The AWD thread

^Those are damn near unstoppable..did they ruin the handling?
I haven't noticed any. Haven't really gotten on it yet, though. Braking on pavement feels tighter. Suspect a combo of winter tires and brand new tires.
The ride feels a little firmer. I thought it would be the opposite. I'll have to ask the wife for a second opinion.
Dealer said it would throw my speedo off. Did a test with a GPS app and it's only off by 1.
Firestone put them on for free. On the phone I was told it would be $20 and they'd call it a rotation. Went to pay and dude's like "we're not charging you for something so easy". Wow. Impressed.
Nice to have the TPMS of the 16s. The more I learn about the 17 (expensive TPMS, wipers apparently suck) I'm glad I got a 16. [emoji14]
 
^Those are damn near unstoppable..did they ruin the handling?

I put on a new set of 17” DM-V2’s seven dry weeks ago. Denver just finished a 65-day snow-free stretch yesterday with less than 1”. So, I’ve had plenty of time to evaluate dry handling.

Cornering is not as sharp, but adequate. Straightaway driving is much more planted. The the stock 19” Toyos require more input to the point of feeling almost jittery to me. The ride is also smoother.

With the 19’s, the speed obtained was 1 mph faster than the setting as measured by gps. 65 cruise = 66 mph. With the 17’s, it is 1 mph less. 65 cruise = 64 mph actual. 18’s must be “just right”.

Can’t wait to try the Blizzacks out on snow and ice. I’m guessing they’ll take it in stride.
 
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We had some snow up at the cabin (northern Minnesota). I have the bad toyo 19 inch stock tires and the cx-5 was still really impressive! It was way better than I imagined with those tires so I cant imagine throwing winters on it....it has to be an absolute tank!
 
For us Northern Hemispherians.
A lot of pairs in different threads about AWD. How about a dedicated thread?
Do you love it? Do you not?

Sitting at the coffee shop right now. We got hammered yesterday and overnight by Winter Storm Chloe.
I can't believe we name Winter storms now.
Anyway... Got up a little early today. Woke the kid up. Made him breakfast. Went out and dusted off 6 inches of snow on my car.
We left 15 minutes early to get to school.
Ha. Took me like 3 minutes longer. After I drop him off I start hitting a few side streets on my way to the coffee shop...because I have time to kill now since I got up early. LOL
I'm aiming for stretches of road that are untouched. The CX-5 just plows right through like a happy dog. "What next buddy?" Wag. Wag.
The AWD on this thing is no joke. I feel like I'm driving a tall snowmobile....

Yes, I have been very pleased with my AWD in snow, ice, rain, and it's necessary to access my house without tearing up my drive-way.
 
No need for AWD in Texas, I might still be tempted to get a 2.0L AWD CX5 in low or mid trim as my 2nd car replacing the Jhamry. I am willing to take a hit on FE for depreciated AWD CX5 :)

TX has some STOOPID slick roads, though. I remember my first time in San Antonio driving my '01 WS6. In 3rd gear in a slow corner (30mph) just rolling onto the throttle would get it sideways (on new F1GSD3's). It was crazy!
 
Forgive me if this has already been brought up or if someone has already asked this, but how exactly does the AWD on the 2017 Mazda CX-5 function? Is it full time like a Subaru or does it detect slip and then send power to whichever wheel is slipping to keep it balanced? I read that it's "on-demand" but looking at this thread it seems like full time which would be a pleasant surprise to me. So which is it?

I need to know because I'm moving to Reno soon and it snows up there.
 
TX has some STOOPID slick roads, though. I remember my first time in San Antonio driving my '01 WS6. In 3rd gear in a slow corner (30mph) just rolling onto the throttle would get it sideways (on new F1GSD3's). It was crazy!

This is true. When I drove to Atlanta this summer I couldn't get my tires to break or do tail whips with DSC off and wet ass roads.. here in TX I can get a tailwhip just by throttle blip through the apex of a turn when the road is barely wet
 
For maybe the first time in my ADULT life...it's snowing and...
and...
I'M HAPPY!
hahahahahahaha

MORE MORE MORE!
 
So it's been lightly snowing for hours. Off work this week with my kid. Let's go to breakfast dude! Jump in the car, fly out of the driveway, turn into the main road....it's totally cleared of snow.
[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️
 
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So it's been lightly snowing for hours. Off work this week with my kid. Let's hope to breakfast dude! Jump in the car, fly out of the driveway, turn into the main road....it's totally cleared of snow.
[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️[emoji852]️

LOL! Disappointing huh?
 
We’ve had snow since Christmas Eve afternoon. What I noticed in particular is how the CX5 transitioned from bare busy streets onto snow packed side streets. Not even a hint of wheel spin even though I took the corner faster than usual. That was reassuring. The computers working those 200 inputs a second are doing their job well.
 
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