Their long, soft springs absorb bumps on the trail, but make the vehicles dive when navigating turns at speed on pavement. Its springs and shocks may be meant for dirt, but they don’t compromise on-pavement behavior in the way some rivals do.Īlthough the Subarus have more off-road capability and roughly an inch more ground clearance, their suspensions lean more towards absorbing rugged terrain. It takes far less steering input–turning the wheel–to point the SUV where the driver wants to go than other vehicles in this segment. Although designed as an adventure vehicle for the trail, the CX-50 has just enough touch of sports sedan driving dynamics to make it an enjoyable drive.

In typical Mazda fashion, the CX-50 has among the best steering and suspension tuning of the segment. Mazda designed the 2023 CX-50 crossover to navigate dirt trails, and with a minimum of 8.3 inches of ground clearance (8.6 inches are optional) and standard torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, it can handle light trail duties quite well. In a 250-mile test on highways, twisty mountain roads and dirt trails in California’s central coast, the all-wheel-drive CX-50 proved its worth, showing off a hard-to-beat combination of reassuring roadway driving dynamics as well as a healthy helping of off-road ability. But those customers are also looking for a single everyday vehicle that asks for a minimum of compromises. These vehicles target outdoor enthusiasts looking to get tents, kayaks, mountain bikes, and other gear as far off the beaten path as possible.

Mazda cx50 review