CX5 as city car?

[JingChuan]

Hey all,

After uncooperatively giving up our 2012 Mazda5 to the front end of an H3, we are in the market for another vehicle. Unlike most other times I have gone shopping, now it is because I have to, not because I want to. So I'm not exactly sure what direction we want to go in. Our 5 was a great little city vehicle as it was easy to park, very easy to get a couple of kids in and out of, and had ample storage space. The biggest disappointment was the MPG (lowest tank was just under 15mpg, all city, in winter, and we actually take it easy) but I'd say the advantages outweighed it. The kids are bigger now, and have no problem with regular doors, so we've been shopping all over the map really.

We test drove the CX5 and it seemed good enough for us, but I'm just curious if anyone else is using it pretty much exclusively for city, and how they like it as such. We live in Chicago and maybe get out of town on the highway once a month, maybe. The majority of our seat time is light to light, and sitting in traffic. If that is you too, I'm curious to hear your driving experience, thanks.

 

[GP 2004]

I do almost all city driving, very little highway driving. I find the car comfortable, and agile enough to scoot around the city blocks with ease. It is peppy enough to get out of the way when needed. The air conditioning works good even in a stop light crawl. I don't get great mileage just about 22.5 MPG, but I think that is OK for a AWD. I bought mine at C J Wilson in Countryside, IL. I've never recommended a dealer before, but they did treat me fairly and I was assured that they would beat any price from another Mazda dealer. So go to the Mazda website and use their search tool to locate the CX-5 that you want and get quotes from the dealers that have what you want in stock. Take your best quote to Wilson's and be sure to get the free oil changes for a year.

 

[yrwei52]

My wife drives our AWD CX-5 to work everyday without going on to the highways. Although it's not stop and go all the way, but she gets 26 mpg. I believe CX-5 is a good city car for you, considering you're driving a Mazda5 mini-van for the same purpose. You'll be losing the third-row seat but gaining the gas mileage. Since you're a previous Mazda owner, you should be familiar with SkyActiv Technology and the $500 credit for loyalty when purchasing another Mazda. CX-5 has been rated one of the best compact CUV's several times by many car magazines. The reliability is good. There are drawbacks too such as lack of interior color choice, memory seat, and rear AC vents. But overall it has to be one of the best city cars for you. You only need to decide whether you want an AWD for winter condition in Chicago, and which trim level to suit your budget. Personally I'd recommend to get a GT with Tech Package which comes with excellent LED lighting and AFS system!

 

[yrwei52]

... Take your best quote to Wilson's and be sure to get the free oil changes for a year.

Every time I saw this, I can't help saying be aware! Mazda dealers will not use recommended Mazda moly oil or Castrol oil for your free oil change! Worse, many Mazda dealers will use unknown brand of 0W-20 oil, or even conventional oil. Just make sure to ask before you do your free oil change!

 

[socalcx-5]

my wife drives our FWD CX-5 to work every day. We're in Los Angeles - she drives from our house in the Valley (suburbs) to downtown every day, about 20 miles each way, almost entirely stop and go. She seems to average about 23-24MPG, which, given the conditions, we're pretty happy with. We also have a 1 year old son. My wife loves the car, and she was coming from a BMW 325i.

 

[mazdadude]

You are going to miss those sliding doors...

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

Every time I saw this, I can't help saying be aware! Mazda dealers will not use recommended Mazda moly oil or Castrol oil for your free oil change! Worse, many Mazda dealers will use unknown brand of 0W-20 oil, or even conventional oil. Just make sure to ask before you do your free oil change!

Yes, they suck. BTW I saw this taxiing past my FBO.

 

[yrwei52]

Yes, they suck. BTW I saw this taxiing past my FBO.

A B-25! Even that is a rare bird nowadays! I once watched a B-29 roaring and taking off which was once in the lifetime experience!

Forgot to mention that unfortunately Mazda doesn't offer its excellent i-stop in NA market otherwise we can save even more fuel in stop-and-go traffic!

 

[CX-5um]

The CX-5 is a solid city car with one negative. Its more suitable for shorter folks in the rear. Otherwise excellent forward visibility due to tall stance, nimble predictable handling yet big enough to where trucks can see you better than a small car, smooth automatic in bumper to bumper city traffic, easy to parallel park, parks in compact parking spots easy, good fuel economy, good braking, excellent HIDs (if equipped) during night time driving, very useful blind spot warning system.

 

[JingChuan]

Thanks for the helpful comments and plane pictures. (rolleyes) We've actually been getting by for the last few weeks on our bikes, the bus/train and ol' bulletproof:

Despite the rough ride and utter lack of amenities, the wife has really gotten used to the elevated view in traffic. We were actually considering just keeping the truck and continuing to use public transportation and bikes. For our rare (4-5x/year) road trip of >4 hours, we were thinking of just renting something nice, and just being able to return it when we don't need it. Managing cars in the city can be a real pain sometimes. So I think we'll either try that, or sell the Taco and pick up a loaded CUV. The CX5 is nice, but the 240hp turbo engine in the Escape is pretty tasty. Too bad there isn't a Mazdaspeed CX5.

 

[yrwei52]

... The CX5 is nice, but the 240hp turbo engine in the Escape is pretty tasty. Too bad there isn't a Mazdaspeed CX5.

Escape is a nice looking CUV. 240 horses are nice too. But there's no free lunch and there's no replacement for displacement. It's not a magic for these added horsepower from small displacement turbo engines. The extra power is coming from force-fed air mixing with more fuel! You'll sacrifice fuel economy with turbo power. Turbo engines have turbo lag too. The longevity on turbo charger is still questionable. Check out the real-world fuel economy and reliability on Ford Escape's from comparison test by many car magazines you'll see Escape is not as advertised! Especially the real-world fuel economy is far worse than EPA fuel economy rating!

 

[JingChuan]

Escape is a nice looking CUV. 240 horses are nice too. But there's no free lunch and there's no replacement for displacement. It's not a magic for these added horsepower from small displacement turbo engines. The extra power is coming from force-fed air mixing with more fuel! You'll sacrifice fuel economy with turbo power. Turbo engines have turbo lag too. The longevity on turbo charger is still questionable. Check out the real-world fuel economy and reliability on Ford Escape's from comparison test by many car magazines you'll see Escape is not as advertised! Especially the real-world fuel economy is far worse than EPA fuel economy rating!

Thanks, but with half a dozen turbo cars including a couple homebuilt track cars over the last 20 years (and who knows how many big cube engines) under my belt, I've got a fairly good idea on how forced induction works.

Of course you have to take those crowd-sourced sites with a grain of salt, but with the huge amount of participation on fuelly.com, I'm pretty confident looking at those numbers so those are the ones I use for getting a good idea of real world mpg. Of course, everybody's situation is different. Ours unfortunately is mostly in stop n go, under 5 mile type commuting. Not the best for anything short of a hybrid.

 

[dergibog]

Not the best for anything short of a hybrid.

Perhaps you answered your own question.

 

[yrwei52]

Of course you have to take those crowd-sourced sites with a grain of salt, but with the huge amount of participation on fuelly.com, I'm pretty confident looking at those numbers so those are the ones I use for getting a good idea of real world mpg.

	2015 Ford Escape 1.6L EcoBoost	2015 Ford Escape 2.0L EcoBoost	2015 Ford Escape 2.5L i-VCT
Horsepower	178 hp	240 hp	168 hp
Car & Driver 0-60		7.0 sec. (2013 AWD)
EPA MPG	FWD: 23 City/32 Hwy 4WD: 22 City/29 Hwy	FWD: 22 City/30 Hwy 4WD: 21 City/28 Hwy	22 City/31 Hwy
Fuelly MPG	24.5	22.4	23.2

	2015 Mazda CX-5 SkyActiv-G 2.0L	2015 Mazda CX-5 SkyActiv-G 2.5L
Horsepower	155 hp	184 hp
Car & Driver 0-60		7.7 sec. (2016 AWD)
EPA MPG	MT FWD: 26 City/35 Hwy AT FWD: 26 City/32 Hwy AT AWD: 25 City/31 Hwy	AT FWD: 25 City/32 Hwy AT AWD: 24 City/30 Hwy
Fuelly MPG	27.3	25.8

 

[bxpretzel]

The 2014 Escape has been recalled like a billion times. Until Ford and GM get their quality control issues fixed (see: excessive recalls - Ford and ignition switch debacle - GM), I won't buy one. And I wouldn't touch Chrysler with a 10-foot pole. Reliability is suspect for all of the American automakers these days, IMO.

Except Tesla, maybe, but that's out of my pay grade

 

[Unobtanium]

Hey all,

After uncooperatively giving up our 2012 Mazda5 to the front end of an H3, we are in the market for another vehicle. Unlike most other times I have gone shopping, now it is because I have to, not because I want to. So I'm not exactly sure what direction we want to go in. Our 5 was a great little city vehicle as it was easy to park, very easy to get a couple of kids in and out of, and had ample storage space. The biggest disappointment was the MPG (lowest tank was just under 15mpg, all city, in winter, and we actually take it easy) but I'd say the advantages outweighed it. The kids are bigger now, and have no problem with regular doors, so we've been shopping all over the map really.

We test drove the CX5 and it seemed good enough for us, but I'm just curious if anyone else is using it pretty much exclusively for city, and how they like it as such. We live in Chicago and maybe get out of town on the highway once a month, maybe. The majority of our seat time is light to light, and sitting in traffic. If that is you too, I'm curious to hear your driving experience, thanks.

It is my opinion that the CX-5 is a better city than highway vehicle. I spent 10+ hours in it each way this week on a road trip, and it beat me up about like my Trans Am did. Not as bad as the 370Z or Z06, but certainly nowhere near as nice as a full-size SUV or a luxury type vehicle. I would say it wasn't terrible, but if I had my preference, I would keep trips to 4 hours and under in it.

 

[Unobtanium]

The 2014 Escape has been recalled like a billion times. Until Ford and GM get their quality control issues fixed (see: excessive recalls - Ford and ignition switch debacle - GM), I won't buy one. And I wouldn't touch Chrysler with a 10-foot pole. Reliability is suspect for all of the American automakers these days, IMO.

Except Tesla, maybe, but that's out of my pay grade

I would. To beat the living hell out of it as much as possible. I am not loyal to ANY vehicle brand (they are tools/appliances), but I LOYALLY HATE Chrysler.