Another newbie here...loving my new silver sport manual

Coming from a Nissan Frontier 4x4 truck, so the CX-5 is definitely different. The Frontier was my first auto tranny, so it's good to be back with the manual after 5 years (besides forgetting to push in the clutch the first time I tried to start it, it's been smooth sailing).

The CX-5 is what I expected it to be after reading this forum and test driving three of them. I never considered another vehicle, and it was either buy it or keep the truck. The great mpgs, the manual tranny, and the cheap price caught my attention. I was going for cheap, so not having access to other features wasn't a big deal to me, although more color options would have been nice.

This thing is fun to drive. The steering is light while parking, and heavier and stable at high speeds. It stays flat through the corners and hugs the road. I was expecting some of the roads where I live to be bone-jarring, and yes I do feel the bumps and such, but overall it handles them quite well. Shifting gears is smooth, and my timing has gotten much better after a few days. I do have some resistance at times when going from 3rd to 4th and when putting in reverse, but not enough at the moment to concern me (I will be watching it).

Not many things stick out that really bug me. All the doors, including liftgate, have to be given a little extra pressure to close fully, and the little cargo light on the left side is pitiful. I'm not used to having such a sharp cutoff from the low-beam headlights, so that is an adjustment.

By the way, the car measured 36.9 mpg on the one hour trip home from the dealership, and that included a stop to grab something to eat. Definitely pleased with the mileage, and can't wait to fill up such a small tank compared to the Frontier.

Looks like another happy customer. Welcome to the forum!

Congrats on the CX-5, a relatively rare stick shift.

On the way home today I think I may have figured out the 3rd to 4th shift problem. When I drive I lean a good bit over to the center with the left hand on the wheel. I know it may sound silly, but I think my alignment was causing me to pull it down a little too far to the right toward 6 and not straight down. I've put several more miles on it and lots of shifts and I really think that was causing it as it has been very smooth ever since. I'll know for sure after driving it in the morning.

cx5SESC - In a couple of early threads it was mentioned that the shift from 3rd to 4th was a little rough, but that it smoothed out after a small amount of time.

As the current owner of two other manual cars, I know that each has their own clutch "personality". With my other cars, I know that I don't need to fully depress the clutch pedal to disengage the clutch, there is a learned "sweetspot" for each. But one of the things I noticed that affects the shifting smoothness on the CX-5 is that you really need to depress the clutch all the way especially with the 3-4 and the 4-5 shifts. I also notice a difference when the engine and tranny are cold. The 1-2 shift in the morning can be sticky, but warms up after a few miles. My Tundra shifts much better once the tranny warms up as well.
The Acura is by far the best shifter of the group under all conditions.

Cx4sesc / Lando,

Did you have to special order your cx5 m/t? In NY, there are hardly any dealers who carries the m/t sport. At most would be one.

Lando, I see that you had other m/t cars before. I've test driven a 04 tsx back then and i really liked it. Not too powerful but got enough punch if you rev it higher. Unbelievable smooth shifting. How does that compare to cx5 (since cx5 only has 155 horses vs an 04 tsx which I think is 195 or 200).

Just wait until the break in period is over.. my 6mt sport is avg 39.9 MPGs and feels quicker now
Really enjoying this car more and more

hollis said:

Just wait until the break in period is over.. my 6mt sport is avg 39.9 MPGs and feels quicker now
Really enjoying this car more and more

Click to expand...

WOW 39.9mpg. Is that really possible? You drove all highway at 55mph going downhill on cruise control or something?

cx5SESC said:

On the way home today I think I may have figured out the 3rd to 4th shift problem. When I drive I lean a good bit over to the center with the left hand on the wheel. I know it may sound silly, but I think my alignment was causing me to pull it down a little too far to the right toward 6 and not straight down. I've put several more miles on it and lots of shifts and I really think that was causing it as it has been very smooth ever since. I'll know for sure after driving it in the morning.

Click to expand...

I noticed the 3-4 shift bug first week of ownership, but stopped noticing it after the first month. I think either I started depressing the clutch more or the gearbox smoothed out, but its all good now.

mikeee2 said:

Cx4sesc / Lando,

Did you have to special order your cx5 m/t? In NY, there are hardly any dealers who carries the m/t sport. At most would be one.

Click to expand...

My dealership did have to look out of state to get one. I looked at them for a couple of months before buying, and they never had a manual to test drive. Definitely hard to find, especially a silver. Last I looked there were still several in black here in the Southeast.

This morning it was back to being a little rough, but I think it is getting better. Like others have said, I think most of it is about learning it's "personality".

I used to have a Honda Civic that was rough and never got better after a few months. I replaced the tranny fluid with Redline and it improved a significant amount. I wonder what fluid Mazda uses in the manual, and if going with something different would improve the shifting?

The 1-2 shift is a little sticky for me too

mikeee2 said:

WOW 39.9mpg. Is that really possible? You drove all highway at 55mph going downhill on cruise control or something?

Click to expand...

50% am doing 40mph on suburban roads and 50% on hwys about 60-65mph
my daily drive has very few stops

mikeee2 said:

Cx4sesc / Lando,

Did you have to special order your cx5 m/t? In NY, there are hardly any dealers who carries the m/t sport. At most would be one.

Lando, I see that you had other m/t cars before. I've test driven a 04 tsx back then and i really liked it. Not too powerful but got enough punch if you rev it higher. Unbelievable smooth shifting. How does that compare to cx5 (since cx5 only has 155 horses vs an 04 tsx which I think is 195 or 200).

Click to expand...

The manuals are getting very rare in Oregon. I ended up buying mine in Boise, Idaho, about 340 miles away. I don't think Mazda or the dealerships make much profit on the Sport manuals, but it gives them the ability to advertise a low starting price in their ads.

The TSX, which is a Honda Accord in Europe, is one of the best cars I have ever owned. It has plenty of power and handles like a sports car, while consistently getting around 32 mpg. It now has 130,000 miles and, except for a TSB repair on the audio system lighting, has never been serviced by anyone but me. We will probably never sell this car. At the time we bought it, we also had an 01 Miata with a 6 spd manual which was a very smooth shifter. The TSX was even smoother, and it is hard to believe that it has a cable linkage rather than a direct connect like the Miata. Everything on the Acura still works, and the leather and paint appears almost new.

The 2.4 liter, 200 hp non-turbo engine would be great in the CX-5. The TSX and the CX-5 weigh about the same, but the Acura feels much more powerful and solid. Except for passing, the extra 45 horsepower is rarely needed however, and the CX-5 is my favorite of the two because it is much more versatile while still being fun to drive. Acura messed up on the second generation TSX by making it bigger.