CQ: CX-9 diagonal and offroad test --- Fail!

There are definitely a few of us who take their "trucks" off-road. In that scenario, these tests are very relevant. You can easily find yourself with two tires in the air on mild off-road trails. These results didn't change my mind about the vehicle because it's main purpose in my household isn't wheelin', but kid/parent haulin'. That being said, if someone makes an AWD system, that isn't very effective, I think it's good information to have. So based on that alone, I think these tests are great. In my mind, more information is always better when it comes to making financial decisions. If you have all the information, you can still decide that it's not relevant to your use and still buy the car.

I agree 200% with the above.
It is VERY important to know the real capabilities of your car, AWD or not. Reading marketing BS from car manufactures and believing their claims is simply naive. We all learn that at some point. I learned it with my CX-9's mighty "capable" AWD system. The way Mazda advertises it's "super intelligent", "proactive" AWD system, sounds amazing on paper. In reality...very different story.

During the winter i drive in the mountains a lot (in a Lexus GX470 4wd) and i see a ton of SUV/CUVs (all AWD) stuck in the ditches. I have pulled a lot of people out of bad spots. I see them spinning, i see them getting stuck uphill, i see them hitting other cars, i see them putting chains the wrong way, etc, etc .... it's scary!
Aside from bad tires and stupidity, one of the main reasons is false sense of security because people ASSume that because they bought an "AWD" labeled vehicle, they are invincible on the slippery roads. Having the AWD badge on the back of an SUV can really play a bad trick on people who have very little experience on bad roads/weather. All AWD systems are not created equal. Yes, you always need good tires before anything else. Yes, you can get stuck going uphill in a AWD car.... and yes.... AWD or not, stopping requires extra distance. Bottom line is.... get to know your car before you jump into a real challenging situation.

If a Youtube video exposes some weakness in the AWD system - don't ignore it. You may not realize it, but there are plenty of situations where your front left and rear right tire may loose traction at the same time (just like the video) - black ice ...steep icy driveway ... gravel on the road ... flooded highway, just to list a few. It is good to know what the car can or can't do in such situation.
 
I've had my CX-5 in a few places like this demo off-road. It works fine. Real world would be some of the water bars you see on forest service roads here in PNW and on a hill. My CX-5 has been on two wheels a number of times. You can't always get a good line and straight on can sometimes result in bottoming out depending on how large the water bar is.

Just a reminder... you can help your vehicle along in this situation by applying some brake along with the throttle. This will force more power to the wheel with grip even if the stock ABS system doesn't. This can work on snow/ice too.

Aren't they adding that extra off-road function to CX-9 for '19 like they did with the '17 CX-5 turning off TCS?

I believe the following video from a Russian reviewer did that extra off-road trick to bring the car up under almost the same situation. (FF 14min)

 
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