This is one smart SUV

Mazda Philippines officially launched the newest iteration of their CX-5 crossover SUV at an event held earlier today. The 2015 model has a lot of bells and whistles that make driving much, much easier and safer for both the person behind the wheel and the people around the SUV.

If you’re scratching your head at that statement, let us explain. First off, there’s not a lot that’s changed with last year’s model compared to the new model, in terms of aesthetics and powerplant. The CX-5 sports a nicer looking front grille and sporty rims, but aside from that, the 2015-2016 CX-5 looks identical to last year’s model.

The real upgrade for the new crossover SUV is inside, in the brains of 2015-2016 CX-5. The CX-5 sports Mazda’s i-ACTIVESENSE Adaptive LED headlamps. Essentially instead of a single, super bright headlight, the CX-5 uses an array of them working together. A camera that’s situated right above the windshield detects vehicles on the road and automatically shuts off parts of the LED array so it won’t blind them with really bright light. This means people driving the new CX-5 won’t accidentally blind both oncoming vehicles and vehicles driving in front of them. Additionally, the Adaptive LED headlamps automatically lower themselves if you’re driving around 40 KPH and illuminates the sides of the street more, which gives you better visibility when you’re driving in the city. When you’re out in the highway, the LED lights raise themselves up automatically above 80 KPH which allows you to see farther down the road which is important when you’re hurtling through the highway at high speeds. We can’t even begin to count how many times we’ve been blinded by careless drivers on the road who either don’t know or don’t care about how they use their high beams, so we’re really happy with the new technology.

Another nice feature of the 2015-2016 CX-5 is the i-ACTIVSENSE Lane-keep Assist System. This system essentially senses the divisions on the road and gives drivers alerts when they’re drifting from the center of the lane. The alerts range from audible tones, vibrations to the steering wheel and even a slight nudging of the steering wheel to keep you on course. The system is smart enough to know if you’re accidentally drifting off course, or if you’re actually performing a lane change. The good news here is that both technologies can be calibrated to your taste, and can be turned off if you don’t want them interfering with your driving.

Anyway, moving on to pricing. The 2015-2016 CX-5 comes in three variants. The base version, the 2.0L Maxx, is priced at Php 1.345 million pesos. The 2.0L FWD Pro Upgraded is priced at Php 1.495 million, while the fully loaded version, the 2.4L AWD Sport Upgraded, comes in at Php 1.695 million.