Can Mazda’s small SUV join the off-road craze without forsaking the brand’s signature on-road driving dynamics?
Forget EVs, robotaxis, and cars turning into computers. The hottest trend in the automotive industry is the Subaruification of seemingly every type of car, truck, and SUV . In family SUV segments alone, Honda has the TrailSport trim, Toyota has TRD Off-Road, Kia has X-Pro, Hyundai has XRT, and Nissan has Rock Creek. The competition among ruggedized crossovers is so intense that Subaru even launched a new Wilderness trim to defend its throne as the king of plastic cladding.
If Honda’s TrailSport SUVs are textbook examples of what not to do with an off-road package, the CX-50 Meridian Edition is the model to imitate. The Falken all-terrains have excellent road manners, maintaining the steering precision at the core of what makes a Mazda. If anything, they’ve helped lighten the too-heavy effort that afflicts other CX-50 trims, as the Meridian’s steering isn’t as unnaturally stiff as that in other CX-50s we’ve driven or the three-row CX-90.
The Meridian Edition will probably carry you farther than you expect if you find yourself on a trail rather than a road, but know that you’ve left its natural habitat. This model exists to make easy work of sandy two-tracks, snowy mountain passes, and rocky fire roads leading to trailheads. The Falkens might keep you from getting mired in mud or cutting a tire on a sharp stone, but this CX-50 doesn’t have the clearance, articulation, or underbody protection for true off-roading.
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