Recent content by maxwax

That was my posting from June of 2025. I continued to drive on the Encompass AW02 tires from June 2025 to early February 2025. Changing climate conditions have made Denver, Colorado, USA a rather warm and dry place this year and we really haven't had much rain or snow in this driving window...

My 2014 AWD CX-5 has 111,000 miles and over the last 8 months I've started proactively investing in it, so I figured for others finding this thread, I'd compare yours to mine: 1) Cabin air filter - you can get these at Amazon for $15 or less and change them yourself as much as you like. It's...

Wanted to share something that really helped my aging 2014 Mazda CX-5 look and feel much better. As modern headlights with clear plastic covers age, micro-abrasions and ultraviolet rays cause wear which makes them to go from crystal clear to hazy, foggy and much more opaque. This obviously...

I put a set of Nokian Encompass AW02 on my 2014 CX-5 about three weeks ago. First, I think they look great. I love the directional style of Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires so I wanted something for non-winter use that had the same look. Second, the driving experience has been very good. So far I've...

Sorry for the very late reply. I sold my Skybox in 2020 and I have no photos to proove that the CX-5 hatch opens with the Skybox attached. I *think* it does.. IF you adjust the skybox to be far forward. The Skybox's internal clamps allow some adjustment that might have been just enough to...

Can't tell you yet.. Last year I bought the crossbars late in the season and expected to go camping a lot but didn't make it out. The only thing that concerns me is how the skybox angles up a bit due to the slope of the CX-5 roof towards the back. So it may act like more of a wing and cause...

0) Don't try to turn the CX-5 into a Jeep. It's not a Jeep. It never will be. And if you raise it and put monster tires on it and all sorts of stuff, a lot of the highway/crossover traditional benefits of a CX-5 go away. If you really need that, get a used Jeep. Having said that.. 1) All...

When I bought my CX-5 in 2013, I had my dealer install the side-rails because I didn't want to do that. In 2015, preparing for camping season, I installed the Mazda cross-bars myself. I'm really thrilled that I have never noticed any wind noise associated with them. When I added Yakima...

I'm completely satisfied with how my CX-5 handled in the snow this last winter. I drove in a variety of conditions including two nights of 8-11" drifts and it was capable and thrilling and I never got stuck. There is no way anyone can arguing anything otherwise to change my real world...

You should read all my other threads. They're long but I've been writing them to answer these kinds of open ended questions to satisfy poster like you. I drive up and down windy mountain roads almost every day and I know I do it a lot more confidently and have much more fun than when I started...

Anything can slide into the snow.. Point here being it didn't get out despite all that supposedly superior AWD talent.. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I think you clearly realize why I put a picture of me passing a stuck Subaru in the snow. All those commercials, YouTube videos etc market their cars and their AWD system as if this never happens. Never happens to them because their superior AWD. They are good but so is my CX-5 and I liked this...

Not one penny.. [emoji1] I like to write and I'm trying to share the kind of real world, real owner experiences that I was seeking before I bought my CX-5. I used this forum for a lot of my research so I'm trying to pay some folks who wrote in 2013-2014 as well as support the folks who are...

> Thanks for the write up. I'd wager that your snow tires had a bigger role to play than awd. And you proved another point by passing or helping other awd motorists, it's all about your tires. I agree. If I had worn down OEM all season tires my winter experience would have been vastly...

> If you read your manual, when that light comes on the AWD system is basically screaming for you to ease up. Not something you actually want to replicate. Yep. I read the manual that night because I thought maybe I'd unlocked a bonus features :-) If I recall correctly, it listed three...