2016 CX-9 Compass and other useless features

S

SDL

:
2016 Mazda CX-9 GT
What are some of the features you think the 2016 has that only look good on paper? I can think of two:

1) Compass (I realize no one uses this, but still, the way it works it's ridiculous) You can see in the short video below, the compass is pointing West in the direction I'm moving, but the sun is setting about 45 degrees from where the compass thinks it's west

Mazda CX-9 Compass

2) Traffic Updates
Every time I get a "Detour" alert due to heavy traffic ahead, I laugh on the inside. I don't think it has a way of knowing if there is traffic or not. It simply uses historical data. Meaning, if you drove route A and that day there was an accident, now it thinks traffic is slow all the time so next time it will suggest route B instead.

3) Fog lights
I rarely use these, but what's the point? They can only be on when the headlights are on and I don't think they improve visibility that much. Haven't driven under heavy fog conditions, but I would imagine the bright headlights would reflect a lot of light back. It would be more useful if it could be turned on without turning on the headlights.
 
I think the fog lights were an afterthought by the designers. I haven't seen fog lights this small in a car, I had to look for them when I first saw the CX-9. Couldn't they have made it at least 3 times larger?
 
ManUtd said:
I think the fog lights were an afterthought by the designers. I haven't seen fog lights this small in a car, I had to look for them when I first saw the CX-9. Couldn't they have made it at least 3 times larger?
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My guess is from a design perspective they didn't want the fog lamps to be too obvious/stand out just like the headlights where these appear to be smaller and integrated into the grill design that extends and flows to the sides than compared to other brands that the headlights and fog lamps appear to be large. Honestly I don't mind the smaller fog lamps as it serves its purpose (when needed) and bright enough despite the size.
 
Does fog light even work for your own visibility? I think it mean for the other driver seeing the light to know there is another car on that lane.
 
ZzRicezZ said:
Does fog light even work for your own visibility? I think it mean for the other driver seeing the light to know there is another car on that lane.
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I believe it does...foglamps are designed to be visible in "fog" that's why these are positioned near the bottom of the vehicle (usually lower front bumper). Even at night time the fog lamps are visible esp with the bright LED unlike the halogens. I drove the other night ahead of my wife who was driving the CX9 behind me by approx 10 car lengths and I could see the CX9's fog lamps from my rearview mirror.
 
I think you just proved my point, it for other drivers. Trust me you wouldn't see much with fog lights when you are driving that fast. It only lights up the ground around you for a few meters. I have hid fog lights in my Honda prelude and that my experience with it.
 
ZzRicezZ said:
I think you just proved my point, it for other drivers. Trust me you wouldn't see much with fog lights when you are driving that fast. It only lights up the ground around you for a few meters. I have hid fog lights in my Honda prelude and that my experience with it.
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Yes. Fog lamps are meant to be seen by oncoming vehicles (in fog and inclement weather) and not to increase or expand the illumination to improve your visibility as a driver...my previous Volvo had both front and rear foglamps and they were very useful esp the rear ones when driving in inclement weather as your vehicle becomes more visible to other drivers from behind
 
ZzRicezZ said:
I would hope the traffic updates comes from the hd radio feed.
Click to expand...

I would love to confirm this. From my experience, it's based on historical data .. I drove to the dealer one time and there was bad traffic due to an accident. Next time I drove, it told me that it had found a faster route due to traffic conditions. I check the HD radio, all clear. Checked Google traffic, all clear. Just to make a point, I took the "busy route" and guess what? All clear!
 
SDL said:
What are some of the features you think the 2016 has that only look good on paper? I can think of two:

1) Compass (I realize no one uses this, but still, the way it works it's ridiculous) You can see in the short video below, the compass is pointing West in the direction I'm moving, but the sun is setting about 45 degrees from where the compass thinks it's west

Mazda CX-9 Compass

2) Traffic Updates
Every time I get a "Detour" alert due to heavy traffic ahead, I laugh on the inside. I don't think it has a way of knowing if there is traffic or not. It simply uses historical data. Meaning, if you drove route A and that day there was an accident, now it thinks traffic is slow all the time so next time it will suggest route B instead.

3) Fog lights
I rarely use these, but what's the point? They can only be on when the headlights are on and I don't think they improve visibility that much. Haven't driven under heavy fog conditions, but I would imagine the bright headlights would reflect a lot of light back. It would be more useful if it could be turned on without turning on the headlights.
Click to expand...

1)While I agree the compass implementation could be improved, your reasoning is flawed. The sun does not always set due west and the compass on the CX-9 doesn't adjust by degree, I believe it goes W, NWW, NW, NNW, & N in 22.5 degree increments.

2)The traffic data is from HD radio. It is less than ideal but you can turn detours off.

3)What? They're fog lights. Most cars have them and they serve both a functional and aesthetic purpose. What brand offers the capability to turn on fog lights without the headlights on?

If those are the only 3 "useless" features you could come up with, then the CX-9 is a pretty damn good car.
 
I use the compass and sometimes have 2 GPS units running at the same time. As far as useless items are the muffler bearings a mechanic charged me $200 to replace.
 
nickndfl said:
I use the compass and sometimes have 2 GPS units running at the same time. As far as useless items are the muffler bearings a mechanic charged me $200 to replace.
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(spin) (rofl2)(rofl2)
 
SDL said:
What are some of the features you think the 2016 has that only look good on paper? I can think of two:

1) Compass (I realize no one uses this, but still, the way it works it's ridiculous) You can see in the short video below, the compass is pointing West in the direction I'm moving, but the sun is setting about 45 degrees from where the compass thinks it's west.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting that the precise location that the sun should be setting in San Diego in February is exactly dead West?
 
MS33SM said:
1)While I agree the compass implementation could be improved, your reasoning is flawed. The sun does not always set due west and the compass on the CX-9 doesn't adjust by degree, I believe it goes W, NWW, NW, NNW, & N in 22.5 degree increments.

2)The traffic data is from HD radio. It is less than ideal but you can turn detours off.

3)What? They're fog lights. Most cars have them and they serve both a functional and aesthetic purpose. What brand offers the capability to turn on fog lights without the headlights on?

If those are the only 3 "useless" features you could come up with, then the CX-9 is a pretty damn good car.
Click to expand...

I never said it wasn't a good car.

Based on my experience, the traffic updates are not coming from the HD radio (read my post above). If you can point me to the documentation where it says it does, I'll be forever grateful as I'll be more incline to trust the detour prompt. Unfortunately, the experiences that I've had just suggest that is using historical GPS data. Again, I haven't see where this is documented. When I spoke to Mazda about it, they told me I had to go into the HD radio app to look at traffic updates.

Regarding the sun coordinates 22.5 degrees? I think from my video it shows more like 45 degrees. Take a second look. The compass display DEFINITELY does not show NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, SSW, WSW, WNW, NNW. It only rotates in 45 degrees increments from what I can see so NW, SW, SE, NE.
And while the the sun does not always set W, you CANNOT tell me that if sets with that much margin of error. At solstice? Maybe. Not during this time of the year. Again, look at the video, I'm driving where the compass shows W and the sun is a good 40-45 degrees to my left.

My comment about fog lights were that unless you have the headlights on, you cannot use them. I particularly like that they're hidden, but under heavy fog conditions, having your headlights on would reflect a lot of the light back at you - I thought the point of the fog lights was to use them instead of the headlights to avoid such hard light bouncing back? I now read that is more likely for vehicles in front of you.
 
MS33SM said:
⋯ What brand offers the capability to turn on fog lights without the headlights on?
Click to expand...
My 2001.5 VW Passat can turn on front fog lights without headlights on. In fact, this's the way the factory front fog lights operate on most vehicles all over the world except in the US. We have certain states require the headlights when front fog lights are on, hence Mazda offered the fog lights this way to cover any possible legal issues. And I miss the rear fog light and in-dash fog light indicators!

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yrwei52 said:
My 2001.5 VW Passat can turn on front fog lights without headlights on. In fact, this's the way the factory front fog lights operate on most vehicles all over the world except in the US. We have certain states require the headlights when front fog lights are on, hence Mazda offered the fog lights this way to cover any possible legal issues. And I miss the rear fog light and in-dash fog light indicators!

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Click to expand...

Citing features that were available on cars 16 years ago doesn't provide much to advance this argument.

I have a Mazda and a BMW, and previously had a Lexus, all with fog lights, and none of which permitted the fogs on with only parking lights. And in the BMW and Lexus forums, there were plenty of threads on how to rewire the system to get this to work.

I can't say how many auto makers allow fogs on with parking lights, but I think it's fewer than it was 15-20 years ago.
 
tex2670 said:
Citing features that were available on cars 16 years ago doesn't provide much to advance this argument.

I have a Mazda and a BMW, and previously had a Lexus, all with fog lights, and none of which permitted the fogs on with only parking lights. And in the BMW and Lexus forums, there were plenty of threads on how to rewire the system to get this to work.

I can't say how many auto makers allow fogs on with parking lights, but I think it's fewer than it was 15-20 years ago.
Click to expand...
I was saying my Passat is doing that way and every new car, including Mazda CX-5 and CX-9 are doing that way too in other regions. Your statement is only applicable to the US market due to certain states' regulations.
 
SDL said:
I never said it wasn't a good car.

Based on my experience, the traffic updates are not coming from the HD radio (read my post above). If you can point me to the documentation where it says it does, I'll be forever grateful as I'll be more incline to trust the detour prompt. Unfortunately, the experiences that I've had just suggest that is using historical GPS data. Again, I haven't see where this is documented. When I spoke to Mazda about it, they told me I had to go into the HD radio app to look at traffic updates.

Regarding the sun coordinates 22.5 degrees? I think from my video it shows more like 45 degrees. Take a second look. The compass display DEFINITELY does not show NNE, ENE, ESE, SSE, SSW, WSW, WNW, NNW. It only rotates in 45 degrees increments from what I can see so NW, SW, SE, NE.
And while the the sun does not always set W, you CANNOT tell me that if sets with that much margin of error. At solstice? Maybe. Not during this time of the year. Again, look at the video, I'm driving where the compass shows W and the sun is a good 40-45 degrees to my left.

My comment about fog lights were that unless you have the headlights on, you cannot use them. I particularly like that they're hidden, but under heavy fog conditions, having your headlights on would reflect a lot of the light back at you - I thought the point of the fog lights was to use them instead of the headlights to avoid such hard light bouncing back? I now read that is more likely for vehicles in front of you.
Click to expand...

Just a comment on the whole fog lights thing..here in Cda there are certain provinces that don't allow use of fog lights when there is no fog or when weather is not inclement therefore you can get ticketed so I assume in US there would also be some states that may have this law in place as well. Also, these are again meant to be visible to other cars/drivers as a safety precaution. I agree that these are meant to be functional only when the headlights are on as they're meant to be used while driving and not on idle. From a safety and manufacturer's standpoint, there is no use for fog lights to be turned on only with parklights as having the capability for both to be used while on idle also draws electrical power as waste since most fog lights (not the LED ones) have almost the same wattages as headlights. It all depends on how you look at it from your perspective. Some see fog lights as a safety necessity while other view it as useless and only for aesthetics while maybe some view them as both.

Yes when driving in fog the headlights can bounce off that's why most car manuals will tell you to not use highbeams as it wll bounce off even more than can blind or reduce visibility further. The fog lights simply help your car be more visible to other cars that's why these are also located at bottom area of bumper as fog usually are not that low. Your headlghts may not be as visible to cars in front of you but the fog lights will be.
 
tekbis said:
Just a comment on the whole fog lights thing..here in Cda there are certain provinces that don't allow use of fog lights when there is no fog or when weather is not inclement therefore you can get ticketed so I assume in US there would also be some states that may have this law in place as well. Also, these are again meant to be visible to other cars/drivers as a safety precaution. I agree that these are meant to be functional only when the headlights are on as they're meant to be used while driving and not on idle. From a safety and manufacturer's standpoint, there is no use for fog lights to be turned on only with parklights as having the capability for both to be used while on idle also draws electrical power as waste since most fog lights (not the LED ones) have almost the same wattages as headlights. It all depends on how you look at it from your perspective. Some see fog lights as a safety necessity while other view it as useless and only for aesthetics while maybe some view them as both.

Yes when driving in fog the headlights can bounce off that's why most car manuals will tell you to not use highbeams as it wll bounce off even more than can blind or reduce visibility further. The fog lights simply help your car be more visible to other cars that's why these are also located at bottom area of bumper as fog usually are not that low. Your headlghts may not be as visible to cars in front of you but the fog lights will be.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation. This is my first car with fog lights. I rarely use them. I've also read it was illegal in some places to drive with them on, but I see people driving with fog lights on all the time. Also, I have seen lots of vehicles use them as day time running lights.
 
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