Recent content by relevante

I generally agree with you, but there is definitely a difference in material quality with higher end brands. After just over a year and about 25k miles, my drivers seat does have quite a bit of wear. It doesn’t look terribly different than the one on the 2006 BMW 3 series with 190,000 miles that...

I have AWD and I’m glad I do for snow. However if snow weren’t an issue, the system feels (and is) so heavily front biased on dry roads that I’d probably recommend saving the money (or spending it on tires). It’s not like a BMW system that’s sending 60% of torque to the rear under normal...

You definitely shouldn't be having issues on good 87 octane gas. I've only put premium in mine one time (accidentally, habit from my old car) and have never heard any knocking/pinging. I don't think it's accurate to say it's "highly recommended if you want your car to run optimally." Yes it...

Yeah they're definitely weak. I bought a dual USB charger that I keep plugged in down in the passenger footwell because I too have noticed my phone draining while using nav+streaming.

I do wish the AWD was more rear biased or otherwise tamed the torque steer, but I knew that going in. And there's no excuse to not stick LEDs in the rear turn signals, but that was a simple fix. Overall it's a win as far as I'm concerned.

I've never owned a a Mazda before but I love this car. It was this or a Q7 for me. I'm glad I was able to save $15k+ and still end up with a car I enjoy driving. Whether the mirrors fold or autodip isn't a big concern to me personally. I like those features but it's a small price to pay in my...

I have an old BMW-branded box from my last car that I use, but it's built by Thule and appears to be the same as the Force XL. I got the new Thule Aeroblade Edge crossbars, which cost a more than OEM but are super strong and look great. I haven't noticed quite as big of an MPG drop as AreDee for...

Those look cool. **********************************

Yep. I already have a chip on the door edge like that and a bunch on the hood too. Definitely seems like pretty thin/brittle paint. At least it looks good. **********************************

How's the tread wear on your tires (factory Falkens, I assume) at those mileages? **********************************

Looks like that rack will work with just about anything. My box needs the T-slot (or some adapters probably) which is why I held out for the Thule bars. **********************************

Actually, I take that back. It looks like Thule now has an approved fit for the 16/17 CX-9 in their Aeroblade line. **********************************

The unfortunate thing about the factory rails is that, at least to my knowledge, Thule and Yakima don't make cross bars that fit them. The Mazda cross bars aren't very attractive in my opinion and more importantly lack the mounting slot for common third-party accessories. Sent from my iPhone...

Yeah, but it's worth it. One or two DIY detail jobs will pay for it. **********************************

I've buffed mine pretty aggressively with a Flex 3401 and Wolfgang Uber Compound followed by their Finishing Glaze, and it definitely helped but they still aren't perfect. They were really bad when I got it though. It's some kind of hard plastic. **********************************