Yes, I know this. However, it's a solid effort considering the outgoing CX-5 was one of the loudest in its segment.
Last October, I had a CX-5 for a whole day as a rental while daily driving the Forester (exactly as tested in the article). I had high expectations for the Mazda but I was happy to be back in the Forester.
1) I never thought that visibility could play such an important role and now I actually consider it a safety feature. I just feel at ease in the Subie because I can easily see around me. Not so much in the Mazda.
2) The Mazda interior, both ergonomically and visually, underwhelmed me.
2017 Forester, once warmed up, is very quiet.
The driver seat comfort in the Forester, OTOH, could be much better as I find the seat bottom too short and seat height too high for my liking, even though I have learned to live with it eventually. Guess, it is an inevitable compromise in a
compact CUV with decent cargo space.
Almost 19,000km on the Forester in 9 months.