In the recent festive season at the end of last year, I required a large vehicle to ferry 5 adults and a child in a child seat around town. So, Mazda hooked me up with the Mazda CX-8 2.5L petrol High variant to handle the task.
At the base, the CX-8 is more like an elongated version of the CX-5. But thanks to some distinctive styling cues, differentiating the 2 is fairly easy. From the front, the large grille has several chrome slats running horizontally across it. Moving to the side, you will notice that the CX-8 has a longer body, and it looks more obvious after the C-pillar. To cap it all off, the rear comes with a chrome strip that runs across the 5th door to link between both tail lights, while CX-8 badging tells you that this is the larger sibling. 
As a family vehicle, the CX-8 manages to carry all 6 people including the little child comfortably. With all the seats filled up, everyone in the SUV gets ample legroom and headroom, even in the 3rd row seats to feel comfortable. For the top of the line CX-8, 2nd row seats get a large center console with USB charging slots for storage and charging needs. 
Due to the large center console, I decided to move the child seat to the 3rd row seat, in order for an adult to care for the little kid. Another reason to move the child seat to the back, is because climbing in and out of the 3rd row seats can be quite the hassle, so with the child seat at the rear, only 1 adult will need to climb in and out of it. Even though the large center console is blocking the rear center AC vents, surprisingly, the 3rd row passengers can still feel cooled air reaching them. With all the seats up, the boot space only measured in at 209L, which is considered small for such a large vehicle. Luckily, I only used the boot to carry a stroller around, which it fits, but there is no more room for other items. 
Sitting in the driver seat, I do find that the seating position is spot on and everything is within reach. On the downside, I think that the infotainment screen is due for an upgrade. For a large vehicle like the CX-8, the 7-inch touchscreen panel starts to look outdated when compared to other modern day vehicles. Luckily, connectivity functions like Android Auto and Apple Car play are available. 
As the name suggests, the CX-8 that I was driving is powered by the 2.5L petrol engine, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. The 2.5L Skyactiv engine has the ability to produce 192hp at 6,000rpm, and 258Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. 
The 2.5L Skyactiv engine from Mazda is a smooth and rev-happy engine. In terms of performance, the 2.5L engine is definitely capable of bringing this large SUV up to speed. Being a rev-happy engine, I feel that this engine belongs in a sportier vehicle rather than a large SUV. Personally, I would go for the 2.2L diesel engine because that engine’s peak torque comes in at a much lower rpm, which is nicer to drive.
In order to keep all passengers in the CX-8 comfortable, Mazda has given it a soft suspension. Even though the suspension is soft, the vehicle body control is very well tuned. When driving, I can feel that the center of gravity for the SUV is quite low, giving me the confidence to drive fast in the corners. 
For day to day use, the brakes on the CX-8 are sufficient when driving around town. During some spirited driving, I think the brake pedal could use some adjustment in order to give more feel to the driver when stepping on the brakes. I do find myself needing to step on it deeper just to feel the SUV slowing down.
In terms of safety, the CX-8 comes with a standard safety system with some additional driver assistance systems helping the driver along. For the safety systems, it includes 6 airbags, Anti Lock Braking System (ABS), Emergency Brake Assist(EBA), Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), Traction Control System (TCS), Hill Launch Assist (HLA), and Auto Hold Assist. As for the driver assistance systems, it includes Adaptive LED Headlights (ALH), Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM), Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA), Driver Attention Alert (DAA), and Smart City Brake Support front and rear (SCBS).
As a family vehicle, the CX-8 is a decent people mover to travel around in. If you need a vehicle that can move people around while still having a huge boot space, I think you should look at purpose built vehicles such as MPVs to do the task. If most of the time you’re using the CX-8 to ferry kids to and from school, or going on short road trips, I think the CX-8 is more than capable to meet your day to day needs while still looking stylish. The CX-8 2.5L petrol High variant will set you back around RM 197,142.50 for it.
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