How many Brits? Fancy a cuppa?

So does that mean that if you are trying to move forward on a hill from a standing start the AWD will not engage until you are actually moving forward? I can see that might cause some problems especially if you're trying to tow up a slight incline.
 
I think using the hill "start" brake may get round it, push the footbrake and the brakes should stay applied for a couple of seconds, enough time to take up drive.

To be honest I'm not sure, the handbrake not allowing the rear drive to power up is a new one on me. These "technical" experts don't always get the facts correct, but make what you will of the email.

I didn't realise the T30 xtrail I had was also torque limited to the rear until recently, so I'm guessing all the part time AWD systems are the same.
 
I didn't realise the T30 xtrail I had was also torque limited to the rear until recently, so I'm guessing all the part time AWD systems are the same.

I had a T30 too. Never realised that either. I must say thought that the CX-5 feels a better towcar irrespective of the AWD systems.
 
I had a T30 too. Never realised that either. I must say thought that the CX-5 feels a better towcar irrespective of the AWD systems.

Its definatly a better towcar, even with a low 88kg NW limit, even with loading to just about the limit on NW which I have to with my nose heavy caravan, its very stable, which much more lowdown pull.

I miss the interior storage the Nissan had, the cubby hole on top of the dash, and the better sat nav with a 7" screen, and I did prefer the T30 for towing compared to the T31, that rattly engine towed like a tractor, while the T31 with more power and torque never seemed to pull as well, and the longer rear overhang and softer suspension didn't help.

I noticed two things immediately when I changed to the T31, it wasn't as stable and it didn't pull as well, I think the higher gearing didn't help, in fact at first I thought Nissan had fitted the wrong engine!

With the CX-5 the lowdown pull was immediately noticeable so put a smile on my face, its also pleasurable to drive. And really a sub standard AWD still pulls the caravan of wet grass pitches.

Although when I first used the car to tow off a wet grass field the front wheels were spinning, something the T31 xtrail never did, a second attempt with less power managed to pull away. really I don't understand a system that reduces torque to the rear if the fronts spin, I thought that was the idea of having automatic AWD, if you lose traction in front the rears help by taking up traction to help?

I haven't got stuck yet anyway, and easily coped with 4" of snow for a 20 mile trip I had to take (wife to hospital), one hour waiting time for an ambulance on that day, day after boxing day.

I passed abandoned cars, a car in a ditch, but the CX-5 ploughed through on summer tyres.
Our friends with a Mondeo got stuck in the snow as it fell on Boxing day night, and had to book a hotel for the night.
 
Last edited:
So does that mean that if you are trying to move forward on a hill from a standing start the AWD will not engage until you are actually moving forward? I can see that might cause some problems especially if you're trying to tow up a slight incline.

No, that's not how AWD works (on any AWD system I'm familiar with).

On the CX-5, AWD will send torque to the rear wheels the instant it detects a speed difference between a front wheel and a rear wheel. So the AWD will engage the rear wheels the instant the front slips a little. It's almost instantaneous and often you won't even be aware that you had slippage (that depends upon the surface characteristic and how fast you have applied power).
 
Tomtom query
I have a current subscription for traffic and I have speed warnings switched on and I updated the SD card about 10 days ago.
Half a dozen times in the past week I have been on a motorway and when I enter a temporary 50mph limit at say 58mph I (quite rightly) get the audible warning.
What I don't understand is the Tomtom display shows my speed at 58mph but the permitted speed still shows at 70 mph and the two speeds do not come up in a red box as is normal.
Any thoughts on this?
 
Isn't it due to the speed limit being temporary?

I sometimes get the warning up (or did) when there is no longer a speed restriction because the works have moved on, you can I believe enter data to alter the warnings for new road works, same as you can for road changes, never done it myself.
 
Tomtom query
I have a current subscription for traffic and I have speed warnings switched on and I updated the SD card about 10 days ago.
Half a dozen times in the past week I have been on a motorway and when I enter a temporary 50mph limit at say 58mph I (quite rightly) get the audible warning.
What I don't understand is the Tomtom display shows my speed at 58mph but the permitted speed still shows at 70 mph and the two speeds do not come up in a red box as is normal.
Any thoughts on this?

Being relatively familiar with TomTom over many years I would suggest it's because the two bits of data are not related. The road speed is part of the core data for roads and can only be changed using Mapshare. That said they won't change the speed limit just for roadworks. It will only change if the new limit becomes permanent.

On the other hand the average speed cameras are part of TTs speed camera data which does change in line with speed camera changes etc. However TT are notorious for being behind the times with their camera data hence the instances or warnings being sounded even though the roadworks have long gone as suggested by xtrailman above. Warnings were still sounding recently where the M5 meets the M42 two MONTHS after the roadworks had finished.
 
Last edited:
I was looking at the latest connect system recently, I was disappointed to find that its still tomtom based with live services, and you still don't get one year free.
Really poor IMO.

I was considering whether to renew the live traffic, but my services screen is now just blank with just some strange symbols on it, also the TT site doesn't appear to give a price for renewal so I have no idea how much it costs.
 
Last edited:
TomTom query

Being relatively familiar with TomTom over many years I would suggest it's because the two bits of data are not related. The road speed is part of the core data for roads and can only be changed using Mapshare. That said they won't change the speed limit just for roadworks. It will only change if the new limit becomes permanent.

On the other hand the average speed cameras are part of TTs speed camera data which does change in line with speed camera changes etc. However TT are notorious for being behind the times with their camera data hence the instances or warnings being sounded even though the roadworks have long gone as suggested by xtrailman above. Warnings were still sounding recently where the M5 meets the M42 two MONTHS after the roadworks had finished.

I can see where you're coming from (I think) but I have had TRAFFIC on this car for 2 years and on previous TTs for about 5 years and this problem has only started in the past few weeks. I would be surprised if TT have intentionally introduced this, what in my eyes is a definite retrograde step.(braindead
 
I was looking at the latest connect system recently, I was disappointed to find that its still tomtom based with live services, and you still don't get one year free.
Really poor IMO.

I was considering whether to renew the live traffic, but my services screen is now just blank with just some strange symbols on it, also the TT site doesn't appear to give a price for renewal so I have no idea how much it costs.

Last June when I got it I think it was 47.99.
It's now 55 for a year
 
Thanks Jack.
No way am I paying that, I tow a caravan I simply wouldn't take a diversion with out first checking on a map, but probably would solo.

I supposed I'll have to start using my Garmin with free traffic.

It looks like my next car won't be a Mazda. I was always happy with the xtrail satnav the traffic was cost free. Does anyone have any experience of VW or Fords, Honda systems re the traffic?
 
Last edited:
I think you will find that NO manufacturer system has traffic info to compare with the TT Live services. Nearly all inbuilt systems use RTI/TMC as their source of data which transmits an update every 3 minutes. Given the dynamic nature of traffic congestion this isnt really good enough. The traffic data in my previous Jaguar XF was only ever right about 30% of the time. The TT system transmits, I believe, 3 times every minute. I have found it to be vastly superior to anything else out there including Garmin since it is dynamic being based upon moving speeds linked to the millions of SIM cards in people's mobile phones etc. I just sold a standalone Garmin unit with their HD traffic which again was nowhere near as accurate at the TT live.

I certainly take the point about the cost of the annual renewals for Live services and having parted company with my CX5 recently my replacement BMW doesn't have an inbuilt sat Nav so I went out and purchased a stand alone TT Go 500. Leaving aside the arguments about the advantages and disadvantages of stand alone vs inbuilt the unit cost me 130 and has free for life Live Traffic and Map Updates. However it's necessary to tether your smartphone to the SatNav to receive the Live services but that's no hardship. It also has vastly superior graphics to the now dated appearance of the TT in the CX5.
 
Having driven my cx5 2.2d awd sports nav for 2 years and 38000 miles, I can easily say it's still the best car I've had.
Problem free apart from needing a windscreen replacement due to a flying stone (and a long wait for auto glass to source the screen). Time has come for me to change though, and in 3 or 4 weeks hopefully I'll pick up the 2015 facelift version. Same model, same crystal white, might skip the glasscoat though. Really glad I had the safety pack before and looking forward to the enhanced version. The sat nav is supposed to be improved with a 7" screen and has free Europe maps for 7 yrs and I will post how that compares
 
I only do around 7K miles a year and rarely use motorways and I was quite impressed with the Nissan satnav, post codes aside, TMC on a 7" screen with detailed information about any delays on route or near by, so for me personally it worked fine.

While the new version is now going to 7" it still needs an annual LS subscription, although I thought I had seen that free map updates were for 3 years, but wasn't sure if that was for the US.

Only problem I've had is a failure to start twice due to a low battery caused by a smart charging problem, and since the service the car now only returns 41mpg locally while previously I was showing 43mpg on the average readout, and the oil level had risen around 10mm over the full mark just before service.

Hopefully it will be a couple of years before I change, but if the new satnav had been totally free for 3 years I would probably have upgraded.

Money isn't the issue it's the hassle of getting the towbar changed over to the new car, but if the new car had a power boost to match the latest opposition and a flatter torque output at 420nm rather than a very narrow peak to it, then I would change.

The BMW 2L and Volvo 2L 4 pot now have more torque low down and 400nm with more power. Even the Kuga has 180ps and 400nm.

In short there isn't enough for me to change. But I look forward to any comments with the new car.

PS at present I'm playing with the smart phone google maps with traffic. Wonder if that would mirror onto the new sat nav screen?
 
Last edited:
Ahh.. 7 years was a typo, it is 3 !. I'll let you guys know what it's like , not sure about the electronic handbrake !
 
Having driven my cx5 2.2d awd sports nav for 2 years and 38000 miles, I can easily say it's still the best car I've had.
Problem free apart from needing a windscreen replacement due to a flying stone (and a long wait for auto glass to source the screen). Time has come for me to change though, and in 3 or 4 weeks hopefully I'll pick up the 2015 facelift version. Same model, same crystal white, might skip the glasscoat though. Really glad I had the safety pack before and looking forward to the enhanced version. The sat nav is supposed to be improved with a 7" screen and has free Europe maps for 7 yrs and I will post how that compares


Hi Jamie94

The UK Mazda website is still showing the old version with no hint that there is a revised version. I hope you do pick up the 2015 version

Jonno21
 
They are available, infact my 2015 model shuold be arriving on Thursday/Friday. The pricing and model specifications are there if you dig for them in the news section of the Mazda UK website.

The models available now are part of a large block order, and it's first come first serve. I'm trading from diesel to petrol as my annual mileage has dropped by two thirds (year 3 and i've only done 15000 miles vs 30000 expected), but moving up from the SE-L to Sport.

Having driven the new Kuga, as my office pool car, the performance is there but the ride is awful - i got motion sickess as the driver and rear seat passenger. The suspension is just so floaty; cabin roll is a real problem. Plus Ford still havent worked out that we are no in 2015 and are making littering their dashboards with more buttons than a scientific calculator.
 
Here's the 2015 changes Jonno21

electronic parking brake
additional cup holder between driver and passenger (2 in total)
coming home / leaving lights
7" colour touch screen wth MZD connect infotainment
multimedia commander including seperate volume dial
dab radio
usb connectivity (2 inputs)
manual passenger seat height adjustment

Sports nav only -
19" gunmetal alloys
led headlights inc led daytime running lights
led front fogs
integrated nav with 3yrs free euro map updates
options -
stone leather
safety pack with adaptive led headlights, lane keep assist with driver alert, advanced blind spot montioring with rear cross traffic alert and REAR SCBS

One new colour added - Sonic Silver Metallic
 

New Threads and Articles

Back