Mazda CX-5 and a Day Out

"Green Mountain Car Guy" (williamleedy) 01/07/2015 at 15:26 • Filed to: None

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I'm sitting at home the other day, undoubtedly working on my computer (read: looking at funny cat pictures) waiting for my wife to get home so that we can celebrate this day as the third time the earth has gone 'round the sun since we said "I do". My phone buzzes to let me know that my Boss has sent me a text. This is a rare occurrence, but, it was a fairly simple questions: "Would you be interested in a road trip to Syracuse on Friday?" This is surprising for two reasons: 1) Friday is a normal work day for me, so, this would require me to take time away from a January day in car sales (otherwise known as the busiest time of year! (HA!)). 2) The owner's son is a student at Syracuse and usually when these swaps surface, his wife comes to the rescue because it's a pretty good excuse to spend time with their son. (Although, I realized just now, writing this, that their son is probably home for winter break so she wouldn't have a reason to go out there and that is likely the reason I got the call in the first place!). But, despite that and after deciding I could get away with skipping a day in Yawnuary, I said I'd be happy to go.

Friday morning rolls around and I arrive at work to fiddle around for a little while and respond to my evenings' emails before departing. My car for the first leg of this journey will be a 2015 Mazda CX-5 AWD Sport. Obviously as a Mazda salesperson, I have driven these before and, in fact, my wife has a 2013 CX-5 that has thus far accumulated 48k miles, so, I'm not really expecting any epiphany's or surprises. But, on the plus side, it's nice to know ahead of time that I'm not in for a shitty day (I'm looking at you, Cruze.). My route will consist, from Burlington, of heading south, over the Champlain bridge to my new favorite collection of twisty roads and then down I87 for a bit. Then it's NY Routes 8, 365 and 5 to get to my destination (I know I could get on I90, but, I have a deep-seeded desire to go around toll roads when I don't need them or if they would save me less than half an hour.) I'm getting this stuff out of the way now because both the trip out and back were very uneventful save for about a mile on Rt. 5 that collected a dusting of snow and some well hidden ice. The car for the return trip will be a 2014 Mazda CX-9 AWD Grand Touring, but, we'll get to that another day..

For now, on with my thoughts on the CX-5. The short answer is that I like them well enough that we bought one, in it's first model year, with the smaller 2.0L engine no less. Of course, that's not to say it's perfect (unless you're sitting at my desk wanting to buy one....) as every car made (or at least every car I've ever been granted permission to drive) has some shortcomings somewhere.

*not actual vehicle

This particular example came equipped with the more powerful 2.5L Skyactiv 4-Cylinder that was Mazda's answer to every single journalist complaining about the lack of power from the original 2.0L engine. Being a Sport model, there isn't much else for equipment beyond the bluetooth audio system and your standard array of electrically operated thingies. But, up here there are plenty of Forester owners who don't need or even care about anything more than that, so, while I prefer more gadgets, there's definitely a market for this car! And the list of toys that can be added is pretty significant ranging from fog lights and a power drivers seat to adaptive xenon headlights and auto-braking if your not paying attention to the stopped car in front of you.

Powerrrrrrrr:

The bigger engine produces 184hp (a 29hp increase over the 2.0L) which gives it plenty enough power to merge or pass and give most anything else in it's class a run for it's money. I can say though that the 2.0L car will still get you there, just not as quickly. But, where the bigger engine really pays off is in it's extra torque. There's much less shifting on the highway or in the hills and it feels like a much better matched setup and they work together much more harmoniously than winding up the little one. The 6-speed automatic is one of the best around and shifts incredibly smoothly and quickly. The 1-2 shift uses a traditional torque converter and is therefore a little slower, but, after that it uses a wet clutch pack system that shifts so nicely the only real indication that the gear has changed is when the tach needle changes which way it's pointing. While the ratios and the shift algorithms have definitely been geared toward economy rather than lap times, it will still play ball. A quick stab of the throttle will prompt it to quickly drop a cog or 3 and help you merge in front of the asshat in his or her Bimmer (I worry about this now more than ever, because we now have evidence that some people are obviously crazy enough to drive around with a massive 1.5psi pressure difference in their tires....the horror!!).

Comfort:

The seats in the Sport are slightly different than the other trim levels, and while they are comfortable enough to get you around town or indeed through most situations, after a couple hours I was ready for a break. The manual adjustments are good enough to get you to the right angles and viewpoints, but, there is a lack of lumbar support and more often than normal I caught myself sitting hunched forward which meant by the end of the day I had to trade massages...so maybe it's not all bad. The Touring and Grand Touring have better support and lumbar adjustments. I've found those seats to be much more to my liking and have spent many hours in ours with no complaints. The steering wheel will adjust to wherever you need it and the armrests are well placed for resting your arms. The rear seats aren't huge, but, we've tested short distance comfort with two child seats and an adult, albeit a small one, in the rear seat and have sold them previously to customers who managed to cram 3 car seats abreast in the back seat. I've had people decide on other cars because the rear seats don't recline, but, I'm not sure how often that's really an issue for most of the population. The only two things I would really wish for are air/heat vents at the back of the armrest for the rear passengers and a 12V outlet that's more accessible than the cargo area.

Controls:

One of the biggest love it/hate it things about this car are the controls. The hate it crowd get very defensive and tell me it looks like a #$%# rental car and promptly run off to buy an Escape or a Hyundai who's dashboards are so covered in buttons you can't tell the volume knob from Uranus. The other half sit in it and go, holy shit, the climate buttons are just, ummm, climate buttons and do exactly as you would expect them to do. It's a much cleaner, simpler design that minimizes distraction and means you won't have to break out the manual at 75 mph while you learn how to change the radio station to the one that isn't playing a Jimmy Eat World marathon. I know it's crazy with all of the technology and how things have to get complicated and touch screens and buttons with no tactile feel, to have a car that instead says: Look, we have a radio that looks like a radio and down below that, as you can see, we've given you the ability to adjust the temperature inside your car. Personally, I'm all for it.

*not actual vehicle either

Ride/Handling:

Here's where a little compromise comes in. Yes, this does ride a little stiffer than your CR-V. Yes, there is a little more road noise than some of the competition. But, in return, you get a normal sized cross-over that can handle a bumpy road without getting upset and will inspire more confidence on a twisty road than anything in the Toyota lineup. It really is surprisingly nice to drive. The turn-in is good and the wheel is perhaps weighted a little light, but, it's still easy enough to point at an apex. There's also little enough body roll that you don't fear ending the corner with grass poking through the sunroof. On the highway it stays planted and composed, and doesn't get pulled around on bad surfaces. In this regard, it's a whole lot better than pretty much anything else it's normally shopped against.

Other stuff:

Fuel Economy: When this car first came out in 2012, it was at the top of the heap for mpg. 31 mpg for a crossover with all-wheel drive was impressive and probably 3-4 mpg above it's closest competition. Since then, the other guys have caught up or, through the sorcery of the CVT in some cases, surpassed and the bigger engine has dropped the EPA number down to 30 mpg on the highway. But, it's still on par with it's competition and still offers more horsepower and the better driving experience. Reports from owners have varied but on this drive, in the end, I averaged around 28.5, and indeed that's about where the computer in my wife's one usually settles. Although, on some longer trips I've been able to get 33 and once even 36 mpg over a couple hundred miles.

All in all, Mazda has spent a ton on it's Skyactiv ideals and frankly, I'm sold on it. It's been extremely reliable, get's great fuel economy but is still powerful enough to be fun to drive! Honestly, it's not a bad time to be selling Mazdas!

I could, of course, do detailed posts about running costs and everything we've done to it in 48k miles of service over nearly two years, but, the only thing about changing oil and filters that it has required are rear brakes, a set of tires and a windshield - the latter of which I can't even blame on the car! So, Doug Demuro - if you are reading, when it comes time to replace the Range Rover, don't get a CX-5. You'll have nothing to write about other than how cheap the carmax warranty was and as a result will have to get a real job and start wearing pants.

And now, for your patience and to thank you for reading - one of those funny kitty pictures: