6MT, 2 liter...can it handle this hairy situation?

K

KK9

Member
:
CX-5
Hi Folks.

New to Mazda. New to anything but a Saab, after 35 years of driving ;). Looking for suggestions on a driving stragegy for a particular problem.

I just bought a used CX-5, last week. 2014, sport, 6MT. After driving Saabs for all this time, I threw in the towel on them (parts getting hard to find!). Have to start being practical ;). I searched long and hard for something else that I enjoyed driving and settled on Mazdas, the handling is super impressive.

Requirements were a manual transmission, good road feel, tight steering and some cargo space (I have dogs and horses and their gear and detritus). I knew this CX-5 would be underpowered compared to what I'm used to. But, since I spend 95% of my time on tertiary roads, not being able to pass at 70 in 6th gear isn't a problem I'm going to worry about. Shifting down for highway passing isn't a big problem.

I have one very hairy thing I have to do on my preferred way home from work. Pulling out from a stop on a 45 degree hill (really!), very sharp left turn into 40 mph+, usually heavy, traffic. Most of the time with some fool nearly attached to my rear bumper. I've done it in my last three Saabs for years. FWD, but with plenty of torque. I had to slip the clutch, so as not to roll back into the car behind me, and sometimes left a bit of rubber on the road, but I was always confident. The CX-5, arggh! I'm not sure it can do it. The "hill assist" feature, which I've never had before, didn't seem to help. Too light up front and not enough juice from a dead stop in first? I made it, but barely, and it was scary. Brand new tires lost their grip, it just didn't seem to be able to haul itself up there that fast. Felt really light in front.

Do any of you with more experience with this car have any suggestions on how to drive this effectively in this situation? Or, should I just suck it up and take the long way around?
 
Seriously, a 45 degree hill? That's nearly a 71% grade! I didn't think such a road existed anywhere. I'd be surprised if my CX-5 can even power up a 45 degree hill from a standing start.
 
"Pulling out from a stop on a 45 degree hill (really!), very sharp left turn into 40 mph+, usually heavy, traffic."

Lost me there. Are you stopped at a sign at the base of a 45 degree hill like this pic or in the middle of the hill? So at the top of said hill people driving 40+mph in heavy traffic? Why someone would tailgate you is a fail waiting to happen :(

2518242723_3e56a0dfbc.jpg
 
Last edited:
Maybe a bit exaggerated since internet search says steepest paved street is 19 degrees. Even if that's not it, 45 degrees is eons worse. Even stairs are not as steep as 45 degrees.

steepest-streets.html
 
19 degrees? No way, there are definitely hills steeper than that, unless you live in Fla or something...

I think he is stopped at the top of the hill and pulling out onto a street were the cars are going 40 mph...
 
Rarebit said:
Seriously, a 45 degree hill? That's nearly a 71% grade! I didn't think such a road existed anywhere. I'd be surprised if my CX-5 can even power up a 45 degree hill from a standing start.
Click to expand...

Actually 45 degree grade is equal to 100% grade....so even worse than 71%.
I'd love to see that road :)
 
Driving my wife's former Prius, which is underpowered, I can tell you there was never a situation where I actually needed (not wanted) more power.

Driving a rental Cruze in other parts of the world, where the base engine is so much weaker, I also never felt in danger. Of course, some maneuvers were not possible.
 
ALafya said:
Driving my wife's former Prius, which is underpowered, I can tell you there was never a situation where I actually needed (not wanted) more power.

Driving a rental Cruze in other parts of the world, where the base engine is so much weaker, I also never felt in danger. Of course, some maneuvers were not possible.
Click to expand...

I have to say I agree. That said, the OP may wish to optimize the procedure or take the alternate route. Sounds like a clutch eater situation.
 
KK9 said:
Hi Folks.

New to Mazda. New to anything but a Saab, after 35 years of driving ;). Looking for suggestions on a driving stragegy for a particular problem.

I just bought a used CX-5, last week. 2014, sport, 6MT. After driving Saabs for all this time, I threw in the towel on them (parts getting hard to find!). Have to start being practical ;). I searched long and hard for something else that I enjoyed driving and settled on Mazdas, the handling is super impressive.

Requirements were a manual transmission, good road feel, tight steering and some cargo space (I have dogs and horses and their gear and detritus). I knew this CX-5 would be underpowered compared to what I'm used to. But, since I spend 95% of my time on tertiary roads, not being able to pass at 70 in 6th gear isn't a problem I'm going to worry about. Shifting down for highway passing isn't a big problem.

I have one very hairy thing I have to do on my preferred way home from work. Pulling out from a stop on a 45 degree hill (really!), very sharp left turn into 40 mph+, usually heavy, traffic. Most of the time with some fool nearly attached to my rear bumper. I've done it in my last three Saabs for years. FWD, but with plenty of torque. I had to slip the clutch, so as not to roll back into the car behind me, and sometimes left a bit of rubber on the road, but I was always confident. The CX-5, arggh! I'm not sure it can do it. The "hill assist" feature, which I've never had before, didn't seem to help. Too light up front and not enough juice from a dead stop in first? I made it, but barely, and it was scary. Brand new tires lost their grip, it just didn't seem to be able to haul itself up there that fast. Felt really light in front.

Do any of you with more experience with this car have any suggestions on how to drive this effectively in this situation? Or, should I just suck it up and take the long way around?
Click to expand...
wrong wheel drive problems :p
 
I test drove the 6MT 2.0 back then. It's definitely under power. I had to rev it really high just to get some decent acceleration. In your case you have to turn into a steep hill so that's gonna be tough. The tires are touring tires so it's not sticky and definitely doesn't help in a sharp turn. Probably need to rev out 1st gear before you pop it to 2nd. Even if you top it out it's probably around 30 mph. Anyway, I ended up getting the 2.5 GT (wife's car). I drive a Wrx 6MT so that hill shouldn't be a problem for me. :)
 
I recently was in Taos, NM with my 6MT 2.0 and had no trouble on a backroad road that had a 10-16% varying grade in a residential area, with snow chains and about 4-5" of hardpack snow. That included stopping multiple times to let other traffic past that was going downhill.

Taos Ski Valley is at 9,300', and I had 3 others in the car.

Would I have liked more power? Sure. But the car was just fine getting up (had to keep it in a low gear, of course).
 
I have a 2.0 6mt and know what you are talking about.
Your problem is traction and the factory tires aren't very sticky. I got better launches when I upgraded to sportier 235/60/17 tires (225/65/17 stock). You will have wheelspin and it'll be really tough when wet out. That's the advantage of the AWD.

I love the hill hold and find it very useful. Learn how it works and how long it holds so you can time the launch to the gaps in traffic. I have a tendency to take the car out of gear when I'm waiting at an intersection which defeats the hill hold function. In gear, you have about 6 seconds to get on the gas before the brake will release which is plenty of time in most cases.

You do have to aware of the 1-2 shift. You need to rev the engine out to find the speed but there also tends to be some rev hang which makes aggressive 1-2 shifts tricky.

So your best options would be:
1. New tires, a good set for winter and a stickier set for 3 season grip.
2. Learn the hill hold and utilize it to get your best launch off the hill.
3. Rev it out hard and let off just prior to your 1-2 shift. It doesn't take to long to get to 40mph.
4. Avoid the hill on wet days.
 
You're supposed to use the parking brake to hold position on a hill, not burn up the clutch. The CX-5's Hill-Hold helps, but is not always enough.
 
rjdee said:
I have a 2.0 6mt and know what you are talking about.
Your problem is traction and the factory tires aren't very sticky. I got better launches when I upgraded to sportier 235/60/17 tires (225/65/17 stock). You will have wheelspin and it'll be really tough when wet out. That's the advantage of the AWD.

I love the hill hold and find it very useful. Learn how it works and how long it holds so you can time the launch to the gaps in traffic. I have a tendency to take the car out of gear when I'm waiting at an intersection which defeats the hill hold function. In gear, you have about 6 seconds to get on the gas before the brake will release which is plenty of time in most cases.

You do have to aware of the 1-2 shift. You need to rev the engine out to find the speed but there also tends to be some rev hang which makes aggressive 1-2 shifts tricky.

So your best options would be:
1. New tires, a good set for winter and a stickier set for 3 season grip.
2. Learn the hill hold and utilize it to get your best launch off the hill.
3. Rev it out hard and let off just prior to your 1-2 shift. It doesn't take to long to get to 40mph.
4. Avoid the hill on wet days.
Click to expand...

Wow, hill holder lasts 6 seconds? OMG that's like an eternity. My Wrx holds it for maybe 1 or 2 secs. I have it disabled though because it didn't feel natural driving MT with hill holder.
 
KK9 said:
Too light up front and not enough juice from a dead stop in first? I made it, but barely, and it was scary. Brand new tires lost their grip, it just didn't seem to be able to haul itself up there that fast. Felt really light in front.
Click to expand...

There is plenty of power to pull from a stop. Traction is limited due to the weight balance (57.5/42.5) vs typical (62/38) and the OEM tires.

One thing that could help might be using the E-break instead of the hill start assist. By the time the hill start releases you're already applying more torque to the wheels than necessary to get going.
You won't roll back with the hill start, but on hills with limited traction you can get a better start by using the parking brake. If the parking brake is pulled up at all the hill start gets disabled and it's easier to get a smooth start and on a really steep, slippery hill smooth is the only way to get rolling.
 
KK9 said:
Hi Folks.

New to Mazda. New to anything but a Saab, after 35 years of driving ;). Looking for suggestions on a driving stragegy for a particular problem.

I just bought a used CX-5, last week. 2014, sport, 6MT. After driving Saabs for all this time, I threw in the towel on them (parts getting hard to find!). Have to start being practical ;). I searched long and hard for something else that I enjoyed driving and settled on Mazdas, the handling is super impressive.

Requirements were a manual transmission, good road feel, tight steering and some cargo space (I have dogs and horses and their gear and detritus). I knew this CX-5 would be underpowered compared to what I'm used to. But, since I spend 95% of my time on tertiary roads, not being able to pass at 70 in 6th gear isn't a problem I'm going to worry about. Shifting down for highway passing isn't a big problem.

I have one very hairy thing I have to do on my preferred way home from work. Pulling out from a stop on a 45 degree hill (really!), very sharp left turn into 40 mph+, usually heavy, traffic. Most of the time with some fool nearly attached to my rear bumper. I've done it in my last three Saabs for years. FWD, but with plenty of torque. I had to slip the clutch, so as not to roll back into the car behind me, and sometimes left a bit of rubber on the road, but I was always confident. The CX-5, arggh! I'm not sure it can do it. The "hill assist" feature, which I've never had before, didn't seem to help. Too light up front and not enough juice from a dead stop in first? I made it, but barely, and it was scary. Brand new tires lost their grip, it just didn't seem to be able to haul itself up there that fast. Felt really light in front.

Do any of you with more experience with this car have any suggestions on how to drive this effectively in this situation? Or, should I just suck it up and take the long way around?
Click to expand...

Well, the proper way to drive a manual is to use the parking brake while on a hill. Hold the button in, and slowly release the brake as the engine loads up against the clutch, and you take off smoother than an automatic with ZERO "roll back". If you do this, you shouldn't have an issue with rolling back and laying rubber and all that nonsense.

As to "can it physically do it?" Yeah, I bet it can. No, it wouldn't be the first girl I took to that dance, lol
 
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