Wife's out of town. I could be driving this all weekend. 40 more hp. 50 more ft lbs. Turbo. Convertible. The most nimble steering feel of any car I've ever owned. It hasn't moved since she left. I love it. It's fun to drive, too. But given the choice I always pick the CX-5.
What does that tell you, op? [emoji16]
Lolol!Tells me that a) you're a dude, that's a chick car man sorry but it really is if my wife had that it would collect dust also even on a perfect 10 vert day its a hard no for me and b) you need to go drive a brz stat and see what truly nimble steering and responsiveness really feel like
[emoji16]
Actually, yes, I do "get it". I can have an amazing time in cars like the BRZ or Miata. That said, the CX5 is top heavy, an automatic, and basically is only fun compared to an SUV of whatever ilk you desire that prioritizes comfort and so forth.
You are never going to compare a purpose built car like a miata to a family hauler in any sensible way in the "fun to drive" department. It's like me trying to sell a CX5 owner a Jeep Grand Cherokee by telling you "but it gets better mileage than the Durango! Its economical!" No. It's not. No matter how you want to wheedle over its upsides, it's not what you're saying it is. Just as the cx5 is not a sports car, or even a sports SUV. It's a light CUV with an adequate amount of power for fetching groceries and a nicely weighted steering system.
The fact that your profile signature is a link to your fuelly data pretty much does my work for me in explaining what this vehicle is about and we both know it. I dont see any links to your SCCA placings or your blast down Tail of the Dragon. Nope. Its "my compact SUV is this efficient!". Just as it should be.
Actually, yes, I do "get it". I can have an amazing time in cars like the BRZ or Miata. That said, the CX5 is top heavy, an automatic, and basically is only fun compared to an SUV of whatever ilk you desire that prioritizes comfort and so forth.
-Storage Space/Cargo room: To me, this is the biggest sticking point. Every single review of the car mentions the lack of cargo room and compares the amount of room in RAV4 & CR-V. One review* in particular said "the CX-5 is fit for making an entrance at a BBQ but a fantastic family hauler it isn't". Even my co-worker commented how he owned a Mazda Tribute and it "barely fit luggage. Don't think you can fit much and be able". At 59 cubic sq ft, that's only 10 more than my Matrix and 14 less than the RAV4. I'm curious to know how people on here with small kids do it. We are also still buying things for our house so there will be times where we will be carrying large items in the car (this won't be most of the time though). Even the center console felt small. Basically my question is do you wish you that the CX-5 was just a little bigger sometimes and would you still pick the CX-5 as your first family-hauler you own?
-Oomph: When driving it, I was surprised on how sluggish the car accelerated (considering this is the company of Zoom Zoom). Not like I need to be a NASCAR/F1 driver when the stoplight goes green, I was just expecting more go. Do you use the sport mode to compensate or do you just get use to the performance and change the way you drive?
-Winter: With snow tires, did you ever struggle in the winter with the intelligent all wheel drive and wished you rather had real all wheel drive or four wheel drive? Where we live, you can get quite heavy snowfalls.
-Servicing/Costs of Maintenance: Since Mazda is a smaller car manufacturer, we can expect the costs of maintaining the car to be higher. I know that the CX-5 would need synthetic oil which makes oil changes double the price. My question here is: Are we stuck to taking the car to the dealer for anything other than routine maintenance? Were the costs of owning the CX-5 higher than you thought?
-Reliability: With the recent news of the airbag recall, our enthusiasm was a bit tempered. Consumer reports rated Mazda around 12th out of 27** (right around Nissan, which I'm not sure is great considering the garbage reputation I always hear about Nissan and their CVT transmission in particular). Do you think the rating is accurate? Have you had more or less problems with the car than what you were expecting?
The CX-5 (and many other current Mazdas) utilize a peculiar drive by wire throttle response. Meaning on a dead stop if you press the pedal say 80% like you did with your Matrix it may feel sluggish in comparison. Then when you press the pedal say 20% it responds better ans smoother. Reason being its tuned for MPGs. There's a feel for it. Try doing it on your test drive.
The Matrix is basically a 9-10 second car for reference.
I have a 2014, made in Jan 2013, bought in April 2013,
-Oomph: When driving it, I was surprised on how sluggish the car accelerated (considering this is the company of Zoom Zoom). Not like I need to be a NASCAR/F1 driver when the stoplight goes green, I was just expecting more go. Do you use the sport mode to compensate or do you just get use to the performance and change the way you drive?
The CX-5 (and many other current Mazdas) utilize a peculiar drive by wire throttle response. Meaning on a dead stop if you press the pedal say 80% like you did with your Matrix it may feel sluggish in comparison. Then when you press the pedal say 20% it responds better ans smoother. Reason being its tuned for MPGs. There's a feel for it. Try doing it on your test drive.
The Matrix is basically a 9-10 second car for reference.
Lolol!
I've driven a lot of cars my friend. Saabs are excellent in the nimble steering department, too. The Volvo is almost TOO light.
I do like that BRZ though. Good looking car anyway. [emoji106]
An excellent evaluation, CD.
Just one question: they were selling 2014s in early 2013? So have the Cx-5 model years/sales dates always been non standard? Can anyone tell me when each of the model years was released in the US?
ok, 3 questions.
For US market, 2016 CX-5 came out in Feb. 2015; 2016.5 came out in Mar. 2016. 2017 CX-5 came out in Apr. 2017; and 2018 came out in Jan. 2018.I'm not sure when the 2013's dropped, but it was sometime in 2012. 2013's were 2.0L only across all trims and was the first MY in NA. Mazda then made the 2.5L and dropped it into Touring and GT and made that the 2014 model year, but dropped that into place in early 2013. Hence I have a 2.5L Touring bought in early 2013 but it is a 2014 MY. I think the model years were ahead of the actual year as a result until 2016.5 and 2017 dropped in their respective years? As in I'm pretty sure 2015's came out in 2014, and the 2016's in 2015. I'm not exactly sure when the 2016.5's came out, but seems like the model years are back on track as of 2016.5 and onwards.
For US market, 2016 CX-5 came out in Feb. 2015; 2016.5 came out in Mar. 2016. 2017 CX-5 came out in Apr. 2017; and 2018 came out in Jan. 2018.
No I don't think you do. As to the bolded, that is exactly what we do. I certainly don't have delusions about what my CX-5 is and isn't. No one here is comparing their CX-5 to a damn sports car......except you. His point about a Miata was in relation to why one might enjoy a slower Miata over a faster in a straight line sports car.
You gotta pick a side Uno. Either you hate your damn CX-5 and should just unload the thing and get something that makes you happy, or recognize and enjoy it for what it is and quit making ludicrous comparisons to your old sports cars because once again, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Apples to oranges. Even to your Jeep, it's apples to oranges. And coming from a Jeep myself before getting the CX-5, sorry the CX-5 is way more enjoyable to drive and has been far cheaper to own.
@Anchorman: I don't like coffee. I enjoy tea myself, but iced tea is also very refreshing in the summer.
I blocked Uno a long time ago so I don't see his responses. But yes, Colorado, you get what I was trying to say. Thank you.