I know that many people scan this forum if/when they are trying to figure out if they should buy a CX-5, so I thought I'd post my impressions after a full week of the car/CUV/truck/whatever.
2014 CX-5, GT trim, AWD, tech package. 2.5l gasoline engine.
First, I have no idea what to call this. It's too big to be called a car, but it's not a truck. It's also not a van. For some reason, I can't bring myself to casually say to my wife "I need to pull my cee you vee into the garage..." It's a minor thing, I know.. but still an adjustment.
My biggest problem with the vehicle is the broken iPod support. For the past 7 or so years I've relied on having my old iPod plugged into my car, and a playlist of 5000+ songs that play randomly. With the CX-5, every single time I restart the car, it takes nearly 15 minutes before the ipod is even ready to play, and then it starts over at the beginning of any playlist. Mazda, PLEASE fix this!
However, I've started to become kind of addicted to Pandora. Thankfully, I have a generous data allotment on my mobile phone (and the galaxy note II has a battery that easily handles the load.) I'm finding that the quality of music streaming from pandora (and then over bluetooth) seems higher than the quality of the music coming from the sirius radio.
Speaking of Sirius, the quality sucks. This isn't the fault of Mazda, however - sirius channels are usually bandwidth starved which results in a very "tinny" sound. Then again, if I find myself in the middle of nowhere with horrible mobile phone coverage, sirius is usually the ONLY choice. I hope sirius doesn't expect me to actually pay for a continuous subscription, however, if they insist on quality that's actually LOWER than FM radio.
Tomtom is functional. Their maps lack some back roads, but it's good enough to get around in an unfamiliar area. I'd rather a system that used navteq maps in the US, but at least I can edit the tomtom nav system to put in missing information. The current tomtom firmware has an issue that results in the "safety lockout" sometimes blocking navigation voice commands when moving (including the basic "drive to home" sequence.) It's still functional, but I wouldn't have paid for the nav if it wasn't part of a larger package.
The only other complaint I have about the vehicle at this point is that the "automatic" A/C sometimes does Really Stupid Things. By defaulting to recirculating mode (instead of fresh air mode), there's a tendency for interior windows to fog up if it's humid outside. It would be better if the auto A/C only used recirculating mode if there was a vast temperature difference between the desired interior temp and the current exterior temp. I know I can hit buttons to make it work properly, but that kind of defeats the idea of "automatic."
Driving this vehicle is fun. I won't claim that it's fast (as it's not) or even that it has great accel (as it doesn't.) I think the best way to explain is that you feel connected to the road when driving this. With must cars these days, you might be operating a vehicle that transverses the roadways. In this vehicle, you're driving a vehicle on the road. As a somewhat crude analogy, a man can get a woman pregnant via artificial insemination, or via making love to her. Both get the job done, but one is a procedure and the other is an experience. Driving the CX-5 is an experience.
Mileage so far is within the EPA estimates. I'm still under 600 miles and in my "new car" phase of seeing what the car can do, so my current mileage numbers are going to be well below what I'd expect to get normally. Even still, I'm seeing 25-27 mpg in 95% suburban street driving with lots of hills and curves. (Mileage based on hand-calculating - not the in-dash computer.)
Comfort is very good. Of course, I'm coming from a car that had a driving seat which caused me actual pain when I sat in it. A wooden stool would be comfortable after that. I do think the seats are a bit firmer than normal, but I expect that they'll soften up over time as they break in.
Size/cargo/space is a hard item for me to judge, as I had a ford focus for a couple months before this, and a mustang for many years before that. This is my first "compact CUV", so I don't have any expectations. To ME, the novelty of being able to sit in the back seat when the front is adjusted for someone my own size (5'11") is great.
If anyone is interested in any other impressions, please feel free to to ask. So far, I'm happy that I purchased this vehicle. I'll be happier once I can use my iPod.
Take care
Gary
2014 CX-5, GT trim, AWD, tech package. 2.5l gasoline engine.
First, I have no idea what to call this. It's too big to be called a car, but it's not a truck. It's also not a van. For some reason, I can't bring myself to casually say to my wife "I need to pull my cee you vee into the garage..." It's a minor thing, I know.. but still an adjustment.
My biggest problem with the vehicle is the broken iPod support. For the past 7 or so years I've relied on having my old iPod plugged into my car, and a playlist of 5000+ songs that play randomly. With the CX-5, every single time I restart the car, it takes nearly 15 minutes before the ipod is even ready to play, and then it starts over at the beginning of any playlist. Mazda, PLEASE fix this!
However, I've started to become kind of addicted to Pandora. Thankfully, I have a generous data allotment on my mobile phone (and the galaxy note II has a battery that easily handles the load.) I'm finding that the quality of music streaming from pandora (and then over bluetooth) seems higher than the quality of the music coming from the sirius radio.
Speaking of Sirius, the quality sucks. This isn't the fault of Mazda, however - sirius channels are usually bandwidth starved which results in a very "tinny" sound. Then again, if I find myself in the middle of nowhere with horrible mobile phone coverage, sirius is usually the ONLY choice. I hope sirius doesn't expect me to actually pay for a continuous subscription, however, if they insist on quality that's actually LOWER than FM radio.
Tomtom is functional. Their maps lack some back roads, but it's good enough to get around in an unfamiliar area. I'd rather a system that used navteq maps in the US, but at least I can edit the tomtom nav system to put in missing information. The current tomtom firmware has an issue that results in the "safety lockout" sometimes blocking navigation voice commands when moving (including the basic "drive to home" sequence.) It's still functional, but I wouldn't have paid for the nav if it wasn't part of a larger package.
The only other complaint I have about the vehicle at this point is that the "automatic" A/C sometimes does Really Stupid Things. By defaulting to recirculating mode (instead of fresh air mode), there's a tendency for interior windows to fog up if it's humid outside. It would be better if the auto A/C only used recirculating mode if there was a vast temperature difference between the desired interior temp and the current exterior temp. I know I can hit buttons to make it work properly, but that kind of defeats the idea of "automatic."
Driving this vehicle is fun. I won't claim that it's fast (as it's not) or even that it has great accel (as it doesn't.) I think the best way to explain is that you feel connected to the road when driving this. With must cars these days, you might be operating a vehicle that transverses the roadways. In this vehicle, you're driving a vehicle on the road. As a somewhat crude analogy, a man can get a woman pregnant via artificial insemination, or via making love to her. Both get the job done, but one is a procedure and the other is an experience. Driving the CX-5 is an experience.
Mileage so far is within the EPA estimates. I'm still under 600 miles and in my "new car" phase of seeing what the car can do, so my current mileage numbers are going to be well below what I'd expect to get normally. Even still, I'm seeing 25-27 mpg in 95% suburban street driving with lots of hills and curves. (Mileage based on hand-calculating - not the in-dash computer.)
Comfort is very good. Of course, I'm coming from a car that had a driving seat which caused me actual pain when I sat in it. A wooden stool would be comfortable after that. I do think the seats are a bit firmer than normal, but I expect that they'll soften up over time as they break in.
Size/cargo/space is a hard item for me to judge, as I had a ford focus for a couple months before this, and a mustang for many years before that. This is my first "compact CUV", so I don't have any expectations. To ME, the novelty of being able to sit in the back seat when the front is adjusted for someone my own size (5'11") is great.
If anyone is interested in any other impressions, please feel free to to ask. So far, I'm happy that I purchased this vehicle. I'll be happier once I can use my iPod.
Take care
Gary
