Rent Mazda CX-5 2024 in Dubai

Most people who take the Mazda CX-5 2024 out for a week fill the tank once. That is what we tell renters at handover, and it is the reason this car keeps getting booked by people who arrived looking for something a size smaller and cheaper to run. We can have it at your door in one to two hours, and there is a no-deposit option on it. What you get is a 4.5-metre SUV with a 2.5-litre engine that drinks roughly what a compact sedan does. Whether that trade makes sense for you comes down to how many kilometres your week actually involves.

What a week of fuel really costs you

Mazda's combined figure for this car is about 7 L/100 km. Nobody achieves that in Dubai, and we would rather tell you the real number: plan on 9 to 10 L/100 km if your driving is the usual mix of Sheikh Zayed Road runs and stop-start city traffic with the AC working hard. On a 56 to 58 litre tank, depending on which drive system your car carries, that means roughly 600 km of real driving between fills. The official figure would stretch it closer to 800, but you will not see that here.

For most renters, 600 km covers the week. Two airport runs, daily commuting inside the city and a day trip out along the coast still leaves you filling up once, maybe twice if you are doing longer distances. Compare that to a small turbo crossover that needs premium and empties a 45-litre tank every four days, and the CX-5 stops looking like the expensive option.

The reason it manages this is the engine. It is a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four making 188 hp and 252 Nm, paired to a conventional six-speed automatic. There is no turbo to feed and no CVT slurring away at part throttle. It is an older recipe than most of what it competes with, and in the specific conditions of Dubai driving, that works in your favour. Our 300 km a day allowance sits well above what a normal city week uses, and anything past it runs at AED 0.5 per kilometre.

Specifications

Space, and getting all of it into a parking bay

About 440 litres behind the rear seats translates to two large hard cases standing upright and a couple of soft bags packed around them. Four adults landing at DXB with a week of luggage will get everything in without anyone holding a bag on their lap, which is the exact point where a subcompact crossover starts failing people. Drop the rear bench and the floor goes close to flat, so a furniture pickup or a heavy grocery week is no trouble.

Behind the wheel, the useful measurement is 4,575 mm long by 1,845 mm wide. That is a real mid-size footprint, and older multi-storey car parks around the city will remind you of it. You will not swing it around a tight ramp turn in one movement the way you would a hatchback, and a few of the narrower bays leave you thinking about door clearance. Nothing about it is difficult, but it needs a moment of attention where a smaller car needs none. The reversing camera and the wide glass make up most of the difference.

Ground clearance is 193 mm, which is generous by SUV standards here. Tall speed bumps in residential streets and the steep entrance lips at older malls pass underneath without the scraping noise you get in a low sedan. That clearance is also where people talk themselves into trouble. Some grades of this car are front-wheel drive and some are all-wheel drive, and we cannot promise you which one arrives until the desk confirms it. Even the all-wheel-drive version is an on-road system with no low range. Do not take either onto soft sand or a dune track. Book a proper 4x4 for that and enjoy your week instead of digging.

Unlocking it at two in the afternoon in August

A car parked in open sun here gets brutal inside, and the CX-5 has more cabin volume than a hatchback, so it takes a little longer to bring down. The front vents move plenty of air and the cabin is properly insulated in a way budget rentals are not, so once it is cold it stays cold even with the sun on the glass. The trick is the first thirty seconds: drop the windows, let the superheated air out, then close up and switch to recirculate. You will be comfortable before you clear the car park.

One honest caution for anyone travelling with kids. Rear air outlets are not fitted across every grade of this car, so do not assume the back seat gets its own supply. On a 45 degree afternoon, give the AC a few minutes to work before you strap children in. Under-fours need a child seat by law and we will fit one on request. Salik tolls and any RTA fines picked up during your rental are billed to you, so keep to the limits on the E11 cameras.

Who should book it, and who should look elsewhere

Rent the Mazda CX-5 2024 if you are two to four people who want SUV height and a boot that takes real luggage, and you would rather not be at a petrol station every third day. For a family week of school runs, mall trips and one long drive, it is the most sensible thing in our economy column.

Look elsewhere in two cases. If there are six or seven of you, this car seats five and stretching it will make the week miserable, so book a seven-seater from the start. And if there is any genuine off-road driving in your plans, the CX-5 is a raised road car whichever drivetrain it carries. Everyone else gets a better car than the daily rate suggests.