My wife and I have driven quite a few vehicles in this class and we're going with the CX-5 too! We drove the CRV, RAV4, Tucson, Forester, RDX,
Outback, etc., etc. and the CX-5 is hands-down the best handling in the bunch. I feel more engaged in the driving experience with the Mazda.
We are getting rid of a 2011 Nissan Rogue SL that's been nothing but trouble the last couple of years. I think we may have gotten a lemon because 3 out of 4 door handles have fallen off the car because of a design flaw where an internal part rusts and allows the handle to fall off!
Also (and much more life-threatening) it has a design flaw where the internal latching mechanism inside the driver and passenger front door rusts and causes the doors to NOT OPEN from the inside or outside!!! Talk about a multi-million dollar lawsuit when driver and/or passenger are trapped inside the vehicle and can't get out in time!!! Example of where you might die from something like that...car stalls while crossing railroad tracks, car slides off road in winter into lake or river, car catches on fire, etc., etc.
Sorry for venting about my Nissan on a Mazda forum...I'm done now.