don't overlook a fully loaded 2016 CX-5 Sport - SPORT vs TOURING comparison

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CaboWabo

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2016 Mazda CX-5 Touring FWD Bose/moonroof, sonic silver
Just a heads-up to those who are shopping for a new 2016 CX-5 like me yet on a budget trying to stay under $25K. GT was out of the question due to price. I then had my heart set on getting a CX-5 Touring with no extras and I totally disregarded the Sport level. However I now realize that when you fully load the 2016 Sport its such a fantastic value compared to a basic Touring. The 2016 2.5L AT FWD Sport comes standard with the new electronic parking brake, upgraded center console, dash and new armrest design. Just add the "rear camera package" for only $400 and that gives you the rear camera, color 7" display, commander knob, MAZDA CONNECT Infotainment System, and HD Radio. I think you get everything except the nav function activated on it? But I assume that can be added somehow later with an SD card purchased from Mazda or eBay? That's a total MSRP of $23,595. All the bells and whistles on the Touring and GT are nice, but probably much more than I really need. After much debate, I don't really need AWD in my area, moonroof, tech package items, or i-ACTIVSENSE items. The cloth on the Sport and Touring are similar enough, the wheels are the same, and a 60/40 rear seat is ok for my needs. The only other difference I notice is the back window tint and that can easily be added later anytime. Also you can add fog lights to the sport for $350 msrp. Is there anything else I would be missing on the Sport level that I'm forgetting?
MSRP's:
FWD Sport 2.5L AT $23,195 + $400 Rear Camera package = $23,595
FWD Touring 2.5L AT $25,215
 
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You make a good point, but there is still that "any color you want as long as it's black" issue! (I assume that's still the case on 2016 models).
 
Mazda Advanced keyless entry and blind spot monitoring (?) I think is standard on the Touring and not available on sport.
 
I went with the 2015 Touring over the sport for the Advanced keyless entry and the 2.5L. When I bought mine back in June, only the 2.0L was available on the Sport, or the 2.5L option made it comperable priced with the Touring, I forget which way it was.
 
As for the Navigation, it's not just getting the SD card. I believe the internals are different for the navigation. My sales person said the unit has to be changed to install the navigation.
 
sound_man said:
As for the Navigation, it's not just getting the SD card. I believe the internals are different for the navigation. My sales person said the unit has to be changed to install the navigation.
Click to expand...

And the card reader goes in where the little cubby hole below and to the left of the steering wheel. You lose that little cubby hole, for the card reader.
 
I think your sales person was incorrect or mine was? Yours was talking about the older 2015 and prior displays. The new 7" screen would be the same on all 2016s. My salesman told me all they do is pop in an SD card and BINGO you have Nav now on the new system. I wonder if you could just copy the SD card and make your own?? Also I believe that cubby hole on the left is totally obsolete now on all the 2016s. They moved the SD reader slot to below the center column dash on all models. Its in front of the shifter.
 
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paris1 said:
You make a good point, but there is still that "any color you want as long as it's black" issue! (I assume that's still the case on 2016 models).
Click to expand...

What do you mean Henry Ford? The Sport is available in all the same exterior colors. The interior cloth seats are slightly different from the Touring though. However the seat adjustments are manual knobs and levers....not a big deal for me though since I'm a solo driver and will adjust that seat probably once anyway. Also the dash trim is piano black on Sport, while the Touring dash trim is silver. I also think the Sport steering wheel and shifter are not leather wrapped. I think the visors also don't have lights on the mirror? I'll have to check them out again at the dealer to compare.
 
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Alials said:
You're not suppose to be able to copy the sd. It's a read only
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Youre not "supposed to", but its probably possible. Read Only is fine....you read it and copy to another. Just copy from one SD card over to a blank one on any computer. Does the SD card have a tab switch on it? If it does you flip the switch and now its read and write. I seriously doubt each SD card is uniquely different and paired to each individual vehicle somehow. But I have no idea and I don't endorse hacking ;)
FYI, you can get the older Tom Tom OEM Mazda map cards on eBay for around $50 to $100. So the newer Navteq cards that the 2016 use will probably show up there soon too. Still a better option than paying around $400 MSRP to the dealer for the card.
 
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I know some people who try with the mazda 3 and with all the program, they never see folder on the card, it's like crypted
 
Just conjecture here but I think the SD card is mapped to the VIN and somehow does a lookup to the ECU via the CAN bus . I know totally different system but I can read/write my SD card at will. I've never tried to put it into another car though.
 
You can't get the bigger 2.5 liter engine in the Sport only the 2.0. I owned a sport 2.0 for 1.5 years and now own a touring 2.5. Personally I think the upgrades in the Touring trim are worth it.
 
Around town driving the 2.0 is more than adequate. It's only on the highway and merging onto the highway that the 2.0 felt taxed to me. The 2.5 more than makes up for this with power to spare. On my g-tech I got 0-60 times from 8.37 seconds to 8.5 seconds from my sport 2.0 auto. With my touring I get consistent (though traction limited) 7.5 second runs in the same spot with similar conditions. The 2.0 was the gas mileage king consistently getting over 1 mpg better than the 2.5.
 
V8toilet said:
You can't get the bigger 2.5 liter engine in the Sport only the 2.0. I owned a sport 2.0 for 1.5 years and now own a touring 2.5. Personally I think the upgrades in the Touring trim are worth it.
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I think for 2016 all automatic CX-5's have the 2.5L (rated at 33MPG hwy too)

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Powe...r2=2016&make=Mazda&model=CX-5 2WD&srchtyp=ymm

OP,

It looks like in your case the sport model might be the winner.

Keep in mind that the 40/60 sport seats do not fold completely flat, so make sure you're OK with that.
I'm not sure if the 2016 Sport has the blind spot monitoring, but the blind spots are very large in these cars. Small sport cars can be completely hidden from view even if you do the shoulder check.
 
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Kedis82ZE8 said:
Just conjecture here but I think the SD card is mapped to the VIN and somehow does a lookup to the ECU via the CAN bus . I know totally different system but I can read/write my SD card at will. I've never tried to put it into another car though.
Click to expand...

The SD card needs to have its tab on the read/write mode, as per the instructions.
There is no mapping to VIN, because you can buy the SD card separately (like I did for our Mazda3). I backed it up before installing it into the car.
I am guessing the system writes something onto the SD card such that it can't be used later, but not sure. I did not check it.
 
V8toilet said:
You can't get the bigger 2.5 liter engine in the Sport only the 2.0. I owned a sport 2.0 for 1.5 years and now own a touring 2.5. Personally I think the upgrades in the Touring trim are worth it.
Click to expand...

The 2016 you can indeed get the Sport with the 2.5 automatic in FWD or AWD.
 
ALafya said:
The SD card needs to have its tab on the read/write mode, as per the instructions.
There is no mapping to VIN, because you can buy the SD card separately (like I did for our Mazda3). I backed it up before installing it into the car.
I am guessing the system writes something onto the SD card such that it can't be used later, but not sure. I did not check it.
Click to expand...

Certainly plausible... some invisible &/or encrypted file. **Not going to address ways to circumvent this though.
 
ALafya said:
The SD card needs to have its tab on the read/write mode, as per the instructions.
There is no mapping to VIN, because you can buy the SD card separately (like I did for our Mazda3). I backed it up before installing it into the car.
I am guessing the system writes something onto the SD card such that it can't be used later, but not sure. I did not check it.
Click to expand...

Ok I just read this on another Mazda3 board so I will take it with a grain of salt: that the car writes something to the card after driving with it in the SD slot for 100km. At that point the card cannot be used in another car...it will give you an error. So if you buy a new card on eBay or even a used one that's been driven under 100km it will work on another car. So basically you can copy a card, but it would have to be a new one or one under 100km. I dunno....someone with a new CX-5 will have to test it out.
 
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