SO, my vehicle is in the shop, as some of you saw. They loaned me a 2017-2019 (I dunno which, I think '19 CX5 FWD (GT?). Anyway...
My gen 1 is so much more "raw". It corners flatter, it has MUCH more "feedback" from the chassis and the steering wheel. It is significantly more athletic in the acceleration department. The '19 quite frankly felt like a total pud.
It was also CLASSY. The interior noise was muted significantly. The contact surfaces felt "nice". If there were no branding visible, and the style was changed to reflect the brand but materials left the same, I'd have said it was the same as a '13-'15 C-Class. I have to walk it back from the trash I talked earlier. Mazda is playing the luxury game and doing it well! I'm impressed. Very.
The differences in "feel" were similar to driving a C6 Grand Sport and a C6 Z06 back to back. Night and day.