- :
- Denver, CO
Non-Turbo.
So while my 2014 is getting looked at, they gave me a loaner in the form of a machine grey 2019 GT. Here are some of my observations for both pros and cons.
Pros:
- Lots of little details and features Mazda got right. I was impressed with the trunk area, the wheel wells are carpeted now, they had little coverings for the corners, etc. Loved it. Auto up-down on all windows is fantastic. Vents are much easier to aim than mine, and all having a knob to adjust or flip off is great.
- AC was much, muuuch stronger than mine in my 2014.
- Leather on the steering wheel is much softer and feels better in hand than my 2014 wheel.
- The commander knob is great, but I have some cons with the overall infotainment experience.
- The car does overall feel "solid". No vibrating hood, mirrors, etc. (Though I thought some Gen 2 folks still had some vibrating mirrors, but haven't notice that on this one).
- Padding on the center armrest was much more comfortable than mine, but I think it's overall smaller in capacity than mine.
- Happy to see an actual gauge for the engine temp.
- Definitely a quieter cabin.
Cons:
- These leather seats are awful. I now see why people are complaining about bolsters hitting into the bottom of their legs. I was not comfortable in this seat at all. By comparison, even though my cloth seats in my 2014 has visibly more aggressive bolstering, it never affected my legs in an uncomfortable way the leather seats do.
- While the commander knob is great, it at the same time pisses me off because it took me one click on the touchscreen to switch to a different audio source or between AM/FM on my 2014. By comparison, you have to click a few buttons, scroll to what you want, etc. It just takes longer to do anything. Same sort of complaints I had going from Windows 7 to 8 back in the day.
- Butt dyno says this 2019 is VERY noticeably more sluggish to accelerate vs. my 2014 with the same 2.5L engine. The 2 or 3 hp they added for the gen 2, clearly did not offset the added weight enough.
- Could be seen as a pro or con, but the redesigns to dimensions from Gen 1 made this CX-5 feel way bigger and wider than my CX-5 is, even if it technically isn't that different. If maybe not a con, it's at least throwing me off enough to not even want to try pulling into my very narrow garage.
- Not at all a fan of the glossy black material they used around the windows exterior and some of the interior pieces. Absolute fingerprint magnet, and the exterior pieces will get swirl marks for sure. Bad design choice in my opinion.
- Still hate the chrome around the windows and the front end.
Overall, it's definitely a quieter, smoother, and more refined ride no doubt. But the whole time, I missed my 2014 that felt more raw and to use Mazda's own marketing..."alive". I'm sure the turbo remedies this somewhat, but I don't know. All the little nice feature additions were great, but not at all anything I'd feel a need to upgrade to. I guess it boils down to what matters to you in a car. I like the raw feeling of driving. I don't care about tech and stuff. I like to feel the road and with the Gen 2 I did not feel that connection as well as I do with mine.
So while my 2014 is getting looked at, they gave me a loaner in the form of a machine grey 2019 GT. Here are some of my observations for both pros and cons.
Pros:
- Lots of little details and features Mazda got right. I was impressed with the trunk area, the wheel wells are carpeted now, they had little coverings for the corners, etc. Loved it. Auto up-down on all windows is fantastic. Vents are much easier to aim than mine, and all having a knob to adjust or flip off is great.
- AC was much, muuuch stronger than mine in my 2014.
- Leather on the steering wheel is much softer and feels better in hand than my 2014 wheel.
- The commander knob is great, but I have some cons with the overall infotainment experience.
- The car does overall feel "solid". No vibrating hood, mirrors, etc. (Though I thought some Gen 2 folks still had some vibrating mirrors, but haven't notice that on this one).
- Padding on the center armrest was much more comfortable than mine, but I think it's overall smaller in capacity than mine.
- Happy to see an actual gauge for the engine temp.
- Definitely a quieter cabin.
Cons:
- These leather seats are awful. I now see why people are complaining about bolsters hitting into the bottom of their legs. I was not comfortable in this seat at all. By comparison, even though my cloth seats in my 2014 has visibly more aggressive bolstering, it never affected my legs in an uncomfortable way the leather seats do.
- While the commander knob is great, it at the same time pisses me off because it took me one click on the touchscreen to switch to a different audio source or between AM/FM on my 2014. By comparison, you have to click a few buttons, scroll to what you want, etc. It just takes longer to do anything. Same sort of complaints I had going from Windows 7 to 8 back in the day.
- Butt dyno says this 2019 is VERY noticeably more sluggish to accelerate vs. my 2014 with the same 2.5L engine. The 2 or 3 hp they added for the gen 2, clearly did not offset the added weight enough.
- Could be seen as a pro or con, but the redesigns to dimensions from Gen 1 made this CX-5 feel way bigger and wider than my CX-5 is, even if it technically isn't that different. If maybe not a con, it's at least throwing me off enough to not even want to try pulling into my very narrow garage.
- Not at all a fan of the glossy black material they used around the windows exterior and some of the interior pieces. Absolute fingerprint magnet, and the exterior pieces will get swirl marks for sure. Bad design choice in my opinion.
- Still hate the chrome around the windows and the front end.
Overall, it's definitely a quieter, smoother, and more refined ride no doubt. But the whole time, I missed my 2014 that felt more raw and to use Mazda's own marketing..."alive". I'm sure the turbo remedies this somewhat, but I don't know. All the little nice feature additions were great, but not at all anything I'd feel a need to upgrade to. I guess it boils down to what matters to you in a car. I like the raw feeling of driving. I don't care about tech and stuff. I like to feel the road and with the Gen 2 I did not feel that connection as well as I do with mine.
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