As some of the most time-intensive work we do, Cars.com’s expert reviews aim to examine a vehicle right down to its nuts and bolts to give readers like you a window into what these things are like away from the bright lights and pristine polishings of an auto-show floor. We try to find the surprises and report on them to minimize the unexpected when you get around to shopping for your next car — but we can only know so much about what that next car might be, so imagine our surprise when we saw a vehicle at the top of 2022’s most popular reviews that kinda sorta already exists: Mazda’s CX-50.
Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Year: Tesla Model Y Leads the Charge in an Electrifying Year in Cars
As our own Brian Normile recounts in his review linked below, the CX-50 doesn’t do a lot of things wrong for the highly competitive compact SUV class, but its off-road prowess leaves something to be desired. And, oh yeah, Mazda already has the CX-5; other than a little extra cladding, there’s not much in it between them. Given the popularity of compact SUVs these days, however, it’s little surprise one of them ended up atop our list … It’s just a little surprising to us that this one did.
In the CX-50’s wake was a motley assortment of pickup trucks, SUVs, whatever we’re calling the Toyota Crown, EVs, and luxury and mainstream brands. In fact, only Chevrolet and Ford appear on the list more than once, the former for its venerable Silverado 1500 pickup and brand-new all-electric Bolt EUV, the latter under diametrically opposed guises for the eco-conscious F-150 Lightning EV pickup and untamed Bronco Raptor off-road SUV. If nothing else, it’s a vivid display of the diversity of our coverage — and our readership.
If the 10 reviews below aren’t enough for you, good news: We have a lot more where that came from, and not just forthcoming in 2023. You can find a comprehensive list of everything we test-drive and review right here, and as you’ll see if you can commit to the clicking, our archive extends back literal decades. Thirsty for more? Don’t forget to check our daily news coverage, which you can also look forward to plenty more of as we get further into 2023. For now, however, ring out the old year with our most popular reviews of 2022:
1. 2023 Mazda CX-50 Review: Looks Aren’t Everything
2. 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor Review: A Better Bronco in Nearly Every Way
3. 2022 Kia EV6 Review: Doing It Better Than Most
4. 2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Review: The EV We’ve Been Waiting For
5. 2022 Mercedes-AMG GLE53 Review: Adventures in Unnecessary Sportiness
6. 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country Review: Chevy Completes Its Pickup
7. 2023 Toyota Crown Review: Slick New Flagship Sedan Leaves Us a Bit Crownfused
8. 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Review: Electric; Useful; Vanilla
10. 2022 Subaru Forester Wilderness Review: More Capable On- and Off-Road
More From Cars.com:
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
