What have you done to your CX-5 today?

Installed both Front and Rear Dash Cams today.

Used Thinkware, F800 and F800R,

The front was very easy. The rear took a while threading the cable to the back window. Wanted to do it right.

Nice job. Is there a problem in AZ that you need the dash cams? 40 miles south of Tucson is pretty close to the border, isn't it? We were in Tucson some years ago and loved it!
 
Bro and I installed the CarPlay/AA kit. Was cool for me since I*d never done anything more than changing headlights before. Only had one issue, when we were putting the head unit back in ended up dropping one of the bolts and it fell down the air vent. Oops. Luckily ran up to the hardware store and got some more. Hoping it doesn*t rattle...
 
Burned off the first tank of regular fuel, filled it up with Premium and awoke the beast. Will never put regular unleaded in the car ever again
 
I hope he's kidding. [emoji1] You never know around here.

"The only guaranteed result of using premium gasoline in an engine designed for regular-grade fuel is that you will*spend more money*on gas. As far as any tangible benefits to filling up with pricier gasoline, the chances are slim to none."
 
I hope he's kidding. [emoji1] You never know around here.

"The only guaranteed result of using premium gasoline in an engine designed for regular-grade fuel is that you will*spend more money*on gas. As far as any tangible benefits to filling up with pricier gasoline, the chances are slim to none."

He*s not kidding...He has a new GTR with a turbo, so he will see a benefit, and I cannot blame him, don*t think I could run 87 in a new one either, safe or not...
 
I hope he's kidding. [emoji1] You never know around here.

"The only guaranteed result of using premium gasoline in an engine designed for regular-grade fuel is that you will*spend more money*on gas. As far as any tangible benefits to filling up with pricier gasoline, the chances are slim to none."

He has the 2.5T. The 93 octane helps there.
 
I hope he's kidding. [emoji1] You never know around here.

"The only guaranteed result of using premium gasoline in an engine designed for regular-grade fuel is that you will*spend more money*on gas. As far as any tangible benefits to filling up with pricier gasoline, the chances are slim to none."

Quote from Motortrend:
"Mazda rates the 2.5T engine at 227 hp on 87 octane and 250 hp on 93 octane."

Almost every reviewer of a 2.5T cx-9 or Mazda 6 on a website or YouTube has called this out.
 
Nice job. Is there a problem in AZ that you need the dash cams? 40 miles south of Tucson is pretty close to the border, isn't it? We were in Tucson some years ago and loved it!

No, there aren't any particular problems that are worse here as opposed to the rest of the country. It's just nice to have the video of the car in the event of a parking lot problem while away from the vehicle. I have the cameras set up so that they will be awakened while parked if anything disturbs the vehicle.

Also, it's good to have recordings of anything unusual while on the road. For instance, a few months ago, while driving my previous VW Tiguan, I witnessed and recorded a roll over accident on Interstate 19, northbound lane while I was traveling south. The police viewed my video but turned out that someone directly behind the accident had a better view, also with a recording. One person was killed.

I also have the identical set up in my 2016 ND MX-5.

We have lived here for the past 23 years and love it. We're located halfway between the border and Tucson in a very rural area with acreage.

Probably the main reason I installed the Dash Cams is because I love doing mods and adding goodies to my vehicles. My mod list is extensive for both of them. Great therapy. :)
 
Last edited:
Dash cam is something I will be looking at now.

I had a car alam on their brakes for no reason in front of me today. I'm still pending getting my front brakes replaced, hopefully this week and almost hit him as a result. He then proceeds on...
 
I have to get a new dash cam as well. My $25 Chinese jobby finally croaked. Not bad for $25 CAD, shipped and installed; got like a year out of it, been out of commission for a few months now. Hahaha. I think I'll get a better one with warranty this time tho. xD
 
Dash cam is something I will be looking at now.

I had a car alam on their brakes for no reason in front of me today. I'm still pending getting my front brakes replaced, hopefully this week and almost hit him as a result. He then proceeds on...

Definitely sounds like he could have been messing with you. Were you following too closely and perhaps he wanted to warn you or do you think he was just wanting to start something?

In the event of a collision, a dash cam could have helped you or not, depending on your proximity to him initially.
 
Definitely sounds like he could have been messing with you. Were you following too closely and perhaps he wanted to warn you or do you think he was just wanting to start something?

In the event of a collision, a dash cam could have helped you or not, depending on your proximity to him initially.
It wasn't that I was following him. I was plenty far back for normal driving on a 35 mph road. He just abruptly stopped in the middle of the road around a sharp corner and I wasn't expecting that. I was plenty far back, but apparently not far back enough because I had to slam on my brakes not to hit him.

I don't think he was messing with me at all. It was an elderly driver who I think just wasn't entirely with it. He slammed on his brakes like 20 car lengths behind a red light when it turned.
 
These dashcams, are using up their batteries really fast, I have been changing them out quite often. I'm thinking, about using a bigger battery out of the case, hidden behind the sunglass holder.
That way, I don't have to take apart the camera, every time.
 
These dashcams, are using up their batteries really fast, I have been changing them out quite often. I'm thinking, about using a bigger battery out of the case, hidden behind the sunglass holder.
That way, I don't have to take apart the camera, every time.

It might be worth looking into a dash cam that can be wired. If you have a homelink mirror, you can wire it into the mirror for a constant draw, which would allow you to power the cam 24/7 and let you use the motion detection and parking modes (if your cam has those features). Or, if you don't have a homelink mirror, you can wire it into the cabin fuse box.

I bought my front and rear dashcam setup (Viofo A129 Duo) for $130 USD on eBay, and then bought an Invisicord to wire into the homelink mirror for $25 USD. Currently using an older 32gb card but I'll be upgrading to a 128gb soon. For less than $200 I have 1080p quality with 30fps video on both front and rear with motion detection and a parking (time-lapse) mode. It's already paid for itself by catching an attempted moving hit and run.
 
These dashcams, are using up their batteries really fast, I have been changing them out quite often. I'm thinking, about using a bigger battery out of the case, hidden behind the sunglass holder.
That way, I don't have to take apart the camera, every time.

It might be worth looking into a dash cam that can be wired. If you have a homelink mirror, you can wire it into the mirror for a constant draw, which would allow you to power the cam 24/7 and let you use the motion detection and parking modes (if your cam has those features). Or, if you don't have a homelink mirror, you can wire it into the cabin fuse box.

I bought my front and rear dashcam setup (Viofo A129 Duo) for $130 USD on eBay, and then bought an Invisicord to wire into the homelink mirror for $25 USD. Currently using an older 32gb card but I'll be upgrading to a 128gb soon. For less than $200 I have 1080p quality with 30fps video on both front and rear with motion detection and a parking (time-lapse) mode. It's already paid for itself by catching an attempted moving hit and run.

sm1ke has the right idea.

I've been running BlackVue cameras for several years ... currently the 750s front and rear in both my CX-5 and my Miata.
Very small form factor and superior video.
These dashcams don't have batteries; only a capacitor that powers them long enough to save the "current" video clip when shut down.

For both cars; I use a "PowerMagic Pro" box that taps into the fuse box in two places ... one constantly "hot" and the other powered only when the ignition is on.
When its switch is "off" the box powers the dashcams only when the ignition is on.
When the box switch is "on", I have it set to maintain power to the dashcams while the car is parked.
Timing and voltage are selectable ... mine is set to keep the cameras powered for 12 hours or until the battery voltage drops below 12.5.
After 12 hours or if the battery voltage drops too far; the cameras are powered down.

This combination has worked very well for me and I've recommended it to friends who have followed suit.
 
Back