2019 MAZDA CX-5: WHY I'D BUY IT - SCOTT EVANS

"What SUV should I buy?" It's a question consumers ask themselves every day, but what would features editor Scott Evans drive? Keep reading for the answer, and see other editors' picks here.

There are all kinds of logical, rational reasons to pick one car over another, but we're not machines, the cars are. It's always an emotional decision, because you want to love the car you just spent tens of thousands of dollars on. When those dollars are leaving my bank account, my heart knows which SUV I'm buying: the 2019 Mazda CX-5.

Look up the CX-5 here at MotorTrend and you'll see it's always a bridesmaid, never the bride, but for very specific reasons. Our consumer-focused comparisons put great emphasis on cargo and passenger space and fuel economy, and the CX-5 gives up a few cubic feet in the back and a couple of mpgs to the class-leading Honda CR-V. It's a small difference, but enough to break a tie. Ask me, though, and the tie-breaker is going to be style and panache.

Mid-30s, DINKS, and homeowners with cats, my wife and I don't need the extra seven cubic feet of cargo space that bad, and we make enough to not worry about the five mpg combined. If I need to haul that much stuff, big box stores rent trucks cheap. If gas prices are squeezing my wallet, I could always pick the base engine rather than the optional turbo.

That's how I'd configure mine. CX-5 Grand Touring Reserve with the smokin' 2.5-liter turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive. We don't get much serious weather here in southern California, but my wife and I enjoy camping and visiting the snow, so the extra traction is a plus and the turbo engine only comes with all-wheel drive anyway. That motor takes nearly two seconds off the 0-60 mph time, which is a big difference on a short on-ramp when traffic is doing 80You want to smile when you see your car, too, and the CX-5's design, inside and out, put it way ahead of the pack. Clean and sophisticated, it looks like it could be a luxury vehicle and easily stands out from the frumpy CR-V and generic Toyota RAV4. Why look like everyone else in the suburb when you can drive around in this? What's better, the inside (where you spend all your time with your car anyway) is also luxury car quality. Fine woods, metals, and leathers put the competition on the shelf in a sleek, refined package.

It doesn't give up any safety to get that sexy sheet metal, either. The CX-5 gets the exact same crash test scores as the Honda CR-V from both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it's a 2019 IIHS Top Safety Pick+.

You don't give up any features to the bigger players, either. Mazda's infotainment system supports Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Pandora, Stitcher, and Aha and is easier and more intuitive to use than Honda or Toyota's. The Grand Touring Reserve trim level also buys you adaptive cruise control with stop and go traffic programming, lane departure warning and lane keeping, blind-spot monitoring, forward collision warning and emergency braking assistance, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, dual-zone climate control, navigation, a premium Bose stereo, automatic wipers and LED headlights, automatic high beams, and a power liftgate.

Of course, it does require a small stretch. My target price for a new car would be $35,000, and the Grand Touring Reserve trim with my preferred features comes in at about $37,000, but I think it's worth a couple extra car payments to get the more powerful engine and all-wheel drive. If neither matters to you, a Grand Touring trim in front-wheel drive can be built to my preferences for about $34,000. Either way, I'd get mine in Deep Crystal Blue Mica with the airy Parchment leather interior.