Having just climbed out of the CX-30, I’m here to tell you that the 2024 Mazda CX-50 Meridian will be no different, in that the CX-50 is yet another solid offering.
Unbeknownst to many, Mazda is starting to put together a strong lineup of crossovers of all shapes and sizes. You can go as petite as the CX-30, which barely qualifies as a crossover, as large as the seven-passenger CX-90, or sit somewhere in the middle with the CX-50 and CX-5. There’s also a number of different powertrains available, from gas to hybrid to fully electric.
The CX-50 is gas-only, however, with your only option being whether or not you want to tack on a turbocharger onto that SkyActiv four-cylinder engine. Spoiler alert: you do. On our Meridian trim tester, its turbo-four produces 256 horsepower and a stout 320 pound-feet of torque. Power is routed to all four wheels via a long-in-the-tooth six-speed automatic transmission.
This combination is used on a number of different Mazdas, both crossovers and sedans. Like in previous Mazda’s I’ve driven, it’s a solid powertrain overall, staying quiet when you want it to and providing enough shove to get you going where you want. But compared to the CX-30 with the same engine, the CX-50 feels more “good enough” versus the “wow” factor you get in the lighter CX-30. The six-speed automatic continues to be a bit of a letdown here, in that the engine could really shine if it had an extra cog or two to work with. I do appreciate that Mazda officially allows you to use regular fuel with their turbocharged engines, but output drops to 227 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque when you pump in 87.
Mazda’s i-Activ all-wheel-drive system stays in front-drive mode most of the time, until it detects slippage. Drive modes range from Normal to Sport to Off-Road, adjusting throttle response, shift mapping, and AWD settings in the process. The suspension isn’t adaptive, and the steering seems unaffected by the drive modes — which is perfectly fine, as Mazda’s steering is typically bang-on in terms of response and feedback, and the CX-50 is no exception. Ride quality feels a tad on the sporty side; I wouldn’t call it harsh, but if you’re coming from a Lincoln or a Cadillac, you may beg to differ.
The CX-50 is slightly thirstier than Mazda’s other crossovers. It’s rated at 10.4 L/100 kilometres in the city, 8.1 on the highway, and 9.1 combined; I averaged 12 L/100 km during my driving adventures in the real world. At 60 litres, the fuel tank is average-sized for the segment, but you often fill up with the trip computer displaying a max range of 400 kilometres. Not great.
Our CX-50 Meridian tester was clad in a beautiful yet rugged-looking Zircon Sand Metallic paint — a worthwhile $300 option — which I can best describe as army green-ish. It suits the overland character of the CX-50, with the large black plastic body cladding and appropriate ground clearance hinting at some off-road chops. The body itself gives off premium yet athletic vibes, with squared-off wheel arches and some strong character lines, along with a prominent shoulder over the rear wheels. The front end even has a faux silver skid plate and a gloss black grille to complete the look. The chunky-looking 18-inch wheels, finished in black with machined silver accents, also give off a rugged vibe, especially wrapped in the Meridian’s all-terrain Falken rubber. I’ve been a fan of Mazda’s clean designs for a while, and I think the CX-50 might be one of their best yet. They always manage to pull off a beautiful aesthetic without any real gimmicks at play. If you took the badge off this thing, you could easily mistake it for something more premium.
Inside the CX-50, the Teracotta leather with orange stitching looks great against the Zircon Sand paint, and pairs well to the rugged overlander theme. Like most other Mazdas, the layout is simple, not littered with buttons, giant screens, or much ambient lighting. The gauge cluster is virtually identical to other Mazda crossovers, too, blending analog and digital gauges. It’s clean and works well, and the different drive modes add some colour to spice things up. That being said, the more I see this gauge cluster in pricier Mazdas, the less enthused I am about it. It’s cool in a CX-30, but I’d like to see it modernized a little bit to help the CX-50 stand out a bit more.
Like many Mazdas, the rest of the cabin is well put together but has some carryover tech, which makes for a bit of a mixed experience. The automatic wipers must use first-generation sensors because they can’t quite keep up in light rain, but the radar cruise control is among the smoothest I’ve used. The infotainment display operates as a touchscreen but only in park, as Mazda supposedly deems it safer to use the rotary knob while driving. The wireless phone charger kept giving me an error, but the fact that Mazda lets you set the volume of your warning chimes and turn signals is something every car should do. As with most other Mazdas, you can tell their limited funds are spent in certain places and not others.
But none of this is enough for me to go against recommending the CX-50 for anyone looking for a compact SUV. I still recommend it wholeheartedly, because Mazda just knows how to inject fun into everything that they make. And the 2024 Mazda CX-50 Meridian is extra fun with the funky colour combo and rugged-looking wheels and tires. Although the “Zoom Zoom” ads of the 1990s are gone, the spirit is alive and well.
