Finally pulled the trigger on a GT Reserve

Hey, guys.

I joined here and started asking questions last Fall as I was in the market for an SUV. Life issues got in the way and caused me to put the hunt on hold. I*m glad I waited.

I picked up my GT Reserve last Monday (exactly a week ago). Got the Eternal Blue, with splash guards, rails, bumper guard, trailer hitch and cargo cover. I also purchased the factory CX-5 logo sunscreen (although in hindsight I wish I had purchased the entire vehicle sunscreen set from Weathertech.) I installed Weathertech mats in the front, back and cargo area the day I picked it up.

I was absolutely not going to get the turbo. But when I went to the dealer to finalize the deal on the Grand Touring, I felt I would be remiss if I didn*t at least test drive the turbo. Famous last words, huh?

I could not be happier with it. I live in a very rural farming community in central Virginia, where the roads are hilly and winding, with no middle dividing lines (and little traffic) and speed limits are all 45MPH, 55MPH, and *Speed Limit Ends.* Many of the surrounding counties are this way. I drive through those curves, and the tighter the car hugs the road, the more I push it to see if I can get it to even feel like it wants to cut loose or give a little body roll. Nothing doing. It*s crazy flat and tight for any car, much less an SUV. I can*t wait for the tires to wear out! I can only imagine what decent rubber will do for the thing, although then I*d need a 5 point racing harness to keep my butt in the seat!

I received a nearly-full tank of gas from the dealer, and the electronic dash gauge at my first fill-up today said 23.4 MPG. I have yet to really put my foot into it (still holding back a little until break-in miles are on it), but considering that I had maybe 15 true interstate highway miles on that tank of gas and most of the rest of it playing on winding back roads, I*m pleased with the mileage. However, I am not pleased with the cost of 93 octane (nearly $3/gallon here, which is 60 higher than 87 octane), and I*m not certain I will actually feel the increase in horsepower at this point, but I gotta give it a try. The specs say nothing about an increase in mileage with the premium gas. We*ll see what difference it makes.

You all really helped my decision making on buying this car, and now I actually own one, I find that I learn even more reading what you*ve got to say. Now that I*ve had mine for a week, I can see why everyone is so high on the CX-5. I*m retired, and have been out driving every day since I bought it*just because.

Avoidin Deer said:

... the electronic dash gauge at my first fill-up today said 23.4 GPM. ...

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And people thought my 18 mpg's were bad!

Congrats on GTR purchase! What was the pricing breakdown?

LOL!!!

Oh, yeah. I gotta go back and fix that one!!! Man, that takes me back to the days of my '63 Continental!

I had a better deal negotiated on the 2018 GT:

$35,415 on the car including the roof rails
$450 for the hitch
$120 for front & rear splash guards
$125 for the bumper guard
$250 for the cargo cover
$65 for the sunscreen

I ordered the car from the factory, and a couple of weeks later they had one in that color come off the truck with the roof rails on it from the factory. They installed the other accessories at the dealer at just the cost of the accessories, since factory installation is at no cost for the labor.

I passed on the stuff offered at the time I went through the financing process (2.9%) except for the GAP insurance. They were cheaper than Allstate. The "Can we sell you add-ons?" left kind of a bad taste in my mouth after the preceding laid-back sales process. One was very misleading.

This was at the dealership in Charlottesville, VA.

Where in the heck are you getting 97 octane and where is it around $3.00??

Other than that enjoy the ride. Sounds like fun.

Uh, in my dreams.

Daggone two fat-fingers in the same post!!! I fixed it...obviously 87 and 93 octane.

I live in NE PA and we have places you can buy CAM 2 race fuel at a pump. Congrats on the purchase. I actually just bought the same myself. 2019 CX5 GTR in Magnetic grey. Dealer does what they call a "Midnight Edition". Blacked out rims and badges. I ended up getting mine like that.

psdj52 said:

I live in NE PA and we have places you can buy CAM 2 race fuel at a pump. Congrats on the purchase. I actually just bought the same myself. 2019 CX5 GTR in Magnetic grey. Dealer does what they call a "Midnight Edition". Blacked out rims and badges. I ended up getting mine like that.

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No thread hijack is complete without pic's! Actually, that goes for the both you and the OP.

Sig cx-5 said:

No thread hijack is complete without pic's! Actually, that goes for the both you and the OP.

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HaHa!! Sorry to the original OP for the hijack. I actually didn't pick up my CX5 GTR tonight. I get it on Sat, but here are a few pics from the dealers website. Will definitely post more when I take some.

Congrats on the purchase! I remember you from last fall. Welcome to the club!

Sig cx-5 said:

No thread hijack is complete without pic's! Actually, that goes for the both you and the OP.

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You are 100% correct.

I have never been able to get pics to upload to this site. I worked with one of the Admins over several iterations and just gave up. He had me modify my UserName thinking THAT might be the problem. Maybe I should try to fix it again.

Thanks, Colorado.

I'm really glad I pulled the trigger on it. Such a fun car to drive.

psdj52 said:

HaHa!! Sorry to the original OP for the hijack. I actually didn't pick up my CX5 GTR tonight. I get it on Sat, but here are a few pics from the dealers website. Will definitely post more when I take some.

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No hijack as far as I'm concerned. That's SWEET!

I ended up getting mine a couple of months early because they got one delivered that was the color I ordered, and installed the options at the dealership.

I just posted that my account has problems uploading pics to it. Worked with a forum admin for a while, never could fix it.

That, and I live at the end of a 1/2 mile long dirt/mud road. I should have taken pics at the dealership. Hopefully my neighbors and I will soon be getting gravel to fill in the divots. One of them just got a new truck, so we're both whining about our muddy tires. 1st World Problems....

Avoidin Deer said:

No hijack as far as I'm concerned. That's SWEET!

I ended up getting mine a couple of months early because they got one delivered that was the color I ordered, and installed the options at the dealership.

I just posted that my account has problems uploading pics to it. Worked with a forum admin for a while, never could fix it.

That, and I live at the end of a 1/2 mile long dirt/mud road. I should have taken pics at the dealership. Hopefully my neighbors and I will soon be getting gravel to fill in the divots. One of them just got a new truck, so we're both whining about our muddy tires. 1st World Problems....

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So i am assuming you tried going to settings and uploading pics that way?

Yup. The admin and I went through a bunch of different scenarios. To his credit, he spent a lot of time on it. I finally gave up when I dropped my search for a car last Fall.

He uploaded pics for me to look at, and I saw things from his account he had not uploaded, even after we verified that the file path I saw was one he said pointed to other pics.

My original UserName was Avoidin' Deer with that apostrophe. We though that the character might be goofing up the path name (remember DOS?), so we deleted it from my name.

All of this is me uploading pics directly from my hard drive to my account. I might set up an online file hosting account and try that. PhotoBucket used to allow free linking, but now you need a paid account. I don't have enough of a need to pay for that service, and have not felt like seeking out an alternative and moving my pics over.

It's weird. I've been a Mod and an Admin on forums like this. I cannot figure it out.

Avoidin Deer said:

Yup. The admin and I went through a bunch of different scenarios. To his credit, he spent a lot of time on it. I finally gave up when I dropped my search for a car last Fall.

He uploaded pics for me to look at, and I saw things from his account he had not uploaded, even after we verified that the file path I saw was one he said pointed to other pics.

My original UserName was Avoidin' Deer with that apostrophe. We though that the character might be goofing up the path name (remember DOS?), so we deleted it from my name.

All of this is me uploading pics directly from my hard drive to my account. I might set up an online file hosting account and try that. PhotoBucket used to allow free linking, but now you need a paid account. I don't have enough of a need to pay for that service, and have not felt like seeking out an alternative and moving my pics over.

It's weird. I've been a Mod and an Admin on forums like this. I cannot figure it out.

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Can't say that I blame you. Hey enjoy the vehicle. I know once I get mine this weekend I will!!

Make sure to let me know how you like it.

I've never owned a nicer driving car.

Congrats! Also, yes, the suspension is VERY well sorted on my Grand Touring Reserve (I presume it's identical in the Sg). I've driven ZR1's, 1980's mustangs, and several things in between as well as owned a 370Z and a C6 Z06, and for what the GT-R is, it is excellent and well executed. Better than the 370Z, and almost on par with the ZR1 (regarding "fitness for purpose", obviously, not "all out".). It would need active suspension to actually be on par with the ZR1, but it is head and shoulders better sorted than my 370Z Sport/Touring, 2012. I am extremely pleased with the suspension and ride and handling, given weight, height, and tires.

psdj52 said:

I live in NE PA and we have places you can buy CAM 2 race fuel at a pump. Congrats on the purchase. I actually just bought the same myself. 2019 CX5 GTR in Magnetic grey. Dealer does what they call a "Midnight Edition". Blacked out rims and badges. I ended up getting mine like that.

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Lol, dealers just have to squeeze as much as they can out of customers, don't they? I don't understand how they can use the words "Midnight Edition", it's very misleading as it makes it sound like its a special edition of the car that was a factory option. It should just be advertised as a dealer service. It's just PlastiDip and/or black spray paint, after all. Either way, looks good blacked out. All it's missing now is darker tint on the front windows.

AD, congrats on the purchase! Have you tried using flickr.com to upload photos?

I smiled at your "fitness for purpose" statement. I spent a good part of my career in purchasing. That statement is the very definition we used for "quality."

I, too, am extremely pleased. I expected at least some tendency to want to "body roll" in corners, given the car's height. But I couldn't make it happen. You read some CX-5 reviews and this tightness is actually perceived as a negative by some people, who are more accustomed to a squishy American car road feel, as in the '63 Continental I used to own.

I also used to have a 1959 Austin Healey. You could feel the road because you were practically sitting on it!

I have not tried Flickr.

Can I link to pics for free? The only reason I even got a PhotoBucket account in the first place was to link pics to forums like this.