Question about break-in experience

Figured I'd chime in here, but I'm very happy with the gas mileage of my cx5. Averaging 28-30. Pretty solid for AWD. As for the fuelly data, I'm willing to bet AWD is the majority, and the FWD is the minority. So I believe it's safe to assume the data there is pretty reflective of AWD cx5s. Impressive.

I agree and have the same thoughts as others as to why the awd may be more of a hit in the cx5. The way the cx5 is designed, I'm almost certain the awd runs a lot more than any other typical reactive suv/cuv. Having said that and if that is the case, the cx5 is very impressive. Those of you with subpar gas mileage. Don't speed, don't accelerate like you're trying to race(don't have the rpms go above 2500, and that is very doable in the cx5 with its gearing and to get up to speed easily), drive as if you have no brakes, make sure your tires are properly inflated. You will get EPA estimates for sure.
 
jhu8 said:
Figured I'd chime in here, but I'm very happy with the gas mileage of my cx5. Averaging 28-30. Pretty solid for AWD. As for the fuelly data, I'm willing to bet AWD is the majority, and the FWD is the minority. So I believe it's safe to assume the data there is pretty reflective of AWD cx5s. Impressive.

I agree and have the same thoughts as others as to why the awd may be more of a hit in the cx5. The way the cx5 is designed, I'm almost certain the awd runs a lot more than any other typical reactive suv/cuv. Having said that and if that is the case, the cx5 is very impressive. Those of you with subpar gas mileage. Don't speed, don't accelerate like you're trying to race(don't have the rpms go above 2500, and that is very doable in the cx5 with its gearing and to get up to speed easily), drive as if you have no brakes, make sure your tires are properly inflated. You will get EPA estimates for sure.
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RPM RARELY gets above 2500rpm when I'm trying for max mileage per tank, except cruising on the freeway. My tires are properly inflated, and balanced. Brakes rarely get used except to hold the vehicle stationary or slow gradually for lights, when trying for max mileage.

Fact remains, it doesn't get it done when driving at normal freeway speeds. Even setting the meter while already at speed, and cruising until the tank is empty, you may only get 23-27mpg on the freeway in the CX5, depending on which way the wind is blowing (literally), in my experience.

Yes, I know how to tune a vehicle for mileage. my G20 got 31+ on a 800+ mile trip. My Grand Jeep Cherokee routinely got 18-19 (HEMI, REAL AWD, etc.), my Z06 would do 26mpg. My WS.6 would do 27.X, and so forth. The CX5? Nowhere NEAR EPA ratings. Hell, my MIXED (70/30) isn't even up to CITY mpg per the window-sticker.

That is the one area that the CX-5 can kiss my ass on. Mileage. It fails to deliver. Resoundingly. I have never ONCE complained about that aspect of another vehicle. I did whine that I wished my Jeep got BETTER mileage, but never that it didn't equal what it should have, per the advertising of JEEP.
 
brillo54 said:
yrwei52 said:
There's no way to distinguish the FWD and AWD CX-5 in Fuelly.com's data and how could you claim, or at least imply, this Fuelly MPG number 26/26.4 is for CX-5 AWD? Your MPG number listed would be heavily weighted towards FWD CX-5 as there're lots more FWD CX-5's on the road.

Again, I was saying the AWD system on CX-5 is not as efficient as other AWD system based on the much heavier penalty for CX-5 AWD than FWD on EPA fuel economy estimates, and my personally experience. In no way I was trying to say CX-5 is not fuel efficient than other CUVs. Especially on the highway, I can never reach EPA's 30 mpg from instant MPG readout no matter how hard I've tried. Based on this thread only so far, 3 out of 5 members have disappointed MPGs for their AWD CX-5.
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I've got to disagree on your first point. I don't know about TX but in IN it's hard to get a FWD. When I was looking to buy mine, all the dealerships I contacted had far more AWD's than FWD's. The dealership I bought mine from has 40 CX-5's listed right now and only 3 are FWD. That leaves 37 AWD's! The Fuelly average might be skewed a little but not much imho.

As to your second point, I'm wondering if because of the predictive nature of Mazda's AWD system if it spends more time in AWD than the competitors. Thus the greater drop between FWD and AWD. Just thinking out loud.
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I'd say Texas is one of the largest car market in the US and we'd to special order our AWD CX-5 as there was almost no AWD nearby, including neighborhood states! My dealer thought I was crazy insisting an AWD CX-5 and they almost never order AWDs. As the result. all friends and families in Texas who took my advice getting CX-5's are all FWD. My friend's son living in Bay area, California also had trouble to locate an AWD CX-5 with proper features he wanted after my recommendation, and he'd to settle for a FWD instead.
 
Unobtanium said:
RPM RARELY gets above 2500rpm when I'm trying for max mileage per tank, except cruising on the freeway. My tires are properly inflated, and balanced. Brakes rarely get used except to hold the vehicle stationary or slow gradually for lights, when trying for max mileage.

Fact remains, it doesn't get it done when driving at normal freeway speeds. Even setting the meter while already at speed, and cruising until the tank is empty, you may only get 23-27mpg on the freeway in the CX5, depending on which way the wind is blowing (literally), in my experience.

Yes, I know how to tune a vehicle for mileage. my G20 got 31+ on a 800+ mile trip. My Grand Jeep Cherokee routinely got 18-19 (HEMI, REAL AWD, etc.), my Z06 would do 26mpg. My WS.6 would do 27.X, and so forth. The CX5? Nowhere NEAR EPA ratings. Hell, my MIXED (70/30) isn't even up to CITY mpg per the window-sticker.

That is the one area that the CX-5 can kiss my ass on. Mileage. It fails to deliver. Resoundingly. I have never ONCE complained about that aspect of another vehicle. I did whine that I wished my Jeep got BETTER mileage, but never that it didn't equal what it should have, per the advertising of JEEP.
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The first time I read your post complaining about highway gas mileage on your AWD CX-5 when you're travelling in Texas, I was in doubt as our AWD CX-5 was getting 25.5~26.5 mpg for city driving. Since our 700-mile family trip to Houston and Austin last December, we experienced the same thing like you on highway MPG! Our average MPG for the entire trip was very similar to yours - 25.6! I did all I could to keep MPG better, including kept tire pressure at 38 psi, 2 higher than the spec. And I did try to slow down to 55 mph with cruise control on but the instant MPG readout was still showing under 30! I totally agree with you that the CX-5 AWD failed to deliver the gas mileage on the highway, and it's so sensitive to the surrounding environment. May be it's because strong Texas wind is always blowing against vehicle's moving direction!? :)
 
Just chiming in by repeating my other post about MPG: my AWD has been averaging 22mpg through winter, but a recent 140 miles trip (mostly freeway, very light traffic) got me 30mpg (cruising at 60-70mph), bumping my estimated range on a full tank from 320 to 389 miles. Also, I got 20-22mpg driving at 80mph on freeway in the past, but recently tried to keep it down to 70mph and got 25-27 consistently. The improvement could also be the warmer weather, or the car is better broken-in. My tires are at 40psi.
 
BTW: I used to get 24 mpg in winter with 65/35 city/hwy mixed. Much warmer now and post 1st. oil change started getting 27.5 mpg same mix.
I recently switched work profile and now it's mostly 2 to 3 miles a day avg (from 55 miles a day) and my mileage has dropped to 21 mpg. Knowing that I travel so less daily, I hit the highway once weekly to burn off fuel, if any (about 20 miles).
 
Unobtanium said:
RPM RARELY gets above 2500rpm when I'm trying for max mileage per tank, except cruising on the freeway. My tires are properly inflated, and balanced. Brakes rarely get used except to hold the vehicle stationary or slow gradually for lights, when trying for max mileage.

Fact remains, it doesn't get it done when driving at normal freeway speeds. Even setting the meter while already at speed, and cruising until the tank is empty, you may only get 23-27mpg on the freeway in the CX5, depending on which way the wind is blowing (literally), in my experience.

Yes, I know how to tune a vehicle for mileage. my G20 got 31+ on a 800+ mile trip. My Grand Jeep Cherokee routinely got 18-19 (HEMI, REAL AWD, etc.), my Z06 would do 26mpg. My WS.6 would do 27.X, and so forth. The CX5? Nowhere NEAR EPA ratings. Hell, my MIXED (70/30) isn't even up to CITY mpg per the window-sticker.

That is the one area that the CX-5 can kiss my ass on. Mileage. It fails to deliver. Resoundingly. I have never ONCE complained about that aspect of another vehicle. I did whine that I wished my Jeep got BETTER mileage, but never that it didn't equal what it should have, per the advertising of JEEP.
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I know your problem. You speed. You've stated numerous times that you do 80 on the highway. You're not gonna get EPA estimates. I know you'll state that your Jeep met EPA but it's a moot point. I bet your Jeeps mpg calcluation was inflated as well. My old Elantra mpg readout was always 2-3 mpg over.

Either way, it's a personal problem here and something you're doing lol. Because there are way too many positive reports of gas mileage on the cx5. It may seem like more negative reviews but that's because most people come to forums to complain about their issues. The happy people remain quiet and enjoy their ride.
 
yrwei52 said:
There's no way to distinguish the FWD and AWD CX-5 in Fuelly.com's data and how could you claim, or at least imply, this Fuelly MPG number 26/26.4 is for CX-5 AWD? Your MPG number listed would be heavily weighted towards FWD CX-5 as there're lots more FWD CX-5's on the road.

Again, I was saying the AWD system on CX-5 is not as efficient as other AWD system based on the much heavier penalty for CX-5 AWD than FWD on EPA fuel economy estimates, and my personally experience. In no way I was trying to say CX-5 is not fuel efficient than other CUVs. Especially on the highway, I can never reach EPA's 30 mpg from instant MPG readout no matter how hard I've tried. Based on this thread only so far, 3 out of 5 members have disappointed MPGs for their AWD CX-5.
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You failed to read my post in full, especially the Important note about Fuelly.
However, for all other vehicles, AWD and FWD will be mixed, BUT because all FWD get better MPG, it can only improve the fuelly figure and thus puts a cap on how good the AWD can be. For example, the Nissan Rogue's ~25 MPG can, on average, only be up to, but probably a bit lower, for the AWD version.
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So, no. 26/26.4 is the cap of real world average for the CX-5 AWD, probably a bit lower.

Last I checked, overall average fuel economy with the CX-5, measured only after the break-in period, was about 27.5 manually calculated. This is with stop & go traffic along my commute. If I do more city driving it drops to 25.5. If I could do highway only, it will be right around 30. Granted, I don't drive 85MPH because it is grossly illegal here, but ~70MPH is acceptable.

Do you rely on the trip computer or do you manually calculate? My trip computer can be +-2 MPG off the calculated value.

Comparing the MPG difference when speeding from the EPA highway value and saying that a vehicle with horrendous fuel-economy to begin with has a smaller difference is not very meaningful, especially if you use only 1 vehicle from each in the experiment. If you check Fuelly, you will see a nice histogram. Unfortunately, some drivers are below the average. This is normal and depends on how the car is driven. This is, however, not typical for most owners.
Mazda did get it right as evident from ~300 other vehicles driven > 2M miles.
 
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I learned from the CX-5 instant MPG gauge on my CX-5 that feather like throttle application keeps it in the Atkinson cycle mode, where it gets the best fuel economy. If the gauge is not lying, somewhere around 40-50 MPH is the sweet-spot, where the engine is extremely efficient. If I were to hyper-mile, I'd try to break the 40MPG at these speeds :)
Winds do reduce my MPG numbers, especially driving head-on through strong winds.
Frequent trips to the Sierra showed me that up-hill numbers get pretty bad (~25 MPG), but coasting back down will even it out to good MPG.

Here in the bay-area, there are several dealerships and it is not difficult to get what you want. Many people use these vehicles to drive to the mountains, where CalTrans enforces chains for FWD/RWD vehicles. That is the main reason I got an AWD vehicle in the first place, otherwise, I would not have gotten a crossover.
 
2016.5 AWD GT, just broke 1K miles on it am getting 33mpg highway and roughly 27-28mpg city, very happy with it. I varied my speed, kept rpm's low, didn't go crazy for these first 1k miles. If it made a difference or not, who knows, but mpg has definitely improved up until now.
 
moJoe said:
2016.5 AWD GT, just broke 1K miles on it am getting 33mpg highway and roughly 27-28mpg city, very happy with it. I varied my speed, kept rpm's low, didn't go crazy for these first 1k miles. If it made a difference or not, who knows, but mpg has definitely improved up until now.
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If you think its good at 1k wait till after 2 oil changes from now. Smoother more responsive engine.
 
CX-5um said:
If you think its good at 1k wait till after 2 oil changes from now. Smoother more responsive engine.
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Can't wait! What's the stance on an early oil change (not to derail), did you wait until the normal time frame yourself?
 
moJoe said:
Can't wait! What's the stance on an early oil change (not to derail), did you wait until the normal time frame yourself?
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Everyone has a different answer. Id probably go first oil change at 2.5k-5k miles. I'm sure I went off that estimate. The 1st oil change is crucial as it includes the literal break-in materials/metals to be discarded. 5k-7k mile oil changes thereafter using good oil. FYI, Mazda's OEM oil w/Moly is heralded in hardcore Oil Forums by people who compare oil analysis for fun.
 
CX-5um said:
Everyone has a different answer. Id probably go first oil change at 2.5k-5k miles. I'm sure I went off that estimate. The 1st oil change is crucial as it includes the literal break-in materials/metals to be discarded. 5k-7k mile oil changes thereafter using good oil. FYI, Mazda's OEM oil w/Moly is heralded in hardcore Oil Forums by people who compare oil analysis for fun.
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Thanks, I was thinking maybe at the 3500-4000k mark, my dealer threw in 3 years of oil changes. Can I trust they will use the OEM with Moly?
 
I suspect the dealer will not use the Mazda Moly special oil because it cost considerably more that the bulk oil. Ed
 
moJoe said:
What's the stance on an early oil change (not to derail), did you wait until the normal time frame yourself?
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This recent thread has discussion for this topic.

Based on Used Oil Analysis (UOA) by Blackstone, our factory fill can safely run for at last to 7,000 miles. Since it's been proven that the factory fill has very high content of molybdenum which is hundred times more than average oils. Keep this oil in your new engine for at least 5,000 miles would be a good practice. The oil used for your free oil changes from your dealer would definitely be any cheapest oil they can find, as you can see the picture of "Preferred Choice" brand from my dealer. Just pay extra $10 to get Mazda moly oil for your free oil change. And I don't think your dealer would do free oil change earlier than specified schedule anyway.

BTW, make sure to change the Oil Change setting in Maintenance Monitor app to "Flexible" to enable your oil life monitor. You use "Schedule 1", "Engine oil flexible maintenance interval" to maximize you oil life to save money and reduce oil waste. The flexible OCI can be up to 10,000 miles or 12 months and the Powertrain Control Module will do the calculation for oil life and display with a "%". You wait until "Oil change due" message displayed in the dash and change your oil. You can wait for up to one year for oil change instead of 6 months with fixed OCI if you drive minimum miles in your case. Using flexible OCI won't void your new car and powertrain warranties as it's approved by Mazda. See page 6-4, 6-5, and 6-21 in Owner's Manual for details.
 
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