The Mazda CX-5 safety record is excellent, and the car has achieved a full five-star rating from Euro NCAP for its occupant crash safety. It also scored well for child safety and crash systems, helped by standard Smart City Brake Support. There are a whole host of active and passive safety features on the car, primary of which is the aforementioned super-strong steel bodyshell.

Other passive systems include standard front, side and passenger airbags, whiplash-reducing seats and bodywork optimised to prevent injury to pedestrians in the event of a collision. Active safety features include Smart City Brake Support, which helps you avoid colliding with cars at low speeds by preparing the brakes, Lane Departure Warning, blind spot monitoring and High Beam Control System.

This automatically swaps between high and low beam headlights in order to provide the best visibility while not blinding other motorists.

Bootspace in the CX-5 is quoted at 503 litres to the ‘belt line’, or 463 litres to the tonneau cover, which shelters rear passengers from the cold when loading the boot. It comes up automatically when the boot lid is raised, and is also easily removed and stows away neatly in the boot when not required. The maximum possible load space in the CX-5 is 1,620 litres and that’s achieved with all three back seats folded down.

This also provides a flat floor. The seats can be folded independently which means you have the option of simply folding down the middle one, or either side for the classic 60:40 configuration. Compared to other cars in the same class the CX-5 also has a fairly low load height, which further adds to the practicality. There are spaces to hold litre bottles of drink in both front and back, along with an eight litre glovebox and a console between the two front seats.