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Auto Blog
a day ago
- Automotive
- Auto Blog
I Drove the 2025 Mazda CX-5 2.5 Turbo Premium. Here's My Brutally Honest Review
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Compact crossovers are often overlooked for their midsize siblings, but the Mazda CX-30 and Honda HR-V are definitely worth a second glance. View post: Why The 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale Tributo Italiano Is The Right Sized Alfa You Can Afford The 2025 Audi Q3 is an incredible value this month. Discover how a killer lease deal combines a low monthly payment with Quattro AWD and a premium interior. The Mazda CX-5 is a seasoned veteran in the compact SUV world… In a segment dominated by practical, appliance-like boxes, the CX-5 has always been the one you buy if you enjoy driving. For years, it has promised a premium feel and a sporty soul at a mainstream price. The 2025 model represents the most refined version of this promise, a culmination of a generation that redefined Mazda. I found it to be a great driving car, but with the shadow of an all-new 2026 model looming, the question is: is this seasoned veteran still a smart buy? 0:00 / 0:09 2025 Honda Accord: 4 reasons to love it, 2 reasons to think twice Watch More Source: Mazda The heart of the matter This is where the CX-5, especially in this 2.5 Turbo trim, separates itself from the pack. The core of this vehicle is the SKYACTIV-G 2.5L Dynamic Pressure Turbo engine. Mazda's Dynamic Pressure Turbo is designed to combat turbo lag, that annoying delay before the power kicks in. It utilizes a small valve to restrict exhaust flow at low RPMs, thereby increasing the flow's velocity and spooling the turbocharger faster. When using premium fuel, the engine produces 256 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque. What's crucial here isn't the peak horsepower, but that mountain of torque, which arrives at a low 2,500 RPM. This means in real-world driving, from a stoplight or when merging onto the highway, the CX-5 surges forward with an effortless, muscular shove that its competitors don't match. It makes the vehicle feel powerful and responsive without requiring it to rev its engine to the limit. Source: Mazda A six-speed automatic transmission manages this power. And yes, in an era where competitors have eight or more speeds, six can feel a bit dated. An eight-speed transmission would undoubtedly be a welcome addition. That said, the system in the CX-5 is decent and not a deal-breaker, with quick, intelligent shifts that rarely leave you hunting for the right gear. All of this is connected to the road via the standard i-Activ All-Wheel Drive system. It's a predictive system that uses 27 different sensors, monitoring everything from steering angle and throttle input to windshield wiper use and outside temperature, to anticipate a loss of traction before it happens. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Finally, there's G-Vectoring Control Plus (GVC Plus). When you turn the steering wheel, the system makes an imperceptible cut in engine torque, shifting the vehicle's weight slightly to the front tires. This improves turn-in and steering response. As you exit the corner and straighten the wheel, a tiny amount of brake force is applied to the outside wheel to help stabilize the vehicle. The effect is subtle, but the result is a crossover that feels incredibly planted, smooth, and intuitive. Source: Mazda Kodo in motion The CX-5 is arguably still one of the best-looking vehicles in its class, even after all these years. The CX-5 uses Mazda's 'Kodo—Soul of Motion' design philosophy. The lines flow, the surfacing is complex, and it lacks the awkward, angry-robot look of some of its rivals. The 2.5 Turbo Premium trim enhances this with a more assertive, upscale look. Key features include: Gloss Black Accents: The grille, the signature 'wing' that extends from it, the lower bumper, and the side mirrors are all finished in gloss black, giving it a sporty, almost aftermarket appearance. 19-inch Black Metallic Wheels: These large, black alloy wheels fill the wheel wells perfectly, completing the aggressive, premium aesthetic. Signature Lighting: The adaptive LED headlights and taillights have a sharp, distinctive signature that makes the CX-5 instantly recognizable at night. The vehicle's proportions are a key part of its appeal, but they are also the source of its biggest compromise. The tapered roofline and sleek greenhouse look fantastic, but they directly impact interior space, a trade-off Mazda willingly makes for the sake of beauty. Source: Mazda A cut above the rest If you were to sit inside the 2.5 Turbo Premium blindfolded and then open your eyes, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in an entry-level German luxury vehicle with excellent materials, thoughtful ergonomics, and obsessive build quality. The driver-centric cockpit remains a highlight, although this is where the CX-5 begins to show its age. While the materials are of high quality, the overall design lacks the tech-forward feeling of the latest vehicles on the market. Still, Mazda's philosophy of Jinba Ittai—the oneness between horse and rider—is present in the thoughtful ergonomics. The accelerator, for instance, is a proper floor-hinged organ-style pedal, which provides much better fine control and comfort than the top-hinged pedals found in most cars. Source: Mazda While front passengers have plenty of room, rear-seat legroom is just average for the class, and the cargo area, at about 59 cubic feet with the seats down, is significantly smaller than what you'll find in a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. Pricing & fuel economy The 2025 Mazda CX-5 2.5 Turbo Premium is positioned near the top of the lineup, with an MSRP of $39,495. This gets you the more potent turbo engine and all the premium comfort and convenience features. The turbo engine's EPA ratings are: 22 MPG City 27 MPG Highway 24 MPG Combined Source: Mazda Final thoughts The CX-5 is for the driver who refuses to accept that a daily crossover must be a boring penalty box. It's an emotional, heart-over-head choice, trading class-leading cargo space and fuel economy for superior driving dynamics and a near-luxury cabin. However, the elephant in the room is its age. While its safety suite is comprehensive and features like the head-up display are welcome, its core tech, centered around a touchscreen display and a rotary knob, feels dated. For this reason, despite the current model's brilliance, the smart money is on waiting. The completely redesigned 2026 CX-5, expected to arrive in early 2026, promises to address these technological shortcomings with a radical new interior and a significantly larger, more modern touchscreen interface. The current CX-5 is the beautiful final chapter of a book, but the sequel is just around the corner and looks to be worth the wait. About the Author Kyle Edward View Profile
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
VIP Industries shares slip 4% post weak Q1 nos; here's analysts takeaway
VIP Industries, which offers products under the categories of luggage, backpacks, and homebags, shares slipped 3.8 per cent on Friday, August 8, 2025, and logged an intra-day low at ₹432.75 per share on BSE. The selling pressure on the counter came a day after the company posted weak Q1 results, after market hours on Thursday. At 9:38 AM, VIP Industries share price was down 3.17 per cent at ₹435.85 per share. In comparison, the Sensex was 0.39 per cent lower at 80,307.99. VIP Industries Q1 results In Q1, the luggage manufacturer reported a consolidated net loss of ₹13 as compared to a net profit of ₹4 crore year-on-year (Y-o-Y). Its revenue from operations also declined 12 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹561 crore, as compared to ₹639 crore. The Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) stood at ₹29 crore, as compared to ₹51 crore. Ebitda margin stood at 5 per cent, as against 8 per cent a year ago. VIP Industries management says: Revival of e-commerce sales is likely in Q2FY26. To tackle the problem of lost luggage the company plans to launch a first-time in-industry smart bag tag. The Alfa brand will be used as a flanking strategy to capture the lower end products market. Within six–seven months the company is hopeful of getting all its pending insurance dues (around ₹30 crore). Only maintenance capex to be undertaken in FY26. VIP Industries results analysis: Here's what brokerages suggest Nuvama Institutional Equities | Reduce | Target decreased to ₹309 from ₹312 Due to the uncertainty surrounding VIP's management transition, the brokerage has tweaked its revenue and profit after tax (PAT) estimates for FY 26/27 by -7.4 per cent/-7.4 per cent and -12.2 per cent/-13.2 per cent, respectively. "We shall update our estimates once we have a better understanding of the acquirer's plans," the note said. Centrum Capital | From Add to Reduce | Target ₹427 With a higher growth on the lower-end segment, the brokerage has reduced its earnings estimates as VIP has a 55 per cent premium portfolio. Centrum fears local competition and prolonged disruption in the Bangladesh facility could be risk factors.
The Irish Sun
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Irish Sun
Battered 80s car Jeremy Clarkson bought on Top Gear could be yours for £15,000 – but there's a catch
A BATTERED motor that Jeremy Clarkson once bought on Top Gear for just £450 can now be yours - but for a hugely inflated price. A 1989 Alfa Romeo 75 V6 3.0 Veloce that was driven by the presenter for an episode of the show is selling for a staggering £15,000. Advertisement 4 An 80s Alfa Romeo once owned by Jeremy Clarkson has gone up for sale Credit: Jam Press/Iconic Auctioneers 4 The motor is finished in so-called 'Skoda Green' - although it has a few battle scars Credit: Jam Press/Iconic Auctioneers 4 Jezza originally bought it for £450 but it's now worth £15,000 Credit: Jam Press/Iconic Auctioneers 4 Clarkson is known for his fondness of Alfas and once saying that you need to own an Alfa Romeo to be a true car enthusiast The Alfa appeared in episode three of series 11 back in 2008, when the three presenters - Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond - were tasked with buying a car for under £1,000. Clarkson is known for his fondness for Alfa Romeo cars, once saying that you need to own an Alfa Romeo to be a true car enthusiast. He bought this 75 model for just £450 at the time and praised its 3.0-litre Busso V6 engine, calling it "one of the best engines ever to go into mass production." Throughout the famous episode, the car faced several challenges, including a track day at Rockingham Motor Speedway. Advertisement Read more Motors News It also featured in a calendar photoshoot, as well as the Auto Italia Stanford Hall Concours - where Clarkson personally repainted it in a shade he called 'Skoda Green'. Today, the car has much of its original paintwork - as well as a few battle scars from its TV exploits. Its listing, courtesy of Iconic Auctioneers, says: "Following its appearance on Top Gear, the Alfa Romeo 75 has been meticulously maintained during 11 years of current ownership, with approximately £4,500 invested mechanically. "Important work has included a cam belt service, a new clutch, and a gearbox rebuild. Advertisement Most read in Motors "With just over 51,000 miles on the clock, the car comes with a comprehensive history file, original handbooks, stamped service book, old MOT records, and a detailed DVLA ownership history. "The sale includes replacement doors and bonnet for those interested in returning it to standard specification." 'It's a fabulous off roader' - YOU can own James May's Caterham built for The Grand Tour for just £30k The listing added: 'A great opportunity to buy a TV 'star car' that starts, runs and stops. 'Last MOT expired in 2017. Category 'C' Insurance Loss. Advertisement 'Vehicle extensively damaged but repairable. 'Insurer decided not to repair it.' Rob Hubbard of Iconic Auctioneers said: 'This Alfa Romeo 75 is an enjoyable and quirky piece of Top Gear history, ideal for those who appreciate characterful cars with an engaging backstory. "We're delighted to present cars like this, celebrating automotive passion at every level.' Advertisement Fans of the show can fork out on the Alfa Sunday, August 24, at the Silverstone Festival in Towcester, Northamptonshire.
National Post
07-07-2025
- Business
- National Post
Boosted.ai Launches Enhanced Version of Alfa, the Agentic AI Platform That Unlocks Productivity and Improves Decision-Making
Article content NEW YORK — the leader in AI-powered investment research, today announced the launch of the newest version of its flagship product, Alfa —a next-generation, agentic AI platform built to anticipate, analyze, and act the way investors do. Article content At its core, Alfa is about never missing anything that matters to your firm's investment process. Designed from the ground up to surface relevant insights proactively, Alfa adapts to how you think, monitors the information you care about, and offers contextual, accurate guidance at every step. It learns based on your preferences – honing in from generalized recommendations into hyper-specific 'agents' (smart assistants that can understand your goals and act on them) that predict your needs. Article content Article content 'Alfa is the culmination of everything we've learned about how asset managers want to work with AI,' said Joshua Pantony, CEO of 'It's fast, powerful, and most importantly, it's agentic. That means it works on your behalf, behind the scenes, to find the insights in the noise. This is what the future of AI in finance looks like: research and ideas delivered before you even ask.' Article content From vision to execution: Alfa in action Article content Alfa supports specific, high-value workflows investment teams rely on every day. Article content Some of the many ways users are getting value include: Article content Key data extraction In seconds, Alfa finds the right peer group, extracts every relevant key performance indicator (KPIs like margins, multiples, segment revenue, etc.), and automatically sources them from filings—with full citations and links. Benefits: Spend more time doing work that matters, have confidence in the number you report, identify trends and opportunities faster. Article content Email monitoring Alfa ingests your inbox and surfaces the updates, documents, and disclosures that matter to your portfolio. It automatically categorizes and prioritizes incoming information so that you're always aware—and never overwhelmed. Benefits: Time savings, better coverage, and assurance that nothing falls through the cracks. Article content Built to empower companies. Personalized for individuals. Article content This newest release introduces a range of enhancements designed for both enterprise sophistication and individual ease-of-use: Article content Smart onboarding: Alfa configures itself based on your role, workflows, and tickers of interest. Home and Discover views: A curated feed shows new reports, updates, and shared work—all in one place. Voice and text enabled reporting: Automate the creation of robust financial reports by typing or talking, with Alfa suggesting follow-ups, visual layouts, and estimated compute usage. Knowledge control: Upload documents, set watchlists, and personalize Alfa's memory and sources. Article content From intuitive navigation and report redlining to new APIs and team-level permissions, Alfa has evolved to meet the scale and complexity of modern investment teams—without sacrificing usability. Article content Experience the difference of Alfa's agentic AI for yourself Article content In this launch, has also removed traditional barriers to adoption: Article content About Article content is how investment managers work smarter. Through generative AI built specifically for capital markets, provides analytics across millions of data points, through a macroeconomic, microeconomic and portfolio construction lens, giving asset managers major efficiency gains across their teams. Co-founded by Joshua Pantony, Jon Dorando and Nicholas Abe in 2017, the company and its proprietary web-based platform, Boosted Insights, bring advanced quantitative investing techniques to portfolio managers, without requiring any coding or data science background. Headquartered in Toronto and New York City, is backed by Portage Ventures, Ten Coves Capital, Spark Capital and other leading investors. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contacts: Article content Article content
Business Wire
07-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Boosted.ai Launches Enhanced Version of Alfa, the Agentic AI Platform That Unlocks Productivity and Improves Decision-Making
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- the leader in AI-powered investment research, today announced the launch of the newest version of its flagship product, Alfa —a next-generation, agentic AI platform built to anticipate, analyze, and act the way investors do. 'Alfa is the culmination of everything we've learned about how asset managers want to work with AI,' said Joshua Pantony, CEO of At its core, Alfa is about never missing anything that matters to your firm's investment process. Designed from the ground up to surface relevant insights proactively, Alfa adapts to how you think, monitors the information you care about, and offers contextual, accurate guidance at every step. It learns based on your preferences - honing in from generalized recommendations into hyper-specific 'agents' (smart assistants that can understand your goals and act on them) that predict your needs. 'Alfa is the culmination of everything we've learned about how asset managers want to work with AI,' said Joshua Pantony, CEO of 'It's fast, powerful, and most importantly, it's agentic. That means it works on your behalf, behind the scenes, to find the insights in the noise. This is what the future of AI in finance looks like: research and ideas delivered before you even ask.' From vision to execution: Alfa in action Alfa supports specific, high-value workflows investment teams rely on every day. Some of the many ways users are getting value include: Key data extraction In seconds, Alfa finds the right peer group, extracts every relevant key performance indicator (KPIs like margins, multiples, segment revenue, etc.), and automatically sources them from filings—with full citations and links. Benefits: Spend more time doing work that matters, have confidence in the number you report, identify trends and opportunities faster. Email monitoring Alfa ingests your inbox and surfaces the updates, documents, and disclosures that matter to your portfolio. It automatically categorizes and prioritizes incoming information so that you're always aware—and never overwhelmed. Benefits: Time savings, better coverage, and assurance that nothing falls through the cracks. Built to empower companies. Personalized for individuals. This newest release introduces a range of enhancements designed for both enterprise sophistication and individual ease-of-use: Smart onboarding: Alfa configures itself based on your role, workflows, and tickers of interest. Home and Discover views: A curated feed shows new reports, updates, and shared work—all in one place. Voice and text enabled reporting: Automate the creation of robust financial reports by typing or talking, with Alfa suggesting follow-ups, visual layouts, and estimated compute usage. Knowledge control: Upload documents, set watchlists, and personalize Alfa's memory and sources. From intuitive navigation and report redlining to new APIs and team-level permissions, Alfa has evolved to meet the scale and complexity of modern investment teams—without sacrificing usability. Experience the difference of Alfa's agentic AI for yourself In this launch, has also removed traditional barriers to adoption: No sales call needed: Users can sign up directly via the website. Try before you commit: Key features are now available without a paid account. Upgrade on your terms: Self-directed pricing and feature selection right inside the app. About is how investment managers work smarter. Through generative AI built specifically for capital markets, provides analytics across millions of data points, through a macroeconomic, microeconomic and portfolio construction lens, giving asset managers major efficiency gains across their teams. Co-founded by Joshua Pantony, Jon Dorando and Nicholas Abe in 2017, the company and its proprietary web-based platform, Boosted Insights, bring advanced quantitative investing techniques to portfolio managers, without requiring any coding or data science background. Headquartered in Toronto and New York City, is backed by Portage Ventures, Ten Coves Capital, Spark Capital and other leading investors.
