Mazda CX-5 towing capacity: 1,800 kg, but Akera carries less

Put the packed camper beside the CX-5 options list

If you already own a camper and you're buying a CX-5, take two lists to the dealer: the people and gear that travel, and the grade and accessories you're ordering. In the current Australian range, Pure, Evolve, Touring and GT SP share a 517 kg nominal payload. Akera starts at 488 kg. That 29 kg difference stays with the car on every trip, before the towbar, people or caravan ball load go on.

An Australian camper owner asking about a CX-5 in October 2020 was weighing everyday engine choice against towing a light van. That older car's reported fuel use won't describe today's model, but the order of the decision still holds: fit the whole trip first, then choose the equipment you want to live with.

Four grades start at 517 kg; Akera starts at 488 kg

The current brochure gives Pure, Evolve, Touring and GT SP a 1,720 kg kerb weight, and Akera 1,749 kg. Every grade has a 2,237 kg GVM, which leaves 517 kg of nominal payload in the first four and 488 kg in Akera. So Akera's extra 29 kg comes straight out of your carrying room, with no change to the tow or ball limits.

A measured 150 kg ball load takes that much out of the car's allowance. Before people and other additions, GVM leaves 367 kg in Pure, Evolve, Touring and GT SP, or 338 kg in Akera. Treat that as a ceiling: the GCM and axle checks further down could cut it on a real rig.

The brochure rating also assumes a Mazda genuine towing kit. Check the towbar, ball and coupling ratings too. A bigger-rated part can't raise Mazda's vehicle rating, and a lower-rated one sets your limit whatever the brochure headline says.

A Touring and an Akera with the same family camper

Here's one example rig in a Touring. Start at its 1,720 kg brochure kerb, then add 25 kg of towing equipment, 220 kg of people and 100 kg of luggage and camping gear. Those three figures are assumptions made for the example, so use your own. The unhitched car comes to 2,065 kg.

Hitch a fully loaded 1,200 kg braked camper with 120 kg measured on the ball. The car reaches 2,185 kg, 52 kg under its 2,237 kg GVM. The trailer and ball are inside the published 1,800 kg and 150 kg limits. The trailer wheels carry 1,080 kg, and the whole rig weighs 3,265 kg across all its axles. Without a GCM or axle limits from Mazda, there's nothing yet to check that total or either axle against.

Put the same people, gear and camper behind an Akera, and its 29 kg heavier kerb cuts the GVM headroom to 23 kg. If the camper's ball load then measures 150 kg, the Touring has 22 kg of GVM room and the Akera is 7 kg over GVM with the same family load.

It also raises a packing question: what changed between the 120 kg trip and the 150 kg trip? Added or moved gear can affect the trailer and the car differently, so weigh both the same way each time. The ball load is already inside the trailer's weight, so don't add it to the combined total a second time.

Count the options before ordering the grade

In the family example, the Touring has 52 kg of GVM room and the Akera 23 kg with the same 120 kg ball load. Leave a 25 kg accessory package off the list and the Touring really has 27 kg, while the Akera is 2 kg over GVM. That 25 kg is a stand-in, not a weighed Mazda accessory, so ask the installer for the real weight of the equipment, mounting hardware included, before you decide what to order.

A Perth owner's October 2020 question came after fitting a Mazda towbar and before installing a brake controller. They were also trying to square their 2017 diesel manual with a later model's capacity. You can avoid that muddle: confirm the exact vehicle's approval, the loaded trailer and the weight of the whole towing installation before you settle the equipment list.

Before you order the Akera or add another option, compare the grades with the camper, passengers and camping gear held the same. The loadmate app's recorded scenarios help keep those trip loads consistent as the grade or accessory list changes. Start with the camper you already pack and the gear you plan to buy, so the 29 kg grade difference stays in view.

A 1,800 kg trailer and a 150 kg ball are separate checks

The current trailer limit is 1,800 kg braked and 750 kg unbraked, and the ball limit is a separate 150 kg. At 1,800 kg, an assumed 10% ball load would be 180 kg, 30 kg over that maximum. That arithmetic doesn't create an official 1,500 kg rating. It shows why a generic percentage is the wrong tool for choosing the actual trailer.

Measure the ball load with the trailer packed for travel, water, gas, batteries and gear included. Check the trailer maker's loading requirements as well as the car and coupling limits. The same trailer at the same total weight can load the coupling differently once gear moves. Don't shift heavy items far back just to make the ball reading fit a preferred number.

In a 2019 Whirlpool discussion, a caravan owner asked about a 2.5-litre CX-5 and gave their van and ball figures. The car and its approval have changed since. If you're buying now, you need the current limits and your own departure measurements, not another owner's ratio. Our caravan weights guide explains why weight and where it sits belong in the same check.

Set up the current CX-5 for the towing trip

Mazda's current Australian CX-5 manual, February 2026 edition, sets a 100 km/h towing maximum, with any lower legal limit still applying. It requires a Mazda-approved towbar and says to follow the bar's identification plate. When towing, run the rear tyres 20 kPa above the recommended maximum pressure on the driver's door-frame chart. Use the chart on your own car, not another CX-5 owner's setting.

The manual also advises against towing for the first 1,000 km and calls for lower gears on hills or with heavy loads. Its towing section lists driver-assistance functions that must be switched off, including blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and rear parking sensors. Read the full list in section 7-41 and check how your towing wiring handles them before you leave. For a mountain trip above 1,000 m, follow the manual's altitude load reduction and Mazda's guidance.

The manual confirms 1,800 kg braked and 750 kg unbraked, but gives no numeric GCM or axle ratings. Adding the 2,237 kg GVM to 1,800 kg of towing gives 4,037 kg, and that isn't a GCM. Ask Mazda for the combined and axle limits for your build before you rely on the loaded rig. The GCM guide explains that check. A weight distribution hitch or suspension change also needs approval for your car and installation, and neither raises a factory rating.

A smaller daily car still needs a real travel weight

A Melbourne boat owner in a July 2020 trailer-sailer discussion wanted a smaller everyday car because towing was only a small part of its use. Their proposed load was an estimated boat-and-trailer weight, and another boat owner questioned it and asked for actual weighing and combined-mass figures. Towing can be occasional and still decide which daily car fits.

A 2015 CX-5 owner posting in December 2021 was planning remote-working trips with a Jayco Swift and comparing its tare and ball figures. Tare is the camper before you pack it. Food, camping gear and water matter most when the car's remaining allowance is down to tens of kilograms, as in the Touring example.

Those older threads can't tell you how the third-generation CX-5 will drive or what fuel it will use, but they do suggest questions for the seller: what's included in the quoted trailer weight, which options are fitted, and what does the coupling carry when loaded? Get those answers for the actual boat or camper, and weigh it even if you only tow now and then.

Earlier engine ratings don't carry over to the new car

Mazda's third-generation Australian range has one 1,800 kg braked towing figure across all five G25 AWD grades. An earlier engine's 2,000 kg figure doesn't approve a 2,000 kg trailer behind the new car, whatever grade or accessories you order.

Mazda's earlier CX-5 owner-manual engine table lists the naturally aspirated G2.0/G2.5 at 1,800 kg and the G2.5T turbo and D2.2 diesel at 2,000 kg. That's why different figures turn up in searches. It doesn't show that every earlier diesel or turbo year had the same approval, and it doesn't describe the new generation.

The current figures here come from the August 2026 Australian brochure. Mazda's March 2026 launch announcement describes five G25 AWD grades, and ANCAP's model scope gives Australian on-sale timing from June 2026, with builds from April. If you're shopping across the outgoing and new models, check the actual build and its matching Australian manual.

Before you sign for a replacement

A loaded trailer over 1,800 kg, or a measured ball load over 150 kg, is outside the current brochure limits. A lighter trailer may suit, but the occupied car, installed equipment, GCM and each axle still need checking.

In the 1,200 kg camper example, the Touring's 52 kg GVM margin is one check done. Take the packed CX-5 and camper to a certified weighbridge for separate front, rear and trailer-axle readings, and measure the ball load in the same travel condition. Compare those readings with Mazda's limits and the fitted towbar plate. If the new CX-5 can't carry your trailer and household load, compare another exact vehicle with the same inputs or look at a different trailer.

These figures were checked on 16 October 2026 against Mazda's August 2026 Australian brochure and February 2026 manual, retrieved through Mazda Australia's VIN lookup for a current G25 AWD Akera. See the safety disclaimer, and keep your car's documents, fitted labels and travel measurements with the rig record.