Every spring for about four weeks or so -- VT's fifth season. To be honest, that picture was about the worst that section has been in the past several years, but with 50% of VT's roads being dirt, and given that during spring, the top thaws while there's lots of frozen ground underneath, the dirt roads are mud pits for a month to six weeks. If you like four-wheeling, it's the place to be. (Local DOT does its best with a grader and stones, but it's a challenge each year.)
AWD compared
- Thread starter Unobtanium
- Start date
- :
- RDX Aspec Adv.
Yeah, I live on private roads. Gravel. Very well maintained, but still loose, and my hill is a 27% incline.
Do Johova's witnesses, Mormons, Girls Scouts, Pest Extermination, or solicitors come over to bug you?
- :
- RDX Aspec Adv.
No. I want people as far the hell away from me as possible when I'm at home. This does, unfortunately, lead to having a drive-way that is AWD-only pretty much, unless you want to take a good run at it. That said, it's nice not to be where I can see another person in a full 360* without using a scope of some sort. This is the bottom half of the property. The top half is sloped and heavily wooded, leading to flat and heavily wooded, and bordered by the private gravel drive. People who don't belong there tend to stay out of there. VERY active neighborhood watch.
Last edited:
- :
- 2019 Mazda3 AWD Hatchback
Has your CX5 ever not gotten you up your driveway?
- :
- RDX Aspec Adv.
Yes, once in the snow, but later that day it clawed up it.
- :
- Denver, CO
Eh...mud test, wouldn't all terrain tires be more appropriate? They had winter tires on the CX-5 and that's definitely not an appropriate tire for this kind of test.
- :
- 2018 Mazda CX-9 Grand Touring / Deep Crystal Blue / Sand leather
My last vehicle was a BMW 335i xDrive sedan and I can confirm that xDrive is really good. I drove it through a blizzard to pick up dinner one day and had no issues then or any winter I had it despite the fact that I had average all season tires on it at the time.
My CX-9, on the other hand, was miserable this winter season. That said, I place most of the blame on the Bridgestone Ecopia tires that Mazda put on it from the factory. I'd barely even call them all season tires. ABS kicked in all the time, back end would kick out any time power was transferred to the rear wheels while cornering, etc. It was awful.
Otherwise, if I had better tires on the Mazda, I'd say it's probably better than Honda's AWD "real-time AWD" but not as good as BMW's xDrive or Subaru's Symmetrical AWD (full-time AWD setups).
My CX-9, on the other hand, was miserable this winter season. That said, I place most of the blame on the Bridgestone Ecopia tires that Mazda put on it from the factory. I'd barely even call them all season tires. ABS kicked in all the time, back end would kick out any time power was transferred to the rear wheels while cornering, etc. It was awful.
Otherwise, if I had better tires on the Mazda, I'd say it's probably better than Honda's AWD "real-time AWD" but not as good as BMW's xDrive or Subaru's Symmetrical AWD (full-time AWD setups).
As stated above I wonder if they didn't use the TCS off mode which is supposed to address this situation? That being said a little foot on the brake with accelerator can often help in similar situations. I've done that before with my CX-5 and it got me out of a tough spot.
Yeah, the video kept saying that the mazda driver was following the "rules"; i.e., going slow and making awd do all the work. The others were not so much.
- :
- Central Virginia
- :
- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
Mine too. The whole 1/2 mile of it.
We've had a year & a half of record rains here in Virginia, and when the rain stops, the dust kicks up.
I have a 10 day old car and I cannot keep it clean.
- :
- Denver, CO
My old dirt mountain driveway was hell after spring rainstorms. Huge ruts.
As for keeping the car clean, I essentially need to wash mine at least once a week. Even though it's garaged, it still manages to get very dusty, so I can only assume the detached garage isn't built very well.
Excuse my ignorance for not watching the video, but I'll offer my quick .02. I have a 2015 Outback (2.5L) and my dad has his 2016 CX-5 (2.5L). My Outback kicks the Mazda's ass in any kind of off road terrain or snow. The Subaru AWD system is just plain superior. The Mazda isn't bad in the snow, but it just can't handle as much as the Subaru will. However on pavement, the Mazda will outhandle the Subaru with ease. The CX-5 is faster, corners better, has less body roll, brakes harder, steers tighter and just feels more nimble.
Basically the Mazda isn't as great off road, but it's a lot more fun on road. The Subaru is a bore to drive around town, but when it comes to mud and snow, it fares much better.
Also unrelated but worth noting, Subaru owners just plain suck so be prepared to deal with that stigma if you are gonna own one. Mazda owners are a lot cooler and don't have the Al Gore lover or vaping 20 year-old WRX driver stereotype.
Basically the Mazda isn't as great off road, but it's a lot more fun on road. The Subaru is a bore to drive around town, but when it comes to mud and snow, it fares much better.
Also unrelated but worth noting, Subaru owners just plain suck so be prepared to deal with that stigma if you are gonna own one. Mazda owners are a lot cooler and don't have the Al Gore lover or vaping 20 year-old WRX driver stereotype.
- :
- Central Virginia
- :
- 2019 CX-5 Reserve
I'm embarrassed to admit that I have a 3 car garage with no room for a car.
In my defense, one bay is the workshop area, and the second one houses my tractor. I'm not putting my Kubota out in the elements, so need to at least put up a lean-to for it. There's other stuff in the way of that project.
Now the 3rd bay is a closet and absolutely needs to be cleaned out. I thought I would have time before my car arrived, and they got one in to my specs in a couple of weeks instead of a few months. How can they not know what is in the pipeline?
In addition to the dust here, we got major pollen. I put Rain X on the windshield and rear window yesterday, and when I went out this morning, you could not see the rear glass. My first thought was "No way did I do that poor a job on the Rain X!" The rear window was obscured by dust & pollen.
I need to prod my neighbors to get that gravel here, and then buy some crush & run for my driveway and in front of the garage to at least mitigate the mud.
Sometimes, I have these fantasies as to what great things I would do with my life if I did not own a home...
- :
- Denver, CO
Over here, everyone and their mother has a damn Subaru. The image therefore is of a Subaru driver clogging up the road because they are going 50 in a 65 in the left lane clogging up traffic playing keeper of the speed with the car in the right lane and nobody can get around. When I hear Subaru, I don't even think of the WRX boy racer. It conjures up images of painfully slow driving Crosstreks, Outbacks, and Forester. (rofl)
As for the CX-5, I never really pictured it as an off-road vehicle myself. When I think off-road, I think Jeeps.
For the snow though, mine has totally impressed me and has been an absolute tank. It did great when I had quality all-seasons new, but much better with actual snow tires. Complete confidence and nothing it couldn't tackle down in the city, or when I went to visit my Mom back up in the high mountains off of dirt roads and steep road and driveway elevations with snow and ice.
Last edited:
- :
- RDX Aspec Adv.
Agreed. I do wish we could lock the diff, though.
Difficult to decipher real-world or meaningful results except for a contest involving muddy, rainy, uneven ground hill climbs confusing things with variables of tires, driving styles, speed / momentum of attack etc... Even wheelbase / weight distribution of each will factor in.
With average or better than average A/S tires, I was happy with the way our '02 Tribute, '08 CX-7 and now, our current '16 CX-9 does for daily driver duty including ruts of snow on streets and highway, slush or even icy spots here and there.
Terrain here (even the cement/asphalt type) is very hilly, mountainous and curved, off-camber routes. With snow and ice, that equates to treacherous conditions and especially so for drivers who lack the experience or craft of winter driving conditions.
It's a mildly interesting vid but most of us already did the research or homework and found the vehicle for our intended purposes and expectations. WTH - Spending a few tens of thou makes it a somewhat conditional purchase.
No doubt in my mind, I'd be back to the homework if that vid represented my driveway or my route to work every day. Even considering, the vid itself didn't really tell me which was best for those specific conditions.
The narrator stated rains were coming down heavier as the Mazda was taking on a hill, some drivers were more aggressive and speedy going into the test routes as if it were about driver ego or ability versus "following the rules" to test the machine....
It just appeared to be a fun day for those car enthusiasts that like to muck it up in the great outdoors and I don't blame 'em one bit.
(cool)
With average or better than average A/S tires, I was happy with the way our '02 Tribute, '08 CX-7 and now, our current '16 CX-9 does for daily driver duty including ruts of snow on streets and highway, slush or even icy spots here and there.
Terrain here (even the cement/asphalt type) is very hilly, mountainous and curved, off-camber routes. With snow and ice, that equates to treacherous conditions and especially so for drivers who lack the experience or craft of winter driving conditions.
It's a mildly interesting vid but most of us already did the research or homework and found the vehicle for our intended purposes and expectations. WTH - Spending a few tens of thou makes it a somewhat conditional purchase.
No doubt in my mind, I'd be back to the homework if that vid represented my driveway or my route to work every day. Even considering, the vid itself didn't really tell me which was best for those specific conditions.
The narrator stated rains were coming down heavier as the Mazda was taking on a hill, some drivers were more aggressive and speedy going into the test routes as if it were about driver ego or ability versus "following the rules" to test the machine....
It just appeared to be a fun day for those car enthusiasts that like to muck it up in the great outdoors and I don't blame 'em one bit.
(cool)
Last edited:
