Mazda CX-5 | Talking Cars with Consumer Reports  

He and his Durango are moving on to new pastures. twitter.com/CRCarsTom/status/856525778770690048

He's leaving CR twitter.com/CRCarsTom/status/856525778770690048

erlebo where is he going tho?

He hasn't said. He might not be able to say at this point legally or he may be unsure of his next move. He has to give up his twitter account as well unfortunately/understandably, but says he will keep tweeting after he is gone.

:(

maybe he's finally gonna get a real job and not let a perfectly good engineering degree go to waste!

I think you made a wise decision.

You can now only get it with the 2.5L, in case you drove the old '14 one with the 2.0L. Important to note, the 750 rpm difference for peak torque is noticeable between the front wheel drive and AWD versions: Torque (FWD) 185 lb-ft @ 3250 rpm Torque (AWD) 185 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm

I drove the 2.5 and it was gutless. Bought a Sportage SX and have no regrets. Fast as hell, cooled front seats and Apple Carplay. Advanced torque vectoring differential awd system. Mazda has nothing on it

Blake Swan if your everyday driver and not a fantasy speed demon engine power shouldn’t really matter being around traffic loose pets and old residents..with greater speed and power comes responsibility. Hell pretty much I scare all vehicles with sound of my engine. But be careful speed can be curse too depending on your arrogance

You definitely should test drive a 2017 Mazda CX-5 with i-ACTIV AWD® (I am a Mazda employee)! I also had a base MkVI 2011 GTI 4-door 6MT that I leased years ago. I still miss driving that car as a daily driver sometimes.

This is part of my problem, I love my Mk6! It just got the clean bill of health at 93k miles, and it's got enough space for people and things when there's only two. When you get much beyond two though it becomes real tight or not really doable. I may just tell my friends to ride the roof rack next season

twitter.com/CRCarsTom/status/856525778770690048

On the assumption that you get along with your wife, stay away from Ford and VW completely. Direct injection is a 'work in progress' so if you don't feel like being a guinea pig for the car companies experimenting with it then avoid it. I would say the same about turbo engines if you are a person who keeps their cars for a long time.

I've heard the same about VW. also Hyundai's too. I'm surprised that CR hadn't talked about it, at least that I can recall, in any of their videos

Dongi enough with that silly saying

err, what?

The CX5 is much quieter though. I found the visbility on both cars to be very poor, windows are too small.

Infotainment is still the same. Mazda claims they are "committed to bringing Carplay and Android Auto to existing Mazda systems," but we'll see.

rolanie3 that's a huge let down. And they think they have a luxury offering

Both.

This isn't actually so much an FCA problem as it is a problem with that specific transmission. That gearbox is the ZF 9HP, and it is used by FCA in almost all of their cars with a transverse (vehicles that have front wheel drive options) engine layout. It is the same gearbox that Honda offers in some versions of the Pilot, MDX, CR-V, and TLX and it hasn't been any better for them either. A friend of mine rented a Renegade Trailhawk recently and he hated the thing because of how bad that engine/transmission combo was, and as a Jeep fan he really wanted to like it. It just hunts for gears too much, rarely if ever uses its full range of gear ratios, is slow to downshift, and in general doesn't seem to be a very good design. What is fairly surprising is that the longitudinal (equipped in cars with rear wheel drive options generally) 8 speed unit (ZF 8HP) by the same company is used by FCA as well BMW, Audi, Rolls Royce, Jaguar, Land Rover, and a few other luxury brands, and it is generally well regarded and very robust. In fact it is the same unit that is in my A6, and while it is no dual clutch... for a more traditionally designed gearbox it is certainly the best I have driven. Maybe they just need more time to perfect the programming? Not sure, but it is so bad that Volvo is rumored to have purposefully avoided using it in their vehicles because it has caused so many problems for other manufacturers.

@andrewprice Thanks! Hugely helpful.

Do yourself a a massive favor and.......... Stay Away From FCA*

I don't think you implicitly have to stay away, but you should know what you are buying if you do go that route. They do offer a high amount of content relative to their price, and they are willing to put money on the hood to move metal. At some point if the price is low enough... it does become a good value. As long as you make a purchase understanding what you are giving up to get that lower price-point: it isn't necessarily a bad deal. If you look at Consumer Reports' recent article on which brands are the best you will see that Chrysler has some of highest owner satisfaction scores of any brand for example. There is a reason for that. Now their reliability isn't very good but really if you are just planning on keeping a car for 2-3 years while it is under warranty... reliability might not be a huge factor for you. There is a reason that the soon to be departed Mr. Mutchler somewhat famously owns a Durango after all.

I don't think they will be able to test one for a bit since they were just able to start selling them fairly recently. Reports from Europe are not good though; with people there complaining about reduced performance. Not sure if you have one of the older 3.0L TDI's that are being bought back or a 2.0L. I replaced my 2011 Golf TDI with a heavily discounted 3.0L 2014 Audi A6 TDI and am fairly happy with, but am unsure of how that will pan out. What is your budget like, what vehicle are you getting rid of, and what do you need/want your vehicle to do?

I'll need something funish. The low end torque has been amazing.

Yeah that low end power is hard to replace. I drove a normal MK7 Golf and while the handling and suspension are nice, it just lacks the grunt we are used to. That is why I went back to the well and bought a 3.0L A6 TDI while they were still available and devalued. As for replacement vehicles: if you can afford one Audi is the most logical replacement and they are reliable. Unfortunately they are also expensive. You can get a used A4 or A6 for 30-40 grand. With the A4 you want a 2017 model though; so those are harder to find. The A6 is more comfortable and may not be as sporty as you like even with the optional sport package. 2016+ A6s get the new Tegra 3 powered MMI system, but other than that it is basically the same from 2014+. I would skip the A3 unless you find a good deal on an S3. If reliability is less of a concern then the BMW 3 series becomes a nice choice as well as a GTI. Perhaps a Civic Si when those come out if you don't mind a manual? The WRX is not a bad car either in that category but the fit and finish will be a step down from what you are used to, but it has the power you like. However, that is best when paired with the manual transmission; as while Subaru's CVT is good for a CVT... it is still a CVT. If you want a more cost conscious picks that are reliable, still want the sporty handling, and are willing to give up on the torque: Mazda has some nice choices in the 3 and 6. The 6 to me is the better value of the two, and you can get a used 2016 model fully loaded for 20-25 grand depending on mileage. And Mazda's automatic transmission is pretty neat in terms of how it works, so if you don't want to have to row your own that is not a bad selection. Ford is also an option but I worry about how well they will hold up on the ST models. Unfortunately on everything but the Mazda you are going to to take a fuel economy hit though. Not sure if any of that is helpful, but that is where I would start.

He is leaving CR. They probably were not saying anything until he announced it. You can follow him on twitter CRCarsTom; although that will change after he leaves the company.

He's leaving cr

He is leaving CR.

HKM _ TOM GO SEE JERRY 🐭

😂😀😁👋

Dr Evo Union of Concerned Scientists have studied this, even in states with coal generated electricity EVs are lower carbon impact, in part because electric motors are so much more efficient then ICEs.

Our electric bill went up about $40 but our gas expense went down $120 and that's coming from a Prius.

He went to Trader Joes.

He is leaving the company unfortunately.

happy543210 I'm pretty sure it will be illegal for humans to drive cars before that happens. If it ever does

I asked a question about that. It would make sense that it would, but perhaps the reduced grip or increased resistance from the snow hinders the effectiveness of those systems. Regardless, only a very few cars have assymetrical vectoring like that (SH-AWD, and Quattro systems with a sport differential were the only two I could come up with) and so he providing a more general overview.

Luke Hoisington I'm torn on that issue. I've been working the steering wheel buttons, but still gravitate to a rotary control. I dunno, maybe a horizontally-oriented rotary encoder on the steering wheel, instead of the buttons; does anyone do that?

While I get what you are saying, if I want to use the volume knob or my passenger wants to adjust the volume while I am driving: how hard is it to make it so the bloody things actually works properly? Admittedly that is not as bad as when they bury environmental and seat controls in the stupid infotainment system.

While I get what you are saying, if I want to use the volume knob or my passenger wants to adjust the volume while I am driving: how hard is it to design a bloody control that actually works properly if I do decide I want to use it for some reason? Admittedly that is not as bad as when they bury environmental and seat controls in the stupid infotainment system.

I don't let my passengers adjust the volume. my car my volume

lol Fair enough, but I am running into a shop and leave my girlfriend sitting in the car for a few minutes... I don't mind her messing with the stereo while I am gone to keep herself entertained. Regardless, I like having traditional controls that you can use by feel and not having everything relegated to stupid soft buttons or systems that require you to navigate through menus to adjust settings. That is just bad design and companies being cheap in my opinion.

Chrysler get better quickly.

TruAgape1234 they show the old one at 5:40

lol I get what you are saying but the picture they showed is actually of the old Compass I think judging by the headlights. Also they did describe the differences as well. That said, they probably could have done with showing the two side by side just so people know more what to look for when trying to differentiate the two.

TruAgape1234 they showed one for a good amount of time

Sure, they did, at 5:43.

TruAgape1234 They actually do show an old one at 5:41 ;)