Altitude driving

C

COmtn

:
2018 CX-5 GT PP
This is a question for Colorado owners. No offense but if you don't drive an 11,000ft/3,400m 4-lane pass routinely, your reply is pretty much meaningless.

I'm considering a '17 or '18 Grand Touring with low mileage. The constant refrain from all reviews and many owners is "I wish it had more power." Don't need a rocketship but I want to cruise up I-70 to the tunnel from both directions without feeling gutless. Is the standard engine going to leave me wanting?

I'd prefer to avoid the major cost upgrade to the new '19 turbo. If it comes to that, the new Rav-4 non-hybrid will probably win. I can save a huge chunk of change with the standard CX-5 engine if it can pull the grade.
 
I bought a 2017 CX-5 GT and have found no issue going up hills and passing other cars. Nice thing about the Sky-active transmission is its easy to drop into manual and choose which gear you want to be in. That way you control the acceleration power. I drive mostly at low elevations so i don't know what affect altitude would have on this. But i love my CX-5.
 
COmtn said:
This is a question for Colorado owners. No offense but if you don't drive an 11,000ft/3,400m 4-lane pass routinely, your reply is pretty much meaningless.

I'm considering a '17 or '18 Grand Touring with low mileage. The constant refrain from all reviews and many owners is "I wish it had more power." Don't need a rocketship but I want to cruise up I-70 to the tunnel from both directions without feeling gutless. Is the standard engine going to leave me wanting?

I'd prefer to avoid the major cost upgrade to the new '19 turbo. If it comes to that, the new Rav-4 non-hybrid will probably win. I can save a huge chunk of change with the standard CX-5 engine if it can pull the grade.
Click to expand...

You won't NEED it. You will be much happier if you have it.

I lived at 7500' in Colorado for 20 years. Daily driving was between 5000 and 10000'. And sure, I-70 once in awhile. I drove NA cars for half the time [with similar power to the NA CX-5], and was ALWAYS annoyed by lack of power. When I got a turbo, I was in hog heaven, lovin' life, etc.

If you drive alone and empty most of the time you'll be able to live with the NA engine; you'll just be unhappy whenever you want to accelerate. :)

The CX-5 isn't "slow". But it sure ain't quick.
 
CX-5 is fine. I lived up at 9000 ft. when I bought mine. It's STILL peppy in the mountains.

Up I-70? No problem. Fully loaded with cargo and people CX-5? Eh...probably will feel lack of power at that point at that elevation.

I can say this...I've never felt like my CX-5 was gutless. Could it use more "oomph" power above say 75-80 MPH? Sure. Fully loaded? Sure. But it's not gutless, and I have no complaints driving it in Colorado. Done I-70 plenty of times. I had a cop flash his lights at me to slow down last trip.
 
I've had zero issues driving up I70. I remember when I had a 2012 RAV4 four banger I was passed by a Prius heading up to the tunnel from Silverthorne. I had it floored. I promptly traded that in for a 2.0T Santa Fe and have not had that issue since.

I've had too many issues with Turbos (the Santa Fe was in twice during the first year with the turbo going out and then the oil dilution in the CRV I just traded in) so I've sworn off them for a while. The CX5 RPMs are higher going up the mountain but I'm fine with that. No more turbos or CVTs for me for a while...
 
The thing is, the turbo is about acceleration, NOT top speed. And the difference in power between 5000' and 10000' is significant.

We all have a different need for speed, so no one else can tell you if it will be quick enough for YOU.

A test drive in any NA 17+ CX-5 should give you a good idea.
 
I am in agreement with CD and Colo_2018. I drive I-70 out of Denver routinely, and often through the tunnel, or over Berthoud Pass - both well above 11000'. With the car fully loaded - three people plus ski equipment in back - I have found that sport mode works best for having acceleration readily available. But overall, the NA engine does just fine; never felt it was a dog; can consistently do speed limit +.

Yeah, turbo power would be nice, but not necessary to get you where you're going quickly and smoothly.
 
COmtn said:
This is a question for Colorado owners. No offense but if you don't drive an 11,000ft/3,400m 4-lane pass routinely, your reply is pretty much meaningless.
Click to expand...

youngti said:
I bought a 2017 CX-5 GT and have found no issue going up hills and passing other cars. Nice thing about the Sky-active transmission is its easy to drop into manual and choose which gear you want to be in. That way you control the acceleration power. I drive mostly at low elevations so i don't know what affect altitude would have on this. But i love my CX-5.
Click to expand...

This reply is so like some of the review replies you see on Amazon. Someone asks a question about a product and they get a bunch of replies that basically say, 'I don't know the answer to your question but I'm going to reply anyways and tell you that I don't know'.

Um, what?
 
My previous car before my CX-5 was turbocharged. It was my biggest concern when I bought it, that it would feel gutless and I would miss the fat midrange torque from the turbo. I also live at fairly high elevations where a NA engine will suffer where as a turbo engine is less affected.

One year later I have basically zero concerns about power in my vehicle. The engine is nicely tuned and has a good torque curve for a NA 4-cyl engine. The electronic throttle is *very* well tuned and does an excellent job of hiding the fact that the vehicle only has 187HP. It's only when you really dig into the pedal that the truth comes out, but you almost never need to do that. I find wide open throttle acceleration to be totally adequate as well. You can already be doing 75mph when you merge onto an interstate if you want to.

It depends upon your expectations of course. I'm not an aggressive driver. I do enjoy the feeling of the vehicle being punchy and not having to work hard to accelerate, and this doesn't provide it the way a turbo can, but I don't actually accelerate that fast when driving so I have nothing to complain about ultimately.
 
CatsPaw said:
My previous car before my CX-5 was turbocharged. It was my biggest concern when I bought it, that it would feel gutless and I would miss the fat midrange torque from the turbo. I also live at fairly high elevations where a NA engine will suffer where as a turbo engine is less affected.

One year later I have basically zero concerns about power in my vehicle. The engine is nicely tuned and has a good torque curve for a NA 4-cyl engine. The electronic throttle is *very* well tuned and does an excellent job of hiding the fact that the vehicle only has 187HP. It's only when you really dig into the pedal that the truth comes out, but you almost never need to do that. I find wide open throttle acceleration to be totally adequate as well. You can already be doing 75mph when you merge onto an interstate if you want to.

It depends upon your expectations of course. I'm not an aggressive driver. I do enjoy the feeling of the vehicle being punchy and not having to work hard to accelerate, and this doesn't provide it the way a turbo can, but I don't actually accelerate that fast when driving so I have nothing to complain about ultimately.
Click to expand...
Well I am a spirited driver and I fully agree with your first 2 paragraphs in describing the CX-5.
 
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