I partnered with DriveShop to test drive the Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD SUV for a week in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

This past week we drove the Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD SUV while in Orlando, Florida for the Food Wine Conference, and found it to be sporty and stylish, nicely equipped, loaded with safety features, and fun to drive.

From the time we picked up the Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD at the hotel at the airport to the time we returned it, we felt like we were in sporty luxury. It is such a good looking vehicle with the stunning Soul Red Metallic Exterior Paint and the stylish 19″ alloy wheels.

Standard exterior features:

• 19″ Alloy Wheels
• P225/55 All-Season Tires
• Variable rain-sensing wipers
• Fixed-Intermittent rear wiper
• Heated Power Mirrors with turn lamps

Don’t you just love the look of these wheels?

When you step inside the Mazda CX-5 Grand Grand Touring AWD SUV, you are in a cocoon of sporty luxury with its black leather-trimmed sport seats, and the black leather covered steering wheel with audio, cruise, and Bluetooth controls.

Standard Interior Features:

• 5-Passenger Seating
• Tilt and Telescopic steering column
• Leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Power automatic door locks and windows
• Leather trimmed Sport Seats
• 8-way Power Driver’s Seat
• Heated Front Seats
• Advanced Keyless Entry System

And much more!!!

One of my favorite features of the Grand Touring is that it comes standard with a Bose sound system (it’s also optional in the Touring trim). It provides plenty of clear quality sound that is good enough to rock out to your favorite music.

In addition, it has so many safety features that the 2016 CX-5 was named an IIHS Top Safety Pick+,

Here are a few of the many safety features:

• 24-Hour Roadside Assistance
• 5-Passenger 3-Point Safety Belts
• Latch Child Safety Seat Anchors
• Anti-Theft Engine Immobilization
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System
• Blind Spot Monitoring
• Rear Cross-Traffic Alert
• Anti-Lock Brake System
• and many more!

While you are driving it has a lane monitoring system so if you start it drift into the next lane, it warns you with an alert sound. It also will adjust your cruise control to keep a certain distance between you and the car in front of you.

For more info, click here to view the 2016 CX-5 Brochure.

Also, upon receiving the vehicle, we were provided with a $25 charitable gift card redeemable at OneOC.org/givingcards to donate to the charity of our choice.  How cool is that? The Mazda Drive for Good charitable program has helped raise more than $7.6 million and logged more than 120,000 service hours all in the effort to give back to the communities in which they do business.