way we find out which one’s the most practical which one’s the fastest best handling and of course the most economical in this group ok ok let’s not waste any time now and find out which one of these three SUVs is the right one for you ready guys yeah let’s get it on we’ve chosen what we think are the best variants of each model here for the CRV it’s of course the top spec 1.5 liter turbo premium two wheel drive version as it’s the only one that comes with under sensing it costs the most to buy among the three here but not by much for the cx-5 our pick of the range is the 2.2 skyactiv-d turbo diesel t will drive variant it’s 10k cheaper than the all wheel drive version but with the same exact equipment that also puts it pretty much on equal ground against the CRV pirjo meanwhile doesn’t have the luxury of offering so many variants so the 3008 range tops out with the 1.6 thp earlier that we have here it’s more affordable than both its rivals here buy a full 10 thousand ringgit but in turn it also loses out on active safety features which is a shame see the cars in the flesh however and you would think is the per show that is the most expensive car here I love the way it looks it’s so modern and chic and the sharp lines go so well with the muscular body I like the interplay of colors here to gloss black body color and chrome in terms of style I think this is right up there with the Lexus and X if passion is your thing you can forget the rest this is the SUV for you the cx-5 on the other hand is not as flashy but the thing is it is not boring at the same time there are three things that I really love about the front end of the cx-5 number one is a large grille that you have over here number two is this wide chrome bar that you have here and number three are the razor-sharp headlights it gives it a very dynamic look when you have a quick look on the car it’ll make you think that it’s a concept car and there’s also another thing people think that when you drive an SUV it’ll make you look old but I can guarantee to you that driving this will make you look young now at the back some might argue that the taillights look a bit too small for a car but I really think that they look proportionate over here plus the taillights they give a very futuristic kind of look now I’d like to bring your attention to this wheel over here now you’re looking at a 19-inch wheel fitted with premium tires of course the problem is the wheels look too small for example the Honda CRV it uses an 18 inch wheel which is smaller but it looks bigger so the reason why it is smaller here could be because of the design it looks a bit too dark so overall that’s the only complaint that I have in terms of the cx-5 exterior looks speaking of size the CRV is definitely the biggest car here and you can clearly tell just by looking at it it’s 50 millimeters longer than the Mazda cx-5 and about 150 millimeters longer than the Peugeot 3008 that is a lot of extra length and you know what they say size does matter but overall the design is a love it or hate it affair especially with the Volvo like LED tail lights personally though I kind of like how it looks because it is by far the most premium looking CRV we’ve had to date tell you what if premium is what you want this is it the pusher looks and feels like a proper premium car in here and I say this both in terms of perceived build quality as well as design this wraparound cockpit looks like it belongs from a sci-fi movie and it has genuinely unique elements – like this weird gear selector fabric inserts on the dashboard and small square steering wheel and of course the PSA resistance the eye cockpit digital instrument cluster now this is even more impressive than our DS virtual cockpit it’s not all perfect of course because economics are truly and deeply French take the econ controls for instance you need to work both the physical button and the touchscreen for something that you do very very often that’s not good and let’s not forget the silly cruise control stock behind the steering wheel right where you can’t see them vive la France I suppose the Honda is the direct opposite of that because everything you want is exactly where you’ll be able to find them there’s a set of dials and buttons here for the climate control and one more up here for the volume and the screen itself the interface is very easy to use but it’s not the best one in this overall the cabin is not as plush as the other two but this is by far the most impressive Honda cabin we’ve had today and what it lacks in so-called premiumness I mean look at this boot trim it feels a little bit like the 90s in here again what it’s lacking it makes up for with here practicality there’s lots of cubby holes everywhere around the car and check this out this huge center console box is so big you can fill your hand back in there now the master sits somewhere in the middle it is not as lavish as a perjurer but it is better than the CRV for example the door cuts over here the upper part they are all wrapped in leather and there are a lot of soft touch points throughout the car even in the rear cabin so in terms of build quality this is top-notch having said that the analog meters look really old-school now next to the fancy digital dials of the other two cars here and the center armrest box is really small for an SUV controls wise Mazda has taken a very minimalist approach which I really liked the entire thing is right up there with BMWs iDrive it uses a knob as well as a touchscreen but once you start driving the touchscreen will be disabled because master thinks that would distract the driver moving on to the rear now space has not been the cx-5 strong suit in fact for any Mazda now this model is a bit bigger than the one it replaces but it’s still not that great finally we have a convent’s at the rear the only thing is that it’s a bit too low another thing is that it has a center hump over here whether it’s a two wheel drive or a four wheel drive version you still get that another thing the seats it’s actually designed for two instead of three but one thing I really really love is this the centre armrest has two USB ports the pressure is a little bigger in here with a bit more legroom compared to the Mazda even though on the outside this is the smallest car here the backrest can’t be reclined like we added to but the bench itself this is the most comfortable one here as for the floor it’s also the flattest of the group because this car is not designed to have all-wheel drive in any other markets but other than that this is not particularly practical because the center headrests is pretty much useless the center box here juts out so much if you sit in the middle you’re gonna hurt your shin and look at this a 12 volt socket instead of USB charges for the rear passengers I mean last I checked it’s 2018 already and here we come to the CRVs party piece this car makes the other tool feel like Perodua as yes back here I mean just look at the amount of legroom I have back here and that by the way is my driving position for families and long journeys this is easily the most practical option the seats are well shaped and comfortable you get nice and big hit rest as well and the backrest reclines a little bit more than in the Mazda down here the floor is not quite as flat as the pirjo 3008 but when you have a space this big I really don’t think anyone is gonna complain about this advantage is carried over to the boot space – as the CRV has been biggest best shape cargo bay at 522 liters it’s just slightly larger than the pirjo but for the rear seats flat and you have a cavernous load bay to carry bulky items it’s also the only SUV here to have a full sized spare tire instead of a space saver as well as a power tailgate the borough is close behind with a 520 lead boat and an adjustable floor board to carry taller items the tonneau cover slots in here neatly when not in use – with the seats folded the cargo bay isn’t quite as deep as a CRVs by the 3000 it has a neat trick where you can fold the front passenger seat down for the occasional trips down to Ikea as for the Mazda again it comes in last in terms of practicality with just 422 litres of space that’s significantly smaller than its rivals here and that’s with either the seats folded up or down on the plus side it does have an advantage of a 40/20/40 split folding seats so you can carry long items while keeping 4 seats available it also has a clever tonneau cover that’s attached to the table [Applause] now put practicality aside you’ll quickly realize why Mazda is becoming a mainstream brand among automakers right here in Malaysia they make cars they’re a nice Drive so let’s start off with the engine first the cx-5 is offered with two petrol options one is a 2-liter and another is a 2.5 and they are both normally aspirated but the one that we would recommend could be the 2.2 turbo diesel which is the one that I’m driving right now it’s definitely I feel the best among the 3 cars that we are comparing today now turbo Diesel’s they have a lot of talk and all you need to do if you need a bit of power is just step on the gas a bit and there you go and this happens in any gear so there’s a lot of talk from download the rev range numbers wise the cx-5 diesel makes 173 horsepower and more importantly 420 Newton meters of torque that’s way more than the CRVs 1.5 liter turbo engine which makes 190 horsepower and 243 Newton meters of torque Hojo’s long-serving Prince 1.6 thp unit is the least powerful here with 165 horsepower and 240 Newton meters against the clock to measure the cx-5 to be the quickest car here taking just 9.1 seconds from 0 to 200 coming in second was the Honda CRV taking nine point six seconds well this one is a little further back again it dips just under the 10-second mark but all those numbers don’t tell the whole story the Peugeot here may be slowest from zero to hundred but in everyday driving conditions it’s actually quicker than the Honda CRV this is the lightest car here and it really feels it it takes less of an effort from the engine to move it from a stencil it’s less of a struggle competitive and this is a sweet sweet engine just listen to it rev yes it’s all by now but it’s still a nice car to drive in terms of engine and performance I still rate is higher than Honda’s VTech double unit when Honda first announced that it was going to introduce a 1.5 liter turbocharged engine to replace the older 2.4 liter engine a lot of people were skeptical you know they’d be asking a big small engine to power one can move on well obviously it can and under full throttle I might even say that this car is actually pretty fast but a problem is when you’re driving slowly in traffic or especially when you’re accelerating slowly the car tends to feel a little bit sluggish like it’s lacking that low-end torque personally it’s not a problem for me but if you put it side by side next to the diesel cx-5 then you’re gonna see that this car is actually pretty lethargic for those of you who are thinking that the CVT is the one to be blamed here let’s not jump the gun because it’s actually one of the better built CBP’s out there it’s smooth and it doesn’t have the rubber band effect or even lag it also has a step function to mimic a conventional automatic transmission in this regard I have no complaints whatsoever now the cx-5 is even better it uses Mazda 6 speed automatic transmission which is infamous for being a bit slow it tries to change gears faster so you can save more fuel but with a turbo diesel engine it works perfectly because it has so much of torque so no matter what gear you’re in you have power already the pressure also runs a 6-speed automatic gearbox sourced from Ison here it does the job just fine but there’s always the rubbery feel to the throttle that is typical of automatic / shows it’s fine but it’s not great also average is the purchase handling the steering is really quick and together with this tiny steering wheel it feels light and Dottie like a much smaller car body roll is also well controlled especially for an SUV but it just doesn’t feel anywhere near as dynamic or as fun as the Mazda on the move the Mazda cx-5 is quite impressive it has a sharp steering and the body roll is quite minimal as well so if you’re looking for an SUV that is very car like to drive this would be it it’s very close to the Mazda 3 but there are two issues that I would like to point out number one being the steering wheel is a bit too weak when you are driving on a straight line say on the highway and the next one is the brakes it feels a bit too soft so you have to go deeper in to get more power out of the brakes but other than these two issues the car is very very enjoyable to drive and I love it the CRV makes no claim of being a fun car to drive and the days of everyday hunters being sporty well they’re long gone anyway compared to the rest the CRV has the most body roll and it’s definitely not built to chase up certain cars I’m camping for example but in terms of stability high speed stability especially the CRV is definitely among the best up there it is surely surely better than the older CRV in essence this one is getting more to its comfort rather than sporty dynamics and being a family SUV I think that should be a priority right it’s easily one of the most comfortable car in this group and through rough potholes and speed bumps the CRV is gonna feel the least disturbed here when you go faster it’s a different story now the cx-5 generally has a more steep suspension setup compared to the CRV but when you start driving it fast say above 60 km/h you’ll notice that the stiff suspension gives you a more planted feel on the road so you feel a bit more stable you don’t rock as much or compared to when you’re in the CRE for example as for the 3008 it’s the only one here to have a real torsion beam instead of independent rear multi-link suspension well by right you expect the right quality to be a little bit crap but somehow it manages to have the best ride quality most control and best damn suspension here how kosher has gotten the most sophisticated ride quality out of the most basic cheaper suspension around God knows on the refinement the pleasure again has a very strong showing here and the full throttle we recorded a maximum noise level of just 70 DB for the pleasure which is quieter than a cx-5 72 dB the Honda CRV is by far away the loudest at full load at 75 dB yep Honda’s usual issue with subpar refinement continues to affect this CRV as well it’s not just the engine noise either which by the way is really loud and sound insulation from rolling noise that’s severely lacking as well at a steady cruise of 110 kilometers per hour again it’s the Honda that’s the loudest at a maximum of 70 decibels the other two registered a similar max of 67 DB which is a big big difference now master claims that it makes the world’s most refined and quietest diesel engines and yes I have to agree the diesel feel in here it’s very quiet you don’t feel the diesel clatter even an idle the only time you would feel or you realize that you’re driving a diesel power SUV is when you accelerate hard but then again it sounds kind of good Phil efficiency is one of the most crucial things for family vehicles such as these Euro 5 diesel is recommended for the cx-5 so we tested it with Petronas dynamic diesel Euro 5 with pro drive engineer with learnings from the Kaka rally the new generation sulfur free high performance clean diesel delivers a smooth Drive and superior fuel economy roof cleaner emissions the new formulation is also available in selected stations in Sarawak has to be expected the mazda cx5 diesel used the least feel overall averaging 15.3 km/h / everyday driving conditions next up was the petrol peugeot 3008 managing 12.1 km/h for larger heavier honda cr-v with 11.3 kilometers per liter this means the diesel mazda is a good 30% more efficient than its petrol rivals alright so we covered pretty much all the basis for each of the cars here so it’s time we take turns to see what we like and don’t like about the cars freeze you want to take a shot at the CRV don’t go all cocky now man but yes the CRV is indeed a very well-rounded SUV but it’s the only one here to not have Auto up-and-down functions for all windows come on man this is supposed to be one of your flagship models it also comes in last in a traditional Malaysian door slam test see little sound anywhere near solid as the other two one common complaint is the lack of a seven seed option for Malaysia which is available in quite a few other markets but this time I think on a malaysia I made the right choice because having seen the 7 seater up close the last two seats are pretty much next to useless and they don’t even fall flat the Mazda has blind spot when it is by the Honda offers this lanewatch system instead it gives a clear view of the left side but no help on the right the CRV is the only one here to have adaptive cruise control well I don’t see this as a safety feature per se it’s a nice convenience feature for high reuse Mazda didn’t market its active safety feature as aggressively as Honda but this one does come with its own active sense suite there’s no adaptive cruise control but there’s autonomous emergency braking or AE be present in more models instead of the top spec one just like the CRV that to me is more important and it even comes with this brilliant a EB function when you are in Reverse on to the warranty the Honda may come with the best warranty coverage here with five years and unlimited mileage but the Mazda counters that with three years worth of free service not bad on the flip side it gets this old-school keyless entry compared to the touch sensors that you can find on the other two cars I mean come on it’s also the only SUV here that doesn’t come with apple carplay or Android Cotto in this day and age that’s quite a shame really the Mazda also has the most expensive root tanks at nearly 600 ringgit per annum compared to just 100 on the rest well at least it uses less fuel away now I have to agree that the pirjo is the best looking car here it’s very Gaia and it’s very futuristic looking but there is one thing that don’t get these things that is supposed to cover the exhaust area what is this laughs another thing the display screens they are very sharp on the inside but the problem is the moment you put the car into reverse it’s like watching a 3gp video on the 4k screen now as usual the French cars the glovebox is tiny now this what I call a lazy left-hand drive to right hand rev conversion and another thing is that this is the only car here which has an ISO fixed front seat but remember if you want to use a BBC please make sure that you turn off the front airbags and the other thing is that this car also has electric child locks one thing I do like though are these sequential turn signals it makes the car look more premium nice one per job okay so we’ve covered everything there is to cover so now it’s decision time right the Honda CRV is really a complete and capable SUV it’s quick it’s fast it’s comfortable and on top of all that it’s just the most practical car of the lot but it is still loud and it’s boring to drive and my biggest complaint is that interior I mean it’s fine in isolation but put it next to these tube it just feels cheap man that’s where the Mazda stands out the build quality is top-notch and it’s even comparable to certain entry-level BMW and Mercedes models and the driving dynamics it’s very nice to drive and the engine especially this 2.2 liter turbo diesel it’s perfect conveniently keeping the pathway it’s the tiniest on the inside that’s right I mean even the smallest car here the pressure is more spacious on the inside you know and obviously the best looker here by far it’s also the most comfortable the most refined it just feels expensive through and through and it’s the cheapest car here come on but the driving is just about average and the reason why it’s cheap is because certain safety features were not spec tint right that’s true then again every car has its own strengths and weaknesses time for the final verdict frizz you got to take this man alright alright the first row has to come in third place I mean we have to be realistic it’s still very much a left field choice especially with a big question mark over its brand image and of course resale value especially against these two more mainstream brands but that’s a pity because I think otherwise it’s a fantastic car and it’s still my personal favorite and the Mazda comes in at a very close second and the main reason why it’s not in the number one spot is because the practicality from the CRV is better but if you are okay with not having a car that has as much space as the CRE or if you put driving dynamics above all else then the cx-5 is the best car for you so yes ladies and gents the Honda CRV is once again the top pick for our class it gets all the important things done just right in the window of being a family-oriented SUV so that’s it for episode of driven however patronage dynamic diesel euro-5 with pro drive and petronas premix and we’ll see you next time bye-bye
