Time to close this out. I got my Mazda 3 back earlier in the week. Thankfully the noise that was the issue is gone, but the pedal feels a bit soft. Brakes still work, there's just a little more throw in the pedal before getting resistance from the brakes. At this point I honestly can't recall if it was like this before and I'm just used to the brake feel on the CX-5's after not driving my car for so long so I'm going to err on the side of caution and have them test ride again to see if normal or not.
Anyhow, enough of that.
I returned the 2016 CX-5 after nearly 4 weeks with 2,900 additional km's on it than when I got it. The driving had to be 85% or more hwy, even some 2 lane slower speed hwy towards the end. Not sure how far back the fuel economy computer goes when it computes it's average (I reset it the day after I got the car) but my overall average was 7.9 L/100km. Not too shabby...
I can say this is directly comparable to the '17. My wife's '17 is averaging 8.3 L/100 km and it handles all of the around town / city driving in addition to her commutes.
I was immediately back at home in my car. As a driver I definitely prefer the lower center of gravity and the 3 did immediately feel more "spritely" than the CX-5 did. Fairly obvious it would,
but I found it funny how quickly you get accustomed to driving a different car.
Overall it was the creature comforts that I missed the most on my daily drive. That leather wheel sure is a ton nicer to grab than the plastic one.
After experiencing all 3 I can safely say that radar cruise is a nice upgrade over standard cruise, and radar cruise with stop & go is a gem for people in that situation. It's hard to explain how it relieves some stress from the drive because it simply paces the car in front if needed, vs having to step up or down a km/kr or two if the guy in front can't keep a constant speed and you get too close for comfort. Not everyone will agree, but I really missed not having the radar cruise after having it for the past 7 months.
Not having blind spot or reverse camera also felt like stepping back in time even though it was still a new-ish 16. Man I've been spoiled. I'm glad these systems are trickling down as standard equip in lower trims on current models. Again, not "required" but it's certainly nice to have them there.
Overall though, in terms of the drive, I liked the '16 CX-5 I had a lot more than I thought I would for it being a base trim level model.
There wasn't really anything inherently wrong with it, and to me it would present itself as a tremendous value with all the necessities for those who like a little more engaging ride compared to some of the competition out there.
That's all for now folks