Hey everyone, I am new here, live in Malta, Europe.

My wife & I have recently decided to buy a CX-5. We have 2 headaches though.

1.

Homura - The more sporty looking all Black everything, 19" Black Gloss Alloy wheels.

or

Takumi(Signature in USA) with ventilated seats, 360 degree camera, silver gloss 19" wheels and the guard at the bottom is sprayed same color as the rest of the car.

2.

Soul Red Crystal, Machine Grey or the new Rhodium White?

The red looks amazing just a little hesitant as never imagined having a red car and might be too Big a car for all that red? Even to re-spray if someone crashes into it or whatever might be a problem? As to get that color again might be more difficult?

Machine grey looks amazing in pics and vids but seemed a little too much on the dark side of things especially with how much sun we get here. This I feel would look nicer on the Homura rather than Takumi to keep the dark, cool, sporty theme.

Rhodium White is new on this car apparently, I've never seen it in real life, can I compare it to some other cars color? Looks amazing in pictures and videos. Maybe better on the Takumi with the bright silver gloss wheels? Problem is, my wife isn't much of a fan of plain white, however i have a feeling she's imagining the arctic white, which is more of a matte white rather than a glossy white which the Rhodium seems to be.

*Important thing to note: We are a family of 4, I am 6'3", my wife 5'8" and we have a 3 year old son and a 3 month old daughter, both seem to be on the taller end of the spectrum. CX-50 isn't available here and CX-60 is too much of a jump financially. We love the shape of the CX-5 and the space in the interior is perfect for our family, so no doubts about which car to buy.

Any suggestions to help us decide these 2 things would be amazing.

Thank you!

 

I have Rhodium White and it's fine. It's white. To the lay eye, it's white. A Mazda fan might see the nuanced differences, but most people just see white.

 

Got the machine gray which is nice but too much gray.
But if I could do it over, would definitely go with the soul red.
Would trade it in for soul red but too much of a loss.

Also, machine gray is just as hard to paint as soul red. Both take multiple coats to get he color right by a ppg trained paint shop.

 

The two choices you are asking about are simply based on personal "taste/preference".
They do not impact the overall functionality of vehicle itself.
My advice is pick what you and your wife like, not what someone else likes.
Or flip a coin

 

Agreed. We all have different tastes in color. Best thing would be to look at them in person and go from there.

 

Ok, if wed have t choose 1 colour purely for aesthetics it would be the Soul Red Crystal.

Now the thing is for pure aesthetics, the Homura looks better with red in our opinion. With the black wheels and all black interior and under the grill. However, it doesnt come with ventilated seats, brown nappa leather and 360 camera. How useful/effective are the 360 camera and ventilated seats in your opinion?

 

I don't have either on my car so I wouldn't be able to tell you with 100% certainty. However, I think both the 360 degree camera and the ventilated seats are things that are nice to have, but really aren't neccesary. I love my car and have neither of them.

 

A competent body shop can match the red color well, BTDT.

My 2¢

 

My "opinion" would be the 360 Camera would be dependent on where you drive the most.
I live in a very rural area and it would be basically useless for me.
In an area with many kids and cars around I'd probably want it.
As for the ventilated seat...that depends on if you have a naturally hot or cold "buttocks".

 

I can say the ventilated seats are nice on a hot day when I have sweaty clothes on, but not essential IMHO. Heated seats on the other hand....