Open questions before I can buy the CX-5

[Steve1]

Took a test drive today. Yes the Ambient Mode is a great feature. I think i can get use to the center wheel but it would be nice if they still had the touch screen.

Seats should be flatter on the bottom. I cant say they are the best but maybe i can get use to them.

Here are some other things I think should have some improvement.

• A Pillars seem very thick. Maybe be more obstructed then other cars.
• Not a lot of storage. I even thought it was hard to find a good place for my phone to rest. Yes in front of the shifter. They should have put the USB port there.
• Back seat is not very big. To full sized men would definitely complain.
• HUD is just ok with polarized sunglasses. Surprised you cant change the speedometer to digital to show the speed.

Drove very nice. The turbo is good but would still not call it a speedster, but very capable. Ride more sporty the luxury. Engine noise a bit loud when you punch it.

Overall craftsmanship is very impressive and the looks of the car are fantastic.

My kids are all driving so they don't come with me very much so its just me and the BOSS (Wife) that would be in it and i think it is almost the right size. To bad there is not a CX-7 in the USA. If this was the size of my Murano i would already have this in the garage. I think it will be there but may take a little more time.

 

[bronzeglide]

Took a test drive today. Yes the Ambient Mode is a great feature. I think i can get use to the center wheel but it would be nice if they still had the touch screen.

Seats should be flatter on the bottom. I cant say they are the best but maybe i can get use to them.

Here are some other things I think should have some improvement.

• A Pillars seem very thick. Maybe be more obstructed then other cars.
• Not a lot of storage. I even thought it was hard to find a good place for my phone to rest. Yes in front of the shifter. They should have put the USB port there.
• Back seat is not very big. To full sized men would definitely complain.
• HUD is just ok with polarized sunglasses. Surprised you cant change the speedometer to digital to show the speed.

Drove very nice. The turbo is good but would still not call it a speedster, but very capable. Ride more sporty the luxury. Engine noise a bit loud when you punch it.

Overall craftsmanship is very impressive and the looks of the car are fantastic.

My kids are all driving so they don't come with me very much so its just me and the BOSS (Wife) that would be in it and i think it is almost the right size. To bad there is not a CX-7 in the USA. If this was the size of my Murano i would already have this in the garage. I think it will be there but may take a little more time.

I think the seats could be a tad flatter for me. I seem to sit on the left edge of the seat for some reason. I drove it 200 miles yesterday and it's much more comfortable compared to the 2016 GT. We used to take the F-150 on trips because it was so much quieter and more comfortable than the 2016. The 21 is much quieter inside.

I believe my Note 10+ is too big for this car! I can't lay in left to right in the front console because it's a tad to long. I can but not perfectly. And I don't like the cord hanging out. I can put it in the center console but it got very warm in the there on our 200 mile drive! I really do not want a phone mount. Maybe I'll run a longer cable under the seat and put it in the door.

It's only 2 of us so I find the car big enough. If we need more storage or passenger room we will take the pickup.

I think the Signature is an exceptional value!

 

[GTA-CX9]

To bad there is not a CX-7 in the USA. If this was the size of my Murano i would already have this in the garage. I think it will be there but may take a little more time.

Yes to this. We sized up to a CX9 instead.

Nissan did a lot right with the Murano, but for lack of a real transmission and/or driving verve, it could have been in the garage easily. But, it ain't.

 

[dunhillmc]

I bought a 2020 CX-5 non-turbo (Touring, Preferred package). It has the Bose sound system and there are no "engine enhanced sounds" whatsoever artificially generated thru the stereo system. It's actually a pretty decent sounding stereo, and the speed sensing volume works pretty good. It's got more bass and generally cleaner sound than the Bose system in my older Audi A4 Quattro.

I opted for the cheaper lesser trim level, non-turbo FWD only CX-5 because I just wanted a small/mid SUV to haul more stuff and get better gas mileage on cross country trips. The Audi is there to "sew my wild oats" in and burn a lot of gas, lol!

The CX-5 is every bit as comfortable and perhaps even a little quieter out on the road than my Audi, and the interior fit and finish quality is just about every bit as good. Around town the non-turbo CX-5 will actually beat the Audi accelerating away from stoplights, and if you put your foot in it, does make a pretty good 4-banger "growl" that's kinda loud.... and yeah, it'll even spin the front tires. But if you drive normal it's surprisingly quiet. Of course, out on the highway the Quattro will run off and leave it at speeds above 75mph.... at about 10-15mpg higher fuel burn rate. But then the Audi is an autobahn cruising machine that tempts my fate with the highway patrol too, and in the CX-5, I can blend into the traffic and disappear like a suburban soccer mom.

The only thing I don't really like about the CX-5 is the lane keeping/alert system is less than worthless, all it does is annoy you. If you've ever driven a Hyundai with lane centering, you'll feel the same way. Even the cheap Hyundai rental cars' lane keeping/centering feature is a million times better and blows away what the Mazda provides.

Is it annoying you because your driving style puts you on/over the line and the alert keeps going off? The Mazda system isn't for lane centering, only for lane keeping. Mazda believes that lane centering systems take too much control away from the driver. I had a Nissan rental once and it made me tired because I was always fighting the wheel

 

[Steve1]

I cant find the other thread but hope you can help answer this very important question.
Once you set your favorite stations and have them mix between XM, FM and AM intermingled. I read that the steering wheel up and down will not move you thru what i will call the presets. Is this truly the case and if yes is this on both the 2020 and the 2021? I do not want to have to use the knob every time i want to move stations.

I think the goal is to not have to use the knob that much at all once you have things set. Keep your eyes on the road, right.

 

[rockethead26]

I cant find the other thread but hope you can help answer this very important question.
Once you set your favorite stations and have them mix between XM, FM and AM intermingled. I read that the steering wheel up and down will not move you thru what i will call the presets. Is this truly the case and if yes is this on both the 2020 and the 2021? I do not want to have to use the knob every time i want to move stations.

I think the goal is to not have to use the knob that much at all once you have things set. Keep your eyes on the road, right.

Yes, that's the goal, but you do not need to take your eyes off the road to use the knob. It falls easily to the hand and becomes a very natural movement after a couple of times behind the wheel.

 

[Steve1]

So to be clear, you do have to change bands for the presets to work for that given band on the steering wheel control in the 2021 system.

I do feel i would get use to the center controller but you have to go into menus to change bands. Not the best situation if that is true.

 

[bronzeglide]

So to be clear, you do have to change bands for the presets to work for that given band on the steering wheel control in the 2021 system.

I do feel i would get use to the center controller but you have to go into menus to change bands. Not the best situation if that is true.

You just need to press the star button to the right of the wheel to access the favorites.

 

[Steve1]

I get that, but then why have the switch on the steering wheel. Does not make sense?

 

[bronzeglide]

Checked this out this morning in the car.

By switch I am assuming you mean the "fast forward and rewind" buttons on the steering wheel.

When in FM/AM mode the buttons will switch between saved stations.

While listening to SiriusXM the buttons act as a fast forward and rewind.

Whichever you are listening to the command knob will cycle through all favorites without the need to press the favorites button.

You can set the favorites mode to scroll though only SiriusXM, am/fm, navigation, or all. For example; if you are listening to SiriusXM you can set it to scroll only through SiriusXM. On the other hand, you can set it to scroll through ALL favorites (am/fm, SiriusXM, saved Navi stuff) no matter which mode you are in for easier switching if you need it.

This let's the manufacturer to have fewer buttons that can multi-task instead of having 50 thousand buttons with each one having only one task. Think back to older luxury cars and remember how many buttons were in the cars!

All in all, I think it is fairly intuitive.

Hope this helps!

 

[Steve1]

I get it now. Not they way i would want it and not sure what the designers where thinking here. I think the hope is they change the software to allow it to scroll thru channels in XM as i will never want to forward or revers on XM.

 

[bronzeglide]

I get it now. Not they way i would want it and not sure what the designers where thinking here. I think the hope is they change the software to allow it to scroll thru channels in XM as i will never want to forward or revers on XM.

At least the wheel is very easy to use. I get wanting to keep both hands on the wheel