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Cool car and nice, if daunting, project. Can’t give you any specific help, but I’d caution that this will be an exceedingly difficult car to source interior, trim, instruments, body parts, etc. While it is definitely collectible, I’d be surprised if you were not underwater financially when...

I’m dating myself here, but I worked at a gas station during the late-60s and 70s and the locations of the fuel fillers were often quite obscure, typically behind license plates, but sometimes hidden under secret hatch doors involving tail lights, trim, fins, etc. No Moylan arrows either! All...

I’m researching options and would appreciate knowing which Yakima crossbars attach to the Mazda rails. - Mark

I recall reading there are two issues associated with excessive engine idling: too-high under hood temperatures with localized overheating of things like alternators, power steering pumps, belts, etc., and engine deposits and spark plug fouling due to the too-low cylinder internal...

I think lawyers are more involved than engineers in setting towing limits. They are huge differences between Euro and NA limits for essentially identical cars. And then the marketing people get involved. If they say that towing isn’t very important to the target market, then limits are low...

The Euro nameplates occasionally like to crow about how the right-side fuel filler location is safer, citing statistics about how left-side sideswipe collisions are more common. This situation reverses, of course, for right-hand drive markets, but these markets are the minority. I’d love it if...

Yep, I also have a CE and was surprised to see that you have to option to GT trim to get native SiriusXM capability. But you should be able to access it over CP. - Mark

It’s something to be avoided but engines seem to tolerate it pretty well. I’m not aware that turbo engines are have any special problems with extended idling. Many turbo diesel truck engines (admittedly, a different type of engine) often idle for hours at a time. And I haven’t heard of any...

Wireless CP is technically a lot more difficult than wired so it has generally been a high-end feature in a few luxury makes. It’s just now starting to trickle into mainstream vehicles. - Mark

Another option.... https://stealthhitches.com/ - Mark

Every 2-3 years is a common brake fluid change frequency on many, many cars and well proven. I always assumed that any “lifetime” recommendation implied a non-hydroscopic fluid chemistry. This interval works well for coolant too. - Mark

I’d be careful using a torque wrench suitable for oil drain bolts on oil pan bolts. At best, you’ll be near the lower limit of the torque range where accuracy is poor. To cover most automotive tasks, you really need three torque wrenches. - Mark

I don't think we know whether the CX5 engine runs at the razor edge of engine knock all the time and thus can take advantage of whatever incremental octane you feed it. Personally, I doubt it. Having an engine always on the edge of knock is tricky and may have long-term reliability...

This whole octane vs hp tradeoff seems very slippery to me. I doubt Mazda has any way to directly measure octane of the fuel supply, so presumably any engine detuning occurs dynamically in response to detecting engine knock. The problem is that engine knock is dependent on many more factors...

How “tidy” the OEM hitch receiver looks is totally dependent on the skill of the tech cutting the hole in the bumper cover. Curt and Etrailer protrude just below the bumper so no cutting required, but they hang down slightly more and require more rise in the hitch itself. To me, the 2”...

Great price - I just paid around $35 at Amazon for a 5-qt jug! But at least in western WA, not a single store appears to be carrying it and there are no ordering options. - Mark

And half are slower, which probably says that random factors associated with the before and after test conditions (wind, temperature, tire wear, driver technique, measurement error, etc.) are probably overriding any actual change in engine performance. - Mark

In addition, CX-5 is #10 on list of most reliable car models. - Mark

Certainly not my biggest or only complaint, but I agree. - Mark

As a relatively new member on this site, I gotta give some applause to the experts who hang out here and give good, straightforward advice about out vehicles’ complexities without becoming preachy. I’ve owned a lot of vehicles and frequented a lot of forums and this site is one of the very...