Subaru vs. Mazda

[GJ-Molestor]

Wow. A lot to unpack there.

Let's start with the tires/AWD lazy theme. I am speaking from 40 years of driving experience that includes international driving experience. I have never owned an AWD vehicle, I do own a 4WD vehicle, it is a very rare occasion that I feel the need to shift into 4WD HI to drive in winter. Of the 5 vehicles I have owned in that time period, I have NEVER owned a set of dedicated snow tires, I have NEVER gotten stuck or had a sliding accident due to my skills or lack of and poor road conditions. I live in W PA, we can get lake effect or Nor'easter storms that dump feet of snow in my area. Travel to work is 50 miles, into the snow belt north of I80. If you drive within your means, have decent all season tires that have some siping on them, you will do just fine. No real need for snow tires with a FWD or AWD. My 4WD Xterra had Kumho all seasons until about 2 years ago when I went to a deep lugged Cooper tire with new wheels. Prior to that, no need for winter tires. If a person feels it is absolutely necessary to have a dedicated snow tire to be out in the snow, have at it. In my world, not necessary. If it is that bad out, you have no business being on the road. Get out of the way and let the plow crews do their job that my tax dollars are paying to do.

Power plant. I am a little leary of owning a 4 cylinder SUV like the CX5. When I consider what I'll be using the vehicle for (to and from work about 85% of the time and then general running around locally) it would be nice if Mazda put more horses into the engine, I would not complain. I was hoping that that my next vehicle would have a minimum 250hp, that would mean Forester, never warmed up to the Subaru. So the CX5 has a 187hp motor with a six speed auto. Since it appears as though the tranny and the engine output are a good match, the perception is that you have more power than you actually do and it can get you up to highway speed quick enough. Also being able to slap stick it and downshift to get the engine some relief is a plus, you just have to learn to work the combination. The Molester has a 6 and not a CX5. Why he keeps showing up in the CX5 forum to talk about his 6 is beyond me, other than his 6 is underpowered and he is here to complain about it? I was all set to buy a Sport Sedan, my criteria was AWD, minimum 275hp. Love the current 6 styling, and that is where it ends. Dog motor in a FWD sedan. Had it been RWD, I might reconsider. But the 6 is all teeth and no bite in my world where I want a Sport Sedan that has power and looks.

Lastly size and space. It is good to have and not use than to need and not have. I live alone, no kids to haul etc. When I go to work, I use up about 60% of the rear cargo space in my Xterra for my work kit. I have to judiciously pack the MX5 to get everything into it for work. If I go to the range or fly fishing, I have a lot of stuff to carry and I use the Xterra for that. It has 125K on it, I am concerned for it's long term reliability. The CX5 is it's successor. A 6 sedan would have worked except it has the dog engine in it. I was all set to buy a Ford Fusion Sport with AWD, 325hp V6 twin turbo, would have bought a $400 tune reflash to boost to 400hp and had a lot of fun. Sale price and depreciation killed the deal. See, I want power in a Sport Sedan, not so much of a big deal in a SUV/CUV. The Xterra is a heavier vehicle than the CX5 yet has less HP than the CX5, so when it comes to the 99% of the type of driving I do (paved roads) the Xterra experience has been more than adequate and the CX5 should be also due to it being lighter and more HP.

Lastly, Molester does not own or drive a CX5 on a regular basis, so I have no idea where his fantasy CX5 driving experience comes from. He reads facts and figures and watches videos, yet has no relevant experience to draw from when it comes to the CX5. Yet just can't help himself to stop posting in the CX5 forum with 6 comparisons.

I'm genuinely very confused here, and I think I'm just about done with this horribly uneducated and misguided joke of a forum.

not everyone lives in western Pennsylvania, so other people get varying amounts of snow at different frequencies - often unpredictably so and the snow here in toronto is very slushy because of the salt they use. I have driven both FWD, RWD, and AWD cars with all seasons and it was downright dangerous to stop or steer unless you were going very slowly. I put winter tires on my RWD BMW for the first time ever last season and I won't ever go back. the difference in the overall safety + potential of the vehicle to go faster, be it in a straight line or around corners exponentially increases. I don't care if I dont always get snow here in Toronto, because the times it's salty, icy, slushy, raining or just plain cold out, the winters are softer and more pliable to the cold ground. these yokohama winter tires have crazy good treadwear, and the fact that they are keeping mileage off my summer set is great. why would you settle for all seasons to have poor grip in the summer and winter when you can switch tires and have the right amount of grip year round.. I do not understand.

are you actually serious when you say that the Mazda 6 doesnt have enough power? have you actually driven one before? so you look at the heavier tippy crossover with the identical powerplant instead and that makes you happier with the 185HP engine how? to me it seems like you're the one reading up on these cars instead of actually going out to drive a 6 and noting how much better suited the frugal engine is to the sedan rather then a soccer mom's crossover. please just tell me you're joking, dear god. I've driven a CX-5 before... why the hell would I be reading up on an unpowered crossover? it's really a good handling car for what it is, and I recommended the new CX-5 to someone who needs the space of a crossover because the car is that good. but when comparing the overall performance and capabilities of a sedan using the same powertrain as the heavier crossover, there is absolutely no comparison to be made.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

So is your new agenda to convince us all to ditch our CX-5s for 6s.

CX-5 is a soccer mom mobile? Really? How about actually drive one, Molestor. It is far from underpowered and quite peppy.

What a joke. The only joke on this forum is a 6 driver sitting in a CX-5 forum telling us how bad our cars are compared to yours.

At this point I'm not convinced you're not hewhoshallnotbenamed.

As for the snow, not everyone lives in Toronto either.

 

[7eregrine]

I'm genuinely very confused here, and I think I'm just about done with this horribly uneducated and misguided joke of a forum.

Keeping it classy. Dude really knows how to make friends, doesn't he?

How old are you, GJ? Just curious how many winters you've been through.

 

[Xeler8ing]

CX-5 is not just a soccer mom's vehicle. By that logic, every SUV would be one.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Keeping it classy. Dude really knows how to make friends, doesn't he?

How old are you, GJ? Just curious how many winters you've been through.

Pretty sure the 6 is his dad's car so who knows.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

My CX and GX aren’t very good for soccer mom duty. The second row in CX and the 2nd/3rd row in GX haven’t been in upright position for months. Actually 3rd row in GX only upright a few times to test the power actuation.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

CX-5 is not just a soccer mom's vehicle. By that logic, every SUV would be one.

Yeah exactly. (iagree)

 

[Xeler8ing]

I've owned the current model 6 for over 2 years and I am planning on moving to a CX-5 when someone eventually buys my 6.

For me, if I thought the CX-5 was underpowered I would not be jumping from 6 to CX-5.

Yes some reviewers have stated that it would be nice if the CX-5 has a bit more power but the same has been said of the 6.

 

[jthj]

They could both benefit from the 2.5T. Anyway we should probably stop responding to hewhoshouldnotbenamed.

 

[Xeler8ing]

Agreed but for what ever reason Mazda has decided against dropping the 2.5T into more models

 

[7eregrine]

And let's be totally honest here, the CX-5 wouldn't make a great soccer mom car. The back seat is one of the smallest in class. If you have 2 kids, you're not going to be carting 2 of their friends around...ever. Now the CX-9...
I was going to start a separate thread about my drive yesterday, but I'll post here.

So there was a thread where we were talking about SPORT mode. May have even been this one. This prompted me to try something I have never done in my almost year of ownership: do an entire drive in Sport mode. and you know what I found? OMG! That was fun as hell! Now I was driving very aggressively, so that may have been part of it, too. It felt like a different car. It really felt fast. Like fast, not "CUV fast". I passed at least 200 cars on my 40 minutes drive. LOL I was zipping in and around traffic (VERY safely) like I was driving a BMW. This thing handled like the sedan it is based on. Zoom Zoom is ******* real, man. Reminded me why I love this car...err... CUV so much.

 

[Xeler8ing]

Sport mode is very nice to use but remember you will take a hit to fuel economy

 

[7eregrine]

Sport mode is very nice to use but remember you will take a hit to fuel economy

Forgot to mention that. Yea. I got 24.# instead of my usual 27+.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

And let's be totally honest here, the CX-5 wouldn't make a great soccer mom car. The back seat is one of the smallest in class. If you have 2 kids, you're not going to be carting 2 of their friends around...ever. Now the CX-9...
I was going to start a separate thread about my drive yesterday, but I'll post here.

So there was a thread where we were talking about SPORT mode. May have even been this one. This prompted me to try something I have never done in my almost year of ownership: do an entire drive in Sport mode. and you know what I found? OMG! That was fun as hell! Now I was driving very aggressively, so that may have been part of it, too. It felt like a different car. It really felt fast. Like fast, not "CUV fast". I passed at least 200 cars on my 40 minutes drive. LOL I was zipping in and around traffic (VERY safely) like I was driving a BMW. This thing handled like the sedan it is based on. Zoom Zoom is ******* real, man. Reminded me why I love this car...err... CUV so much.

I don't even have a sport mode (yeah barbarian) [emoji14] and I feel exactly the same way and I probably pass as many people doing the same thing.

The car is just freaking fun.

Edit: Erm... CUV

 

[Xeler8ing]

Forgot to mention that. Yea. I got 24.# instead of my usual 27+.

Still decent!

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I don't even have a sport mode (yeah barbarian) [emoji14] and I feel exactly the same way and I probably pass as many people doing the same thing.

The car is just freaking fun.

Edit: Erm... CUV

Gotta make use of the manumatic I constantly drive mine in that mode. It is a fun rig.

 

[Chris_Top_Her]

I'm genuinely very confused here, and I think I'm just about done with this horribly uneducated and misguided joke of a forum.

not everyone lives in western Pennsylvania, so other people get varying amounts of snow at different frequencies - often unpredictably so and the snow here in toronto is very slushy because of the salt they use. I have driven both FWD, RWD, and AWD cars with all seasons and it was downright dangerous to stop or steer unless you were going very slowly. I put winter tires on my RWD BMW for the first time ever last season and I won't ever go back. the difference in the overall safety + potential of the vehicle to go faster, be it in a straight line or around corners exponentially increases. I don't care if I dont always get snow here in Toronto, because the times it's salty, icy, slushy, raining or just plain cold out, the winters are softer and more pliable to the cold ground. these yokohama winter tires have crazy good treadwear, and the fact that they are keeping mileage off my summer set is great. why would you settle for all seasons to have poor grip in the summer and winter when you can switch tires and have the right amount of grip year round.. I do not understand.

are you actually serious when you say that the Mazda 6 doesnt have enough power? have you actually driven one before? so you look at the heavier tippy crossover with the identical powerplant instead and that makes you happier with the 185HP engine how? to me it seems like you're the one reading up on these cars instead of actually going out to drive a 6 and noting how much better suited the frugal engine is to the sedan rather then a soccer mom's crossover. please just tell me you're joking, dear god. I've driven a CX-5 before... why the hell would I be reading up on an unpowered crossover? it's really a good handling car for what it is, and I recommended the new CX-5 to someone who needs the space of a crossover because the car is that good. but when comparing the overall performance and capabilities of a sedan using the same powertrain as the heavier crossover, there is absolutely no comparison to be made.

Well I can't drop my 30" wheel mountain bike into the back of a 6 or any of the other big items I've put inside over the year and I can't get an AWD 6 so... no ty. My awd cx-5 weighs a wopping 300lb more than a same MY mazda 6 in FWD most of which is at the bottom of the car.. so about 1 average overweight texas resident difference and I get better cornering potential because of rear LSD, front electronic lsd+ awd.. shorter wheelbase than a 6 with the same track so handling more in my favor. Mazda6 mpg rating is 2 mpg higher on the highway with lower cd. The only reason it's really "faster" is because of the lower axle ratio and some of the gears (like all important 3rd) are also lower ratio

 

[Xeler8ing]

Gotta make use of the manumatic I constantly drive mine in that mode. It is a fun rig.

I use it particularly when entering freeways/highways via on-ramps. Gives it some extra pep!

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Gotta make use of the manumatic I constantly drive mine in that mode. It is a fun rig.

Oh yes...I use it all the time

 

[NelsonLewis]

Well I can't drop my 30" wheel mountain bike into the back of a 6 or any of the other big items I've put inside over the year and I can't get an AWD 6 so... no ty. My awd cx-5 weighs a wopping 300lb more than a same MY mazda 6 in FWD most of which is at the bottom of the car.. so about 1 average overweight texas resident difference and I get better cornering potential because of rear LSD, front electronic lsd+ awd.. shorter wheelbase than a 6 with the same track so handling more in my favor. Mazda6 mpg rating is 2 mpg higher on the highway with lower cd. The only reason it's really "faster" is because of the lower axle ratio and some of the gears (like all important 3rd) are also lower ratio

True dat...

Too bad you're still unedumacated,though,and a Mod at a joke of a forum...(rolls eyes)