starting with the 2018 models, Mazda did a lot to reduce road noise and vibration. Every years since there have been incremental improvements to NVH. You really have to take on for a test drive in the area you live to see if you notice the difference
Toyota, Honda, and Subaru all use high moly oil for their 0w-20 factory fills. I think it's the same Idemitsu oil for all of them. The 0w-16 and 0w-8 Toyota now specs are also very high in moly
I don't understand the "stiff" comments. The 17" tires have the most rubber and the CX5 suspension is considered the softest of all the current SUV lineup
What vehicle are you coming from? Maybe you're just used to something much softer
Allow time for the tires to break in. Give them 500-1000...
That's not a liter over. From the min to max dots is one liter. You're probably about .2-.3 liters over which is hardly anything. Please show us the dipstick
I just switched to 5w-30 on my 2017 Mazda 6. The "feel" of the engine is definitely different. It's only been 2 weeks so it's hard for me to nail down the difference. What has changed is my mpg. I used to get 29-32mpg on my daily commute. Now I get 26-29mpg
Maybe the added weight of a person in the driver's seat vs no one in the passenger side as often caused the front left corner to settle a tiny bit more